Yoga in America

It's great to read about so many different perspectives from people who practice various forms of yoga (beyond just asana). It's also nice to read about it from yoga teachers who are not all superstars/ celebriyogis. Definitely a great book to have in the collection of any yoga student and teacher. After reading all these anecdotes, it's a good way to also reflect on a personal level what does yoga mean to ME? I found I connected on some level to pretty much every single person's story, and it always brought a smile to my face. Highly recommended book, a very worthwhile purchase.

Deborah Bernstein's anthology of essays, collected by no less than 46 teachers on the subject, runs the gamut anywhere from instructional to informative to down-right hilarious. "Yoga in America" is not only a terrific way to get your Yoga fix on the fly, but its nothing less than symbolic of how Yoga has become a mainstay of American culture. If you've read any of George Reisch's famous series of books on "Pop Culture and Philosophy", (and chances are you have) then this will be familiar to you. A number of leading experts in the field of Yoga, as well as its many sub-fields, collaborate under a single editor to provide information along with a lovable sense of off-beat humor to the masses. While mainly these essays are geared toward a new recruits with a budding knowledge of how Yoga can help them experience a fuller, fresher life, there is plenty of information here for seasoned practitioners as well. If you're an expert, or only familiar with, a single tradition of Yoga (say, Kundalini, a more spiritual based form of Yoga) then Bernstein's book is going to round out your knowledge with tidbits from several other forms (Bikram, Ashtanga, Kripalu, and Iyengar) which will lend to your overall understanding as a whole. Think of it as taking one large step back to look at the broader picture. Alternatively, if you're like me and didn't have any understanding of Yoga or its traditions before reading Bernstein's book, then you are in a unique position to take a sampling of each in the form of these entertaining, quick-paced parables and anecdotes. Book's suggested for further reading find themselves throughout the essays which are likely to send you running to the library for further information. I, for instance, have been captivated by Ashtanga Yoga since reading some of these essays which feature an intense focus on detoxifying muscles and improving circulation. "Yoga in America" is step one to exploring the idea of changing to a more active, healthier lifestyle. (Although I have to give a nod to my 'Wii Fit' as an optional step two.) It proves that Yoga isn't simply a form of exercise, but an entire transformation of both body and spirit from caterpillar to butterfly.

What a great collection of stories and responses to the one simple question "What is Yoga?". I read this book as part of my teacher training requirement "to do a book report on a book that is not part of the required reading". Instead of repeating myself, again... I'd like to include an excerpt from the report I turned in... The short response is that this is a great collection of stories and information from all over the world of yoga. "Yoga in America" is an experiment in building the overall view of yoga through a collective response to the simple yet complex question of: "what is yoga". As you read the different answers, it becomes evident that much like each of our own personal journeys, everyone else's journey is equally unique. That no matter how you feel about yoga, or how you would answer the question "what is yoga" there are probably a myriad of others out there that would include some or all of your same answers. But I found myself wondering why I was reading the book and more importantly, why it was worth the time to collect the answers and write the book in the first place. The more I read the more I realized that I could relate to each and every story in some way. The various pieces of my personality, my being, could relate to each and every one of the authors at some level. And it dawned on me, the union of people, the union of struggles, and the union of experiences is what brings us all together and ultimately why we practice yoga.