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The Goddess Pose
When the woman who would become Indra Devi was born in Russia in 1899, yoga was virtually unknown outside of India. By the time of her death, in 2002, it was being practiced everywhere, from Brooklyn to Berlin to Ulaanbaatar. In The Goddess Pose, New York Times best-selling author Michelle Goldberg traces the life of the incredible woman who brought yoga to the West—and in so doing paints a sweeping picture of the twentieth century.
Born into the minor aristocracy (as Eugenia Peterson), Devi grew up in the midst of one of the most turbulent times in human history. Forced to flee the Russian Revolution as a teenager, she joined a famous Berlin cabaret troupe, dove into the vibrant prewar spiritualist movement, and, at a time when it was nearly unthinkable for a young European woman to travel alone, followed the charismatic Theosophical leader Jiddu Krishnamurti to India.
Once on the subcontinent, she performed in Indian silent cinema and hobnobbed with the leaders of the independence movement. But her greatest coup was convincing a recalcitrant master yogi to train her in the secrets of his art.
Devi would go on to share what she learned with people around the world, teaching in Shanghai during World War II, then in Hollywood, where her students included Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo. She ran a yoga school in Mexico during the height of the counterculture, served as spiritual adviser to the colonel who tried to overthrow Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, and, in her eighties, moved to Buenos Aires at the invitation of a besotted rock star.
Everywhere she went, Indra Devi evangelized for yoga, ushering in a global craze that continues unabated. Written with vivid clarity, The Goddess Pose brings her remarkable story—as an actress, yogi, and globetrotting adventuress—to life.
Born into the minor aristocracy (as Eugenia Peterson), Devi grew up in the midst of one of the most turbulent times in human history. Forced to flee the Russian Revolution as a teenager, she joined a famous Berlin cabaret troupe, dove into the vibrant prewar spiritualist movement, and, at a time when it was nearly unthinkable for a young European woman to travel alone, followed the charismatic Theosophical leader Jiddu Krishnamurti to India.
Once on the subcontinent, she performed in Indian silent cinema and hobnobbed with the leaders of the independence movement. But her greatest coup was convincing a recalcitrant master yogi to train her in the secrets of his art.
Devi would go on to share what she learned with people around the world, teaching in Shanghai during World War II, then in Hollywood, where her students included Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo. She ran a yoga school in Mexico during the height of the counterculture, served as spiritual adviser to the colonel who tried to overthrow Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, and, in her eighties, moved to Buenos Aires at the invitation of a besotted rock star.
Everywhere she went, Indra Devi evangelized for yoga, ushering in a global craze that continues unabated. Written with vivid clarity, The Goddess Pose brings her remarkable story—as an actress, yogi, and globetrotting adventuress—to life.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published February 10, 2015
142 people are currently reading
1823 people want to read
About the author
Michelle Goldberg
9 books112 followers"Michelle Goldberg is a journalist and the author of the book, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. She is a former contributing writer at Salon.com and blogs at The Huffington Post. Her work has been published in the magazines Rolling Stone and In These Times, and in The New York Observer, The Guardian, Newsday, and other newspapers.
Goldberg earmed a Master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley and teaches as an adjunct "teaching professional" at New York University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She serves on the advisory board of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, an organization dedicated to opposing the religious right."
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle...
Goldberg earmed a Master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley and teaches as an adjunct "teaching professional" at New York University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She serves on the advisory board of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, an organization dedicated to opposing the religious right."
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 162 reviews
July 8, 2016
Had it not been for an interview with the author on Fresh Air. I probably never would have thought about reading this book. Being the opposite of svelte or limber, any passing interest I had in yoga was squelched long ago. What caught my ear was that Indra Devi, the woman who basically invented what the Lithe Ladies in Lemonlulu know as yoga today--the daughter of an East European B-grade actress mother and a Swedish father who abandoned the family--ended up smack in the middle of most major world events of her lifetime. She knew just about everyone worth knowing, and she was still globetrotting and being a pushy, charming diva up until shortly before her death at 103 years old.
If you expect this (self-described) "master of yoga" was calm, peaceful, and ethereal, guess again. Devi was a whirlwind, a force of nature, and usually found wherever chaos was brewing. She could be moody, melodramatic (especially about romantic partners), stubborn, and impractical. She also could be charming, kind, and persistent. She adored beautiful things and people while claiming to have reached detachment about them. She could be loving and open to strangers, and then be cold and selfish toward her dying husband. I don't think she was someone to emulate, but her life was certainly fascinating.
