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Warrior Pose: How Yoga (Literally) Saved My Life
From covering the front lines of the Gulf War to investigating Colombian drug lords to living with freedom fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan, war correspondent Brad Willis was accustomed to risk. But when mortal danger came, it was from an unexpected direction.At the pinnacle of his career, a broken back and failed surgery left Willis permanently disabled and condemned to life in a body brace. Then came a diagnosis of terminal, stage IV throat cancer.At his 50th birthday party, friends gathered around Willis, who was crippled, almost mute, depressed, strung out on narcotic medications, and dying. Halfway through the celebration Willis realized the party's true purpose—his friends were there to say goodbye.Everyone knew Willis was on his way out...everyone except his 2-year-old son, who urged, “Get up, Daddy!"His son's words ringing in his ears, Willis chose to abandon Western medicine and embrace the most esoteric practices of Yoga to heal his body, mind, and soul—ridding himself of cancer and fully restoring his back. As a symbol of his journey, he took the spiritual name Bhava Ram, which stands for “Living from the Heart."Warrior Pose is an adventure chronicling some of the most momentous events of our time through a journalist's eyes, an unforgettable story about the power of love between father and son, and a transformational journey of self-healing, inner peace, and wholeness.
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 7, 2013
60 people are currently reading
560 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
July 22, 2014
I really wanted to like this book more. Actually, I liked the book I think I wanted to like Mr. Willis more, but his narrative felt very self-serving and lacking in gratitude to the people who helped him along the way.
His description of his darkest days and the love for his son kept me weeping for chapters. No doubt, his journey was one of enormous pain, sorrow, sacrifice, and determination and I don't diminish his strength of character and willpower to make the incredible amount of life changes he did.
I finished the book feeling very sorry Mr. Willis's first wife. The one who did the soul-draining work of caring for him during his most difficult days. I bet for her Brad Willis truly did die, because the man who came back to her was a different man, Bhava Ram, a man that was not a compatible partner for her. The intervention she initiated out of love to save her husband ended up healing him but destroying her marriage. Bittersweet, really.
His description of his darkest days and the love for his son kept me weeping for chapters. No doubt, his journey was one of enormous pain, sorrow, sacrifice, and determination and I don't diminish his strength of character and willpower to make the incredible amount of life changes he did.
I finished the book feeling very sorry Mr. Willis's first wife. The one who did the soul-draining work of caring for him during his most difficult days. I bet for her Brad Willis truly did die, because the man who came back to her was a different man, Bhava Ram, a man that was not a compatible partner for her. The intervention she initiated out of love to save her husband ended up healing him but destroying her marriage. Bittersweet, really.
December 6, 2013
TRUE RATING 2.5 STARS
So, I wanted to love this book because I love all things yoga, my sister and I can drone on about a single yoga pose for 1/2 an hour and be fully engaged and entertained. What I'm trying to say is that if yoga is part of the story, as a rule, you have me at hello. However, despite being about yoga (sort of) I could not get into this book. I finished it but it was tough. It felt disjointed and repetitive to me. Yes, the guy's story is amazing but the telling of it, not so much. Because I have a kindle I can tell you that yoga didn't show up until I was 70% done with the book, for a book called warrior pose that's a long wait for the yoga part. I think a good editor would have helped here. Also, I think it's great that this guy healed himself through yoga but I think he needs to take another look at himself--he went from one addiction (drugs & alcohol) to another (yoga). Dude, it's not normal to practice yoga 12 hours a day.
So, I wanted to love this book because I love all things yoga, my sister and I can drone on about a single yoga pose for 1/2 an hour and be fully engaged and entertained. What I'm trying to say is that if yoga is part of the story, as a rule, you have me at hello. However, despite being about yoga (sort of) I could not get into this book. I finished it but it was tough. It felt disjointed and repetitive to me. Yes, the guy's story is amazing but the telling of it, not so much. Because I have a kindle I can tell you that yoga didn't show up until I was 70% done with the book, for a book called warrior pose that's a long wait for the yoga part. I think a good editor would have helped here. Also, I think it's great that this guy healed himself through yoga but I think he needs to take another look at himself--he went from one addiction (drugs & alcohol) to another (yoga). Dude, it's not normal to practice yoga 12 hours a day.
January 19, 2016
There is a genre of book that I think of as "inspirational tales of real-life healing and transformation through yoga" and I pretty much love all books in that category with equal fondness. This is one such book that I found hugely inspiring. Brad Willis had a broken back and was addicted to painkillers and healed through yoga - extraordinary! Everything is possible.
July 30, 2013
This memoir is divided into three sections, Willis's life as a journalist, his descent into addiction and illness, and his rebirth through yoga. If it were only a book about journalism it would be compelling; the same is true if it was a book about addiction. Oddly, the yoga section is probably the least compelling. Everything happens just a little too quickly and easily for Willis, mostly without a teacher to guide him. I was also bothered by the level of selfishness Willis demonstrates in basically forsaking his wife so he can devote himself to his practice. His devotion to his son is remarkable though and nearly brought me to tears. Overall well worth the read.
