I’m all for spiritual development.
I’m all for awareness and mindfulness and loving kindness. Looking after yourself, mind, body and spirit. It would be lovely if we all spoke a little softer, if we took a little longer to think before we act. If we were all a little enlightened. The world would be a better place. Like the tote bag I carry on my shoulder proclaims: Yoga will save the world.
But who will be there to remind us, gently, that we’re taking it a bit too far? When our facebook feeds are inundated by inspirational quotes and we’ve lost the ability to say things in our own words. When gluten is the devil and eating cake is tantamount to suicide. When we boast, daily, of our dietary restrictions and post snapshots of ourselves in the course of a practice that was designed to be personal. When every yoga class is an opportunity to open our hearts, to acknowledge the pain, the frustration, the sadness within, to welcome it, to go with it. When we consult spiritual healers and gurus and medicine men and forget to talk to our friends. When we ostensibly strive for balance, and fail to notice the irony of seeking it in extremes.
I cannot be the only one who’s getting a bit tired of this.
Perfect for “cynical optimists”, this little book is a collection of essays and anecdotes on trying to strike a balance between The Yoga World and the real world, where most of us actually live, through the eyes of a passionate but reluctant yogi (me). It’s also, in a very loose sense, a prequel to 100 days of solitude. It’s available on Amazon, in paperback and on Kindle, and also in all other e-book formats, including Nook and kobo.