As a bonus, I learned a lot about the Theosophy movement, the New Age movement, the Japanese occupation of China, White Russians, Panamanian politics, and Hare Krishnas because she was connected to all of them. There was even some McCarthyism mixed in for good measure. Every time I started to lose interest in Devi, the author would tie in another subject that pulled me back into the book.
Given Devi's frequent reinventions of herself and lack of personal journals or papers, this biography ends up being less about the individual and more about how she moved through various times and events. It seems that where there was a war erupting and civil unrest, she was in the middle of it: Germany, Russian, India, China, Panama. Instead of the seven degrees of Kevin Bacon, it's more like the three degrees of Indra Devi because who she didn't know herself, she knew someone who did. I can't decide if she was unbelievably lucky or just very cagey.
My only real complaint about this book is that there are no pictures. I think photos would have added much to the material. On the other hand, I enjoyed Goldberg's writing style and obvious love of full, rich word choices. I also appreciate that she kept herself out of the material. Far too many non-fiction books lately are more about the author writing the book than about the purported subject matter. It was nice to read one where the author focused on something other than his/her self.
July 25, 2015
1.5 stars. If you're interested in the history of yoga and how it's changed over the years, this is not the book for you. The TLDR is that it was an aristocratic Russian woman who made yoga popular in the US, it was introduced as a very practical method of relaxation (the spiritual quest part didn't start until the 70s Age of Aquarius era), and it started with bored rich housewives in the 50s.
The book needs serious editing. There is little flow, there are too many people, and too many tangents; it felt like she was trying to fill space. The writing is good when she discusses Devi's influence, but a good chunk of of the book reads like Devi's travel itinerary and her contacts list, against a background of overly-detailed descriptions of context (e.g., there are pages on an attempted overthrow of the Noriega Panamanian government before the Americans did it). There is some interesting information to be found here, such as the fact that New Age thinking actually started in the late 1800s, but these tidbits are rare and weren't really worth the time wading through the rest of the uninteresting detail.
Overall, not a good read.
The book needs serious editing. There is little flow, there are too many people, and too many tangents; it felt like she was trying to fill space. The writing is good when she discusses Devi's influence, but a good chunk of of the book reads like Devi's travel itinerary and her contacts list, against a background of overly-detailed descriptions of context (e.g., there are pages on an attempted overthrow of the Noriega Panamanian government before the Americans did it). There is some interesting information to be found here, such as the fact that New Age thinking actually started in the late 1800s, but these tidbits are rare and weren't really worth the time wading through the rest of the uninteresting detail.
Overall, not a good read.
September 26, 2015
In The Goddess Pose, author Michelle Goldberg describes in well-researched detail the unconventional life of Indra Devi, a Russian-born aristocrat who eventually becomes a nomadic spiritual teacher of sorts.
There is no doubt that Devi is a fascinating woman--and nothing like the zen yoga-instructor caricature that I was anticipating. Here I was thinking Devi was going to be quiet and serene, full of infinite peace and patience. But, in reality, she is wild and somewhat reckless, intelligent but also selectively naive. She is street-smart but a bit of a dreamer, sometimes getting into crazy, she-did-WHAT?! situations. She's not one to dwell on her life's negative experiences--more often choosing to don her rose-colored glasses and resolutely march forward--but I definitely got the feeling she wasn't just chasing her next adventure so much as she was trying to outrun past trauma.
In fact, I thought Goldberg's use of a George Orwell quote to describe Devi in the introduction was spot on: "In this yogi-ridden age, it is too readily assumed that 'non-attachment' is...better than a full acceptance of earthly life...If one could follow it to its psychological roots, one would, I believe, find that the main motive for 'non-attachment' is a desire to escape from the pain of living, and above all from love, which, sexual or non-sexual, is hard work."
Goldberg's presentation of Devi's life is both well-written and well-structured. As a whole, the book is incredibly informative. However, it could also be dry at parts. More importantly, it did cross my mind when I finished the book, that I didn't know Devi as well as I wished. I felt like I had spent the past 300 pages being a very distant observer: I learned many facts about her but, somehow, never got close.
Regardless, this was still an engaging read, and I was glad I stuck with it.
Please check out more of my reviews at www.BugBugBooks.com!