December 7, 2017
I picked up this book thinking it was a story about how Yoga saved the author's life. Well I guess that's the crux of it, but you have to wade through a hell of a lot of other stuff before you get to that. About 50% of the book is about his time as a foreign correspondent and while that is interesting, it was too much and too much detail and ... I just wanted it to be over to get to the good stuff. Then the section where he's incapacitated and going into the 'Abyss' - rock bottom. Firstly, who doesn't go to the doctor after they fell from a height and could barely walk afterwards? An egotist that's who - he's very important, don't you know. Anyway, then we get to the section where he transforms his life - the most interesting section - the reason you picked up the book in the first place and it's the shortest section! Basically he made a man-cave in his house and hid himself in there and practiced yoga and other bizzare rituals for 12 hours a day. Lucky you mate! Totally self indulgent and egotistical. Luckily your wife was still there to keep the household running while you "studied" and "healed yourself". Oh and don't forget all those big fat NBC cheques that you managed to save so you didn't have to work. I am very happy that the author managed to cure himself of his ailments - fantastic! The problem I have with these stories however is that this sort of "cure" is not realistic for most people. Who can commit to 2 years of total immersion into yoga and healing to the detriment of all else? It suggests that anyone who can't cure their own cancer or injury doesn't really have enough will power or commitment. They don't want it enough or aren't willing to try hard enough like the sanctimonious Brad Willis. This book could have been so much more interesting with some self reflection and insight into the author and the relationships mentioned in the book. I mean he goes on and on about the f'n healing light shining down on his soul etc etc, but he doesn't even reflect upon his marriage. Nek minute though, Soul Mate arrives and it's happy ever after. Good luck to you mate, Namaste
April 17, 2014
Ended up being disappointed in the 'yoga if you do it 24 hours a day will save your life' outcome
July 25, 2015
It may strike one as hokey that this book has one author, but two names on the byline. But, it’s apropos of an autobiography describing the fundamental transformation of a man.
Part I is the story of Brad Willis, a journalist on the rise. Willis goes from stumbling into a reporter job at one of the smallest markets in the country to being the Asia bureau foreign correspondent for NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation, one of the largest American television networks.) There’s no mention of yoga in this part of the book. It’s the story of a driven journalist covering major world events. Willis made a name for himself reporting from Soviet occupied Afghanistan in the 80’s. He tells harrowing tales of covering the drug war in Latin America, the Desert Storm Gulf War, and human trafficking in Thailand. He was also one of the few American journalists to visit North Korea. There was nowhere he wouldn’t go for the story, and he took serious risks along the way. His highly driven nature is the one point of consistency throughout the book. Willis is not a man to do anything half-assed, be it following a story or pursuing the yogic path.
Then Willis’s world was torn asunder by health problems, and this is the subject of the second part of the autobiography. First, a fall caused a hairline fracture in one his vertebrae that became crippling when Willis refused to take time off from work or to do anything for it. He couldn’t be diverted from his on-the-go foreign correspondent’s pace. Considering the dangerous places Willis traveled, it’s ironic that he initially broke his back on vacation at a Caribbean resort while closing a window during a storm. When the deterioration of his vertebrae made work untenable, he underwent a surgery that failed and left him “permanently disabled.”
Then Willis was diagnosed with a cancer in his throat that spread from his tonsils into lymph nodes. On top of the ailments themselves, Willis’s health rapidly declined because he became dependent on painkillers and other prescribed medications, and—against advisement—he began to drink alcohol in conjunction with these meds. Not only did he become hooked on the medications and alcohol, he became dependent on a back brace, a cane, and a lethargic lifestyle that kept the body from healing itself. Yoga is only briefly mentioned in passing in this part of the autobiography.
The third part is about Willis’s transformation into the yogi Bhava Ram, and his successful battle against cancer. After an intervention that resulted in drug rehab, he was referred to a pain center at Scripps that employed alternative therapies. (As an aside, the book is in part an indictment of a healthcare system in which this Pain Center both helped many people and was completely unsustainable because insurance companies could reject claims on the basis of the treatments being unconventional—but because it was staffed by medical professionals it was too expensive for most people to afford without insurance. Willis points out that there was never a rejection of any claim for any of the expensive medications or surgery that failed to helped him, but the Pain Center that put him on the road to good health went under due to failure to pay.) The Pain Center was the key to his turn around. After progressing with physical therapy, biofeedback, and—most uninsurable of all—Jin Shin Jyutsu, Willis is introduced to Yoga.
The final part charts Willis’s pursuit of yoga both through a series of teachers as well as any books that he can get his hands on. He voraciously reads up on the subject, and begins a sadhana (personal practice) that is marked by all the drive he had earlier given to his journalism career. The practice starts out rough. His muscles have atrophied, his spine curved, and he gained a tremendous amount of weight on a steak, potato, and beer diet mixed with a sedentary lifestyle. However, over the period of a couple years, well beyond when he had been told he would be dead, he transforms his body and his mind through an intense daily practice and an adjustment of his world view.
I’d recommend this book for anyone. It will definitely be of interest to yoga practitioners—though don’t be surprised that yoga doesn’t come into play until the final quarter of the book. It could also benefit individuals with serious health problems as a way to reconsider how they approach health and treatment. Willis points out that falling into the role of victim was one of the main killers. He inherited a bad situation through an accidental fall and a case of cancer that he believed was attributable to his experience in Iraq (i.e. related to depleted uranium shells.) However, it was only when he stopped gorging on food, alcohol, and self-pity that he made a turnaround.
Even if I wasn’t interested in yoga and alternative approaches to healing, I would’ve found this to be an intensely engaging read. Willis’s journalism career gave him a unique insight into some of the major world events of the 1980s and 90’s. Willis builds lines of tension and sustains them. One wonders what will happen to his marriage to a woman who married one man (a confident and successful foreign correspondent in Hong Kong) and found herself in a marriage with another—first a lethargic addict and then a man who sunk himself hook-line-and-sinker into to the yogic lifestyle. One wonders whether his cancer remission will hold. One wonders whether he can keep clear of the pain meds and stick to the life of a yogi. I haven’t read a book that caught me this much by surprise in some time. I hadn’t heard of this book before I bought it, and didn’t have particularly high expectations, but I quickly became hooked.
Part I is the story of Brad Willis, a journalist on the rise. Willis goes from stumbling into a reporter job at one of the smallest markets in the country to being the Asia bureau foreign correspondent for NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation, one of the largest American television networks.) There’s no mention of yoga in this part of the book. It’s the story of a driven journalist covering major world events. Willis made a name for himself reporting from Soviet occupied Afghanistan in the 80’s. He tells harrowing tales of covering the drug war in Latin America, the Desert Storm Gulf War, and human trafficking in Thailand. He was also one of the few American journalists to visit North Korea. There was nowhere he wouldn’t go for the story, and he took serious risks along the way. His highly driven nature is the one point of consistency throughout the book. Willis is not a man to do anything half-assed, be it following a story or pursuing the yogic path.
Then Willis’s world was torn asunder by health problems, and this is the subject of the second part of the autobiography. First, a fall caused a hairline fracture in one his vertebrae that became crippling when Willis refused to take time off from work or to do anything for it. He couldn’t be diverted from his on-the-go foreign correspondent’s pace. Considering the dangerous places Willis traveled, it’s ironic that he initially broke his back on vacation at a Caribbean resort while closing a window during a storm. When the deterioration of his vertebrae made work untenable, he underwent a surgery that failed and left him “permanently disabled.”
Then Willis was diagnosed with a cancer in his throat that spread from his tonsils into lymph nodes. On top of the ailments themselves, Willis’s health rapidly declined because he became dependent on painkillers and other prescribed medications, and—against advisement—he began to drink alcohol in conjunction with these meds. Not only did he become hooked on the medications and alcohol, he became dependent on a back brace, a cane, and a lethargic lifestyle that kept the body from healing itself. Yoga is only briefly mentioned in passing in this part of the autobiography.
The third part is about Willis’s transformation into the yogi Bhava Ram, and his successful battle against cancer. After an intervention that resulted in drug rehab, he was referred to a pain center at Scripps that employed alternative therapies. (As an aside, the book is in part an indictment of a healthcare system in which this Pain Center both helped many people and was completely unsustainable because insurance companies could reject claims on the basis of the treatments being unconventional—but because it was staffed by medical professionals it was too expensive for most people to afford without insurance. Willis points out that there was never a rejection of any claim for any of the expensive medications or surgery that failed to helped him, but the Pain Center that put him on the road to good health went under due to failure to pay.) The Pain Center was the key to his turn around. After progressing with physical therapy, biofeedback, and—most uninsurable of all—Jin Shin Jyutsu, Willis is introduced to Yoga.
The final part charts Willis’s pursuit of yoga both through a series of teachers as well as any books that he can get his hands on. He voraciously reads up on the subject, and begins a sadhana (personal practice) that is marked by all the drive he had earlier given to his journalism career. The practice starts out rough. His muscles have atrophied, his spine curved, and he gained a tremendous amount of weight on a steak, potato, and beer diet mixed with a sedentary lifestyle. However, over the period of a couple years, well beyond when he had been told he would be dead, he transforms his body and his mind through an intense daily practice and an adjustment of his world view.
I’d recommend this book for anyone. It will definitely be of interest to yoga practitioners—though don’t be surprised that yoga doesn’t come into play until the final quarter of the book. It could also benefit individuals with serious health problems as a way to reconsider how they approach health and treatment. Willis points out that falling into the role of victim was one of the main killers. He inherited a bad situation through an accidental fall and a case of cancer that he believed was attributable to his experience in Iraq (i.e. related to depleted uranium shells.) However, it was only when he stopped gorging on food, alcohol, and self-pity that he made a turnaround.