There is no doubt that Devi is a fascinating woman--and nothing like the zen yoga-instructor caricature that I was anticipating. Here I was thinking Devi was going to be quiet and serene, full of infinite peace and patience. But, in reality, she is wild and somewhat reckless, intelligent but also selectively naive. She is street-smart but a bit of a dreamer, sometimes getting into crazy, she-did-WHAT?! situations. She's not one to dwell on her life's negative experiences--more often choosing to don her rose-colored glasses and resolutely march forward--but I definitely got the feeling she wasn't just chasing her next adventure so much as she was trying to outrun past trauma.
In fact, I thought Goldberg's use of a George Orwell quote to describe Devi in the introduction was spot on: "In this yogi-ridden age, it is too readily assumed that 'non-attachment' is...better than a full acceptance of earthly life...If one could follow it to its psychological roots, one would, I believe, find that the main motive for 'non-attachment' is a desire to escape from the pain of living, and above all from love, which, sexual or non-sexual, is hard work."
Goldberg's presentation of Devi's life is both well-written and well-structured. As a whole, the book is incredibly informative. However, it could also be dry at parts. More importantly, it did cross my mind when I finished the book, that I didn't know Devi as well as I wished. I felt like I had spent the past 300 pages being a very distant observer: I learned many facts about her but, somehow, never got close.
Regardless, this was still an engaging read, and I was glad I stuck with it.
Please check out more of my reviews at www.BugBugBooks.com!
Want to read
June 1, 2015The author of this book was interviewed today on NPR. It was interesting to me because I had started yoga many years back, when it was quite different than the practise today. Goldberg commented on what I have seen and disliked in recent classes. It more resembles aerobics than the peaceful, careful discipline. I look forward to reading the history of early yoga in the West.
February 1, 2016
Beyond tedious to get through. The author went on so many tangents I couldn't keep track of what was going on. Gave up 1/3 through the book because I could not stay engaged.
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February 27, 2018Much more about everyone but Devi than Devi herself. I'd have done better reading Devi's own work. That said, I did listen to the whole thing? But I didn't quite think the book really fulfilled the claim that it would show how Devi brought yoga to the west.
This was an audio listen, and I found the pronunciation of Sanskrit grating, and I found the lack of knowing how to pronounce Patanjali to be grating, too.
Not a favorite.
This was an audio listen, and I found the pronunciation of Sanskrit grating, and I found the lack of knowing how to pronounce Patanjali to be grating, too.
Not a favorite.
November 5, 2015
Goldberg, Michelle. The Goddess Pose: The Audacious Life of Indra Devi, the Woman Who Helped Bring Yoga to the West, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2015 (322pp.$26.95)
Now that yoga is the province of slick promotions, self-indulgence, and the sweat-box mentality of exercise studios, it is hard to conceive of its beginnings in the rejection of ego and the acceptance of disappointment and suffering as the essence of life. As a system of physical fitness, yoga is a modern phenomenon. Indians, however, have been doing yoga for millennia, if by yoga is meant a plethora of distinct practices described by the great scholar of world religion Marcia Eliade as any “ascetic technique and any method of meditation.” Indeed, Indian yogis were the original metaphysical hucksters, traveling spiritualists who turned a buck and cadged a meal by twisting themselves into pretzels and by walking on fire. Now days, cute California chicks in spandex spend fifty bucks an hour sweating it out to James Taylor. Between these two yoga worlds lived a woman named Eugenia Peterson, whose fascinating life, eccentricities, and convoluted business ventures are the subjects of “The Goddess Pose”.
Michelle Goldberg is a journalist and the author of “Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism”, as well as being senior contributing writer at The Nation magazine. Her story of Eugenia Peterson, born in 1899 in St. Petersburg, is an historical caravan of delectable adventure, written in a breezy yet convincing voice. For one thing, the woman who turned herself into a successful theosophist, teacher, writer, wandering mendicant and holy merchant (and became Indra Devi) led a life that tracks with the most significant events in the twentieth century. She and her mother survived the Russian Revolution and fled to Berlin, where Eugenia became a noted dancer and cabaret performer. When Berlin became Nazi, they fled to Shanghai and cobbled together a living teaching and performing. Along the way, Eugenia became fascinated with Indian mysticism, just then enjoying a sort of Western revival through the work of theosophists and hatha revivalists like Krishnamacharya and the yoga evangelist and practitioner Iyengar. Once Eugenia conceived her desire to go to India, it became an obsession.