Even if I wasn’t interested in yoga and alternative approaches to healing, I would’ve found this to be an intensely engaging read. Willis’s journalism career gave him a unique insight into some of the major world events of the 1980s and 90’s. Willis builds lines of tension and sustains them. One wonders what will happen to his marriage to a woman who married one man (a confident and successful foreign correspondent in Hong Kong) and found herself in a marriage with another—first a lethargic addict and then a man who sunk himself hook-line-and-sinker into to the yogic lifestyle. One wonders whether his cancer remission will hold. One wonders whether he can keep clear of the pain meds and stick to the life of a yogi. I haven’t read a book that caught me this much by surprise in some time. I hadn’t heard of this book before I bought it, and didn’t have particularly high expectations, but I quickly became hooked.
October 27, 2022
Deeply Moving and Inspirational
This book is divided into two: the line of the journalist and the recovery from cancer and a broken spine through yoga and mindfulness. I found the first to be riveting but really got into the second half. Quite remarkable.
As I read, I found myself making changes and choices in my life, not because I was told to, but because I was inspired by one man’s example.
This book is divided into two: the line of the journalist and the recovery from cancer and a broken spine through yoga and mindfulness. I found the first to be riveting but really got into the second half. Quite remarkable.
As I read, I found myself making changes and choices in my life, not because I was told to, but because I was inspired by one man’s example.
February 29, 2020
This was a very interesting read. Brad Willis was a war correspondent for NBC in the 80’s and 90’s. As somewhat of a news junkie myself, I enjoyed learning about the backstories of tv news production. While on vacation in the Caribbean he suffers a bad back injury that he hides from his co workers for years. After a failed surgery he turns to pain killers and alcohol as a way to deal with his life. Eventually he develops throat cancer as a result of being exposed to debris in the war zones. Long story short we are led through his hell trying to live with disabilities which just get worse and worse and self medicating with drugs and alcohol. Eventually a family intervention serves as a catalyst to face his addictions. Over the course of 2 years he heals his body through a variety of treatments first at a detox center and then at a pain center in California eventually discovering yoga. Hard to believe that a bed ridden man with a broken back who can not sit up for more than a few minutes and doses himself daily with dozens of pills and alcohol can go to doing advanced yoga poses and a vegan diet in less than 2 years, but it happens. As a yoga teacher myself I do believe in the healing power of yoga. While I am happy this Brad Willis found a new life as Bhava Ram I cannot help but feel he traded one addiction for another- doing yoga for hours a day. However after he lost his career as a news correspondent and almost lost his life to cancer, he did find his dharma- or new path as we say in yoga. Apparently he now runs his own yoga center and teaches internationally. We are all on our own path. We just need to listen to our inner wisdom and follow it.🙏
December 4, 2018
As a substance abuse nurse, it was hard for me not to view this from my experience with addiction. I saw this individual as one who displayed traits of an addict and while he ended up embracing yoga, it seems he did so in (his words) a fanatical way. It was much like many addicts I see, who find religion, who are ‘born again’. This man was born again, and maybe he had to be to survive. But oh how extreme. Almost uncomfortably so. I was defensive when he was describing his experience at the addiction treatment facility, as I guess a substance abuse nurse would be. He somewhat redeemed himself later with a brief apology to the staff and nurses there. I do think there was a lot of embellishing happening in his memoir, but I suppose it’s his story to tell and he can tell it however he likes. Finally, although I could go on and on, his sense of privilege, or maybe his inability to recognise it, was frustrating to me. Treatment, especially one as specialised as his, would bankrupt the average person. The average person is already destitute as a result of himself or her substance use disorder. So for him to go in and get individualised therapy is just WOW. And then for him to shake his head in wonderment as to why these other poor addicted souls just simply cannot embrace yoga and choose life? Also, other than in sit in his cave and meditate, what did he DO all day? For HOW many years was he able to live on Coronado (do you know the average cost of a home on Coronado?) and have all of these private yoga sessions? And then when he, in my view, had to change his name rather pretentiously, why did he create a business which seemed to offer services only to the elite? Where did all of those poor, lost, addicted souls come into play in that business plan? Maybe this book doesn’t represent him fairly, but he’s a writer, and he wrote it, so.........
January 5, 2015
I, for one, could not put this book down. I was drawn to it from the moment I heard about it. I thank you, Brad Willis, for sharing your story with the world.
I've have suffered back pain now for over 19 years. Unlike you, who broke your back, I am still at a loss for the causes of severe back spasms that can put me down for up to four days straight, never knowing when or why they will eventually take hold of me. I've experienced the bedpan from not only barely being able to roll over while laying down but to not even being able to get up to go to the bathroom. It has been a very grueling, frustrating, scary and stressful time. I have seeked healing and or pain relief from numerous chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists, physical therapy, pain meds and muscle relaxers and have had little to no relief from any of these. I am still seeing a chiropractor and massage therapist and using pain meds as needed just to try and stay upright. I know all too well about the anger, being scared, snapping at those around you and wanting to give up as I myself have been and still am going through all of this. Luckily I am a stay at home wife for the moment as working a full time or even a part time job is greulling. Heck, I can't even handle cooking and light duty house cleaning anymore without feeling as though my ribs on my left side are going to snap at any moment.
You have given me hope and a new, hopefully pain free, start to the rest of my life. Thank you.
I've have suffered back pain now for over 19 years. Unlike you, who broke your back, I am still at a loss for the causes of severe back spasms that can put me down for up to four days straight, never knowing when or why they will eventually take hold of me. I've experienced the bedpan from not only barely being able to roll over while laying down but to not even being able to get up to go to the bathroom. It has been a very grueling, frustrating, scary and stressful time. I have seeked healing and or pain relief from numerous chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists, physical therapy, pain meds and muscle relaxers and have had little to no relief from any of these. I am still seeing a chiropractor and massage therapist and using pain meds as needed just to try and stay upright. I know all too well about the anger, being scared, snapping at those around you and wanting to give up as I myself have been and still am going through all of this. Luckily I am a stay at home wife for the moment as working a full time or even a part time job is greulling. Heck, I can't even handle cooking and light duty house cleaning anymore without feeling as though my ribs on my left side are going to snap at any moment.
You have given me hope and a new, hopefully pain free, start to the rest of my life. Thank you.
August 10, 2015
This memoir of a war correspondent's back injury and subsequent experiences with addiction and then spiritual awakening was engrossing from start to finish. I felt like I was reading three books: one about the hard and exciting life of a war correspondent, another about the downward spiral into pain killer addiction and alcoholism (largely due to the author's cancer diagnosis and broken back), and yet another about yoga and spiritual awakening.
All one person. One very intense, passionate, and driven person. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop.
All one person. One very intense, passionate, and driven person. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop.
Yoga teaches the immutable law of karma. Karma says we are the architects of our happiness and our misery. We can hope for new outcomes from old behaviors, or realize that only new behaviors will change our circumstances. It's our choice. We can continue to suffer, or we can take responsibility for our lives. We can live in our illusions, feeling frustrated and victimized, or we can surrender our egos and see the bigger picture. This means we learn to listen to our hearts, reclaim our power, step up, and take skillful action."
December 1, 2013
I am having a tough time reviewing this book. Like many other reviewers, I struggle because the author is unrelatable and egotistical. A good portion of the book is spent about his life as a foreign correspondent. Given the title of the book, I did not realize how much time would be spent explaining how he was so amazing at his job. This being said, I learned a lot and found it interesting.
When he moves into rehab, he adapts this I am doing this all by myself attitude and does give credit to those who helped him get there...which were many. While he tried not to be condescending, he most definitely.
Then he moves into the yoga part of the book. I think great, we are finally here. It is the worst part of the book. He devotes himself to yoga but at the expense of everyone else. He obviously has unlimited income. He snaps his fingers and everyone delivers everything he could ever desire. I never got the sense of any true gratefulness...which to me is a key component to yoga.
Need less to say, I won't be visiting his San Diego studio any time soon.
When he moves into rehab, he adapts this I am doing this all by myself attitude and does give credit to those who helped him get there...which were many. While he tried not to be condescending, he most definitely.
Then he moves into the yoga part of the book. I think great, we are finally here. It is the worst part of the book. He devotes himself to yoga but at the expense of everyone else. He obviously has unlimited income. He snaps his fingers and everyone delivers everything he could ever desire. I never got the sense of any true gratefulness...which to me is a key component to yoga.
Need less to say, I won't be visiting his San Diego studio any time soon.
May 12, 2015
True Story : Successful International NBC investigative News Man, Brad Willis married with son, breaks back , diagnosed stage four throat cancer , becomes drug dependent and an alcoholic , Goes cold turkey in rehab , finds yoga , becomes a yoga master , teaches , changes name to Bhava Ram. what can one say except "Whew!"
June 30, 2015
as a lover of yoga, personal transformation, & really good writing, this book satisfied my reading cravings
a death sentence--stage IV cancer + intolerable pain from an unhealed broken back + drug & alcohol addiction=inspiring comeback story with deep insights
a death sentence--stage IV cancer + intolerable pain from an unhealed broken back + drug & alcohol addiction=inspiring comeback story with deep insights
August 18, 2013
This is a memoir about a man's journey from war correspondent to yogi, and the hell he walks through in between. His courage and determination to "get up dad" are truly inspiring.
December 7, 2022
The author is a former NBC News correspondent who cracked a bone in his back earlier in his career as a local news reporter and eventually had to quit he was in so much pain and danger of becoming paralyzed. Then he became addicted to painkillers and alcohol before finding salvation and health in yoga.
That's the short version. It's clear that everything Willis did, he did compulsively, from pursuing a career, to drinking and drugging, then yoga. Each in their time consumed his life.
As a reporter, Willis did some daring, dangerous, and important stories. He was in the Gulf War. But he carried what reporters sometimes derisively call "The Big J" on his back, like Jesus carrying his cross. Missing in this tale is any of the lightness and wicked humor of reporters on the job.
After being forced to retire, and hoping to be able to make a comeback, he descended into a hell of drink and drugs before friends and family staged an intervention.
He credits his young son with motivating him to get well by saying "Get up, Daddy," at a time when Willis was so debilitated he could barely stand. He repeats that line for the rest of the book until you want to shout, "Enough!"
Willis went to rehab, got into AA, and then a pain management program in which he discovered yoga. Yoga made him able to function again.
But all of Willis's problems were self induced. Back when he cracked a bone in his back he declined surgery for fear that the world of journalism would pass him by as he recovered. Ridiculous. he suffered for years thinking that. By the time he sought surgery, a fusion operation failed.
The latter stage of the book gets deep into yoga, more than most readers would want to digest. He talks about yoga and his son, barely mentioning his long suffering wife. She divorced him. If he ever explained how yoga made him able to twist his body into a pretzel with a broken bone in his back, I missed it. By then he was describing yoga poses in detail and I was skipping pages.
In this massive tome Willis never comes to grip with the most prominent fact of his life. He has an obsessive personality that nearly killed him and finally cured him. But he's still obsessed.
I
That's the short version. It's clear that everything Willis did, he did compulsively, from pursuing a career, to drinking and drugging, then yoga. Each in their time consumed his life.
As a reporter, Willis did some daring, dangerous, and important stories. He was in the Gulf War. But he carried what reporters sometimes derisively call "The Big J" on his back, like Jesus carrying his cross. Missing in this tale is any of the lightness and wicked humor of reporters on the job.
After being forced to retire, and hoping to be able to make a comeback, he descended into a hell of drink and drugs before friends and family staged an intervention.
He credits his young son with motivating him to get well by saying "Get up, Daddy," at a time when Willis was so debilitated he could barely stand. He repeats that line for the rest of the book until you want to shout, "Enough!"
Willis went to rehab, got into AA, and then a pain management program in which he discovered yoga. Yoga made him able to function again.
But all of Willis's problems were self induced. Back when he cracked a bone in his back he declined surgery for fear that the world of journalism would pass him by as he recovered. Ridiculous. he suffered for years thinking that. By the time he sought surgery, a fusion operation failed.
The latter stage of the book gets deep into yoga, more than most readers would want to digest. He talks about yoga and his son, barely mentioning his long suffering wife. She divorced him. If he ever explained how yoga made him able to twist his body into a pretzel with a broken bone in his back, I missed it. By then he was describing yoga poses in detail and I was skipping pages.
In this massive tome Willis never comes to grip with the most prominent fact of his life. He has an obsessive personality that nearly killed him and finally cured him. But he's still obsessed.
I
November 25, 2018
A Phoenix Rises in Warrior Pose
Wow what a captivating story that is told with humble heart and a lot of sincerity by Brad Willis. I generally read several books at a time but could not put this one down. It is definitely the story of a death rebirth transformational process that Mr. Willis went through ... From breaking his back to a cancer diagnosis to battling addictions and being given a year to live ...it is truly a survival story and one based on the power of spirit to be able to transform one's life . It is amazing how deep he took his study and practice of yoga to The yoga sutras of Patanjali to the Bhagavad Gita, to other teachers and books that he went and delved deeply into ..it is very inspiring... and I really appreciate it how he discussed his innermost thoughts and inner voice in terms of keeping going in his process and coming from the near-death experience to an Awakening and becoming alive more than ever before! This is a book for anyone who wants to deepen their life experience and move away from the mundane habitual addictive tendencies that are so often promoted in the western culture and medical world. It is a book in which Brad Willis explains how he really owned his body mind and Spirit through yoga and the deeper understanding of non-duality and in so doing reclaimed his life on a deeper level, so it is a book for anyone who's interested in waking up... and healing.Atta Yoga Nushashanam. All is Yoga. Just fabulous. Just read it. Namaste Bhava Ram. Om Shanti.
Wow what a captivating story that is told with humble heart and a lot of sincerity by Brad Willis. I generally read several books at a time but could not put this one down. It is definitely the story of a death rebirth transformational process that Mr. Willis went through ... From breaking his back to a cancer diagnosis to battling addictions and being given a year to live ...it is truly a survival story and one based on the power of spirit to be able to transform one's life . It is amazing how deep he took his study and practice of yoga to The yoga sutras of Patanjali to the Bhagavad Gita, to other teachers and books that he went and delved deeply into ..it is very inspiring... and I really appreciate it how he discussed his innermost thoughts and inner voice in terms of keeping going in his process and coming from the near-death experience to an Awakening and becoming alive more than ever before! This is a book for anyone who wants to deepen their life experience and move away from the mundane habitual addictive tendencies that are so often promoted in the western culture and medical world. It is a book in which Brad Willis explains how he really owned his body mind and Spirit through yoga and the deeper understanding of non-duality and in so doing reclaimed his life on a deeper level, so it is a book for anyone who's interested in waking up... and healing.Atta Yoga Nushashanam. All is Yoga. Just fabulous. Just read it. Namaste Bhava Ram. Om Shanti.
February 23, 2022
A fascinating and compelling memoir. The author is a Type A, all-in personality who parlayed his way into journalism and ended up being the first to put himself in harm's way as an NBC foreign war correspondent. When an accident disabled him, he took a dive into addiction and excruciating surgery, then needed all his wartime daring to repair himself through alternative medicine. In his case, yoga.
"Scores of little rats, the color of desert sand, flit through our tents in the darkness hoping to find an MRE, meal ready to eat--the standard military ration that sits in your gut like a bomb. We are in the middle of nowhere, knowing at any time all hell would break loose. I love it."
"I try to sit up for a while in hopes of making the receptionist happy, but after a few minutes my back flares up and I have to lie down again. I don't remember ever feeling this frail, vulnerable, or frightened in my entire life, not even in a war zone. Closing my eyes now. Trembling all over with this uncertainty and self-doubt. 'Get up, Daddy.' My son is all I have. I miss him with every breath I take. 'Get up Daddy'."
"I continue to breathe deeply, inwardly chanting to myself, 'Get up Daddy' the entire time. By the time we finish the session, I feel like I'm floating in an ocean of bliss. It astonishes me. All I've really done today is listen to a guided visualization and have someone lay hands on me to move energy around, and it seems like it's done more for me than fourteen years of Western medicine"
"Scores of little rats, the color of desert sand, flit through our tents in the darkness hoping to find an MRE, meal ready to eat--the standard military ration that sits in your gut like a bomb. We are in the middle of nowhere, knowing at any time all hell would break loose. I love it."
"I try to sit up for a while in hopes of making the receptionist happy, but after a few minutes my back flares up and I have to lie down again. I don't remember ever feeling this frail, vulnerable, or frightened in my entire life, not even in a war zone. Closing my eyes now. Trembling all over with this uncertainty and self-doubt. 'Get up, Daddy.' My son is all I have. I miss him with every breath I take. 'Get up Daddy'."
"I continue to breathe deeply, inwardly chanting to myself, 'Get up Daddy' the entire time. By the time we finish the session, I feel like I'm floating in an ocean of bliss. It astonishes me. All I've really done today is listen to a guided visualization and have someone lay hands on me to move energy around, and it seems like it's done more for me than fourteen years of Western medicine"
July 12, 2018
I really enjoyed reading the memoir portion of this book - Brad Willis’ drive and enthusiasm for journalism is inspiring. He worked hard and took incredible risks to fulfill his dream to become a foreign correspondent for NBC and his journey is worth reading.
I could also empathize with his struggle to continue working and enduring back pain. I completely understood his depression when he became permanently disabled and was forced to give up his dream job.
The book lost me during his recovery. His inspiration to get well was his son, which is fine (I was hoping he would return to journalism, but whatever)
What I couldn’t relate to was the fact that Willis is now rich. NBC paid for all his expenses and he was able to save many years salary. He cites Yoga as his saving grace, but really he had given up drugs and alcohol and decided to get well before he found yoga.
Now that Willis wasn’t working and could spend ALL IF HIS TIME focusing on yoga and healing himself, it was not surprising at all that he turned he turned himself around.
Show me a book about the depressed guy with cancer and a broken back who still has to work and can’t afford yoga classes recover and maybe you’ll have a good book.
I could also empathize with his struggle to continue working and enduring back pain. I completely understood his depression when he became permanently disabled and was forced to give up his dream job.
The book lost me during his recovery. His inspiration to get well was his son, which is fine (I was hoping he would return to journalism, but whatever)
What I couldn’t relate to was the fact that Willis is now rich. NBC paid for all his expenses and he was able to save many years salary. He cites Yoga as his saving grace, but really he had given up drugs and alcohol and decided to get well before he found yoga.
Now that Willis wasn’t working and could spend ALL IF HIS TIME focusing on yoga and healing himself, it was not surprising at all that he turned he turned himself around.
Show me a book about the depressed guy with cancer and a broken back who still has to work and can’t afford yoga classes recover and maybe you’ll have a good book.
August 20, 2017
I found this book to be inspirational. The book, divides into three: his incredible career as a war correspondent (I would never have chosen a book that had this as a topic but I found the narrative exceptionally interesting and was fully engaged with what he was doing at this time), the second section was his abyss where he has to confront disability and cancer. During this section I thought he was very honest about himself even though in doing so it causes the reader to dislike him. This was a time in his life in which the Brad Willis that he was proved incapable of facing the challenges of disability and serious disease. The breakthrough is the last part of the book; the period in his life where he finds yoga and this offers him the chance to rebuild himself following a completely different blueprint.