By August 1932, Eugenia was on Bombay’s Chowpatty Beach after attending a festival in the city of Nasik. A German girlfriend convinced her to go see the sadhus. Together they wandered through the “rows of mushroom-like umbrellas stuck in the ground” where the sadhus were all naked, smeared with holy ash, some bent into impossible contortions. They resembled jugglers and acrobats in gray tights. Most had fantastic coiffures on their heads, towering up and up like birds’ nests. Like so many kindred spiritualists, Eugenia “spirited” for Hollywood, where she ultimately became Indra Devi and gathered about her celebrities like Gloria Swanson and Yehudi Menuhin. In Los Angeles in 1947, Eugenia was nearly broke, alone and homeless. A few years later, she emerged a full-fledged teacher with students like Jennifer Jones, pursuing the elusive spiritual awakening promised originally by Vivekananda’s Vedanta Center.
Living to the age of 103, this remarkable woman visited Russia during the height of the Cold War to spread the word, consulted with a Panamanian Colonel tied to strongman Noriega, and penned a number of “spiritualist” best sellers in the 1950’s. She lived at the end in Buenos Aires, visited Sri Lanka, and sold her message to denizens of the Hollywood Hills. It was an altogether astounding piece of esoteric vaudeville, cobbled together from the dribbles and back-splashes of Pantanjali’s “Yoga Sutra” written two thousand years ago in Sanskrit. Though she had at least one major unrequited love affair, she proceeded with neither the help nor hindrance of men. It was a bravura performance by a bravura individual.
For those interested in the spiritual ins and outs of Western “seeking”, “The Goddess Pose” is a breezy and very entertaining book.
Now that yoga is the province of slick promotions, self-indulgence, and the sweat-box mentality of exercise studios, it is hard to conceive of its beginnings in the rejection of ego and the acceptance of disappointment and suffering as the essence of life. As a system of physical fitness, yoga is a modern phenomenon. Indians, however, have been doing yoga for millennia, if by yoga is meant a plethora of distinct practices described by the great scholar of world religion Marcia Eliade as any “ascetic technique and any method of meditation.” Indeed, Indian yogis were the original metaphysical hucksters, traveling spiritualists who turned a buck and cadged a meal by twisting themselves into pretzels and by walking on fire. Now days, cute California chicks in spandex spend fifty bucks an hour sweating it out to James Taylor. Between these two yoga worlds lived a woman named Eugenia Peterson, whose fascinating life, eccentricities, and convoluted business ventures are the subjects of “The Goddess Pose”.
Michelle Goldberg is a journalist and the author of “Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism”, as well as being senior contributing writer at The Nation magazine. Her story of Eugenia Peterson, born in 1899 in St. Petersburg, is an historical caravan of delectable adventure, written in a breezy yet convincing voice. For one thing, the woman who turned herself into a successful theosophist, teacher, writer, wandering mendicant and holy merchant (and became Indra Devi) led a life that tracks with the most significant events in the twentieth century. She and her mother survived the Russian Revolution and fled to Berlin, where Eugenia became a noted dancer and cabaret performer. When Berlin became Nazi, they fled to Shanghai and cobbled together a living teaching and performing. Along the way, Eugenia became fascinated with Indian mysticism, just then enjoying a sort of Western revival through the work of theosophists and hatha revivalists like Krishnamacharya and the yoga evangelist and practitioner Iyengar. Once Eugenia conceived her desire to go to India, it became an obsession.
By August 1932, Eugenia was on Bombay’s Chowpatty Beach after attending a festival in the city of Nasik. A German girlfriend convinced her to go see the sadhus. Together they wandered through the “rows of mushroom-like umbrellas stuck in the ground” where the sadhus were all naked, smeared with holy ash, some bent into impossible contortions. They resembled jugglers and acrobats in gray tights. Most had fantastic coiffures on their heads, towering up and up like birds’ nests. Like so many kindred spiritualists, Eugenia “spirited” for Hollywood, where she ultimately became Indra Devi and gathered about her celebrities like Gloria Swanson and Yehudi Menuhin. In Los Angeles in 1947, Eugenia was nearly broke, alone and homeless. A few years later, she emerged a full-fledged teacher with students like Jennifer Jones, pursuing the elusive spiritual