A remarkable warrior tale.
A remarkable warrior tale.
November 4, 2019
I tried to give this 2.5 stars but my mouse kept signalling 3. The story of a foreign correspondent is enthralling and there are some great details about places and people, some which will drag your emotions through the ringer. But it is also frustrating, because the foreign correspondent is a Hemingway wannabe and a jerk. He often creates havoc while reporting on it and seems to be unaware. His battle with pain is difficult although he doesn't seek treatment until the damage is almost irreversable and he makes others suffer along with him. His first wife gets my vote for sainthood.
The second half is how he sought alternative medicine and found healing through yoga. It's very down-to-earth, even skeptical at first, and there's no secret or magic cure. The only concern is some cancer patients or people with chronic pain might follow his example but not have the same results.
The second half is how he sought alternative medicine and found healing through yoga. It's very down-to-earth, even skeptical at first, and there's no secret or magic cure. The only concern is some cancer patients or people with chronic pain might follow his example but not have the same results.
July 31, 2018
Whether you are a yoga practitioner or not, this book, you will find this to be a page turner. It is a true account of the author’s success as a journalist as a foreign correspondent for NBC and his growing addiction to pain meds, wine and morphine as he keeps his pain and addictions to himself. Eventually the pain catches up with him and he is forced to face his secrets as they are brought out into the open. The first half of the book is about his career successes. The second half is his journey as he seeks recovery from both the pain and the medications he’s come to rely on. Western medicine fails him so he turns to yoga and a Ayurvedic lifestyle. An account filled with hope and light and an enormous amount of self discipline.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2019
Two Enjoyable Stories
This feels like two different books. The first book is about history of the late 20th century, told in the guise of a story about a journalist. The second book is the story of a very sick man finding healing from drug addiction, a broken back, and cancer through Yoga. I continually wondered when we would get to the stuff about yoga until I decided to just enjoy the story of the journalist years. When he gets to the part of the story about his journey into illness and then healing the story has a very different feeling to it. Towards the end the story drags a bit as the author makes sure you know that he's a really good yoga teacher. The Afterword is completely unnecessary.
This feels like two different books. The first book is about history of the late 20th century, told in the guise of a story about a journalist. The second book is the story of a very sick man finding healing from drug addiction, a broken back, and cancer through Yoga. I continually wondered when we would get to the stuff about yoga until I decided to just enjoy the story of the journalist years. When he gets to the part of the story about his journey into illness and then healing the story has a very different feeling to it. Towards the end the story drags a bit as the author makes sure you know that he's a really good yoga teacher. The Afterword is completely unnecessary.
February 20, 2018
In all very inspirational account of the power of Yoga in comparison to western medicine as we know it. You would however be forgiven for believing that the author was the first person to have ever “discovered” Yoga. He could definitely come across as more likeable at times and there are some real eye rolling moments where in one sentence he’s excitedly describing how great he is at Yoga and how much he is “studying” and in the next how he is unaware of basic elements. We all start somewhere and it’s important to remain humble, something this man doesn’t seem to have mastered.
March 2, 2022
No acts of contrition following his addiction issue and the way it played out. Probably went to confession and felt he was absolved of all guilt. Felt that because he was in rehab, which is where he should have been, that he didn't owe anyone he hurt by helping them out big time. Which he should have done. other things he did rubbed me the wrong way, but avoiding spoilers.
The good part is that he has excellent ideas of imagery involving yoga. Also his insights on problems plaguing the world and his history in making dark secrets known.
The good part is that he has excellent ideas of imagery involving yoga. Also his insights on problems plaguing the world and his history in making dark secrets known.
April 18, 2019
A very real, honest piece of a man tapping into the deepest healing within himself to save his life. With the motivation of his son’s words “Get Up, Daddy,” Bhava Ram overcame addiction, a broken spine and failed surgery, even cancer. Amazing. Inspiring. Motivating to anyone suffering in any capacity. Thank you for this gift of internal strength, guidance, and truth. I too will never forget the power of these words: “get up daddy!”
December 13, 2017
The entire book is so gripping not giving way to any boredom. As a reader, I got to live through every moment of his life and his experiences. Such is the power of his narration. It is one of the best inspirational memoirs that I have read.
November 22, 2023
A brief bio, life as an investigative reporter in war zones, a bit of travel log, injury, illness, therapies. All very interesting and could be helpful to those in need of healing. Book could have been a lot shorter due to excessive rambling and repetition in the second half.
March 4, 2024
When I saw this book, I thought what a pretentious load of rubbish. HOWEVER, we all know we should never judge a book by its cover....
Turns out I was so incredibly wrong! This man's story is a thought brovoking, spell bounding piece of literature
Turns out I was so incredibly wrong! This man's story is a thought brovoking, spell bounding piece of literature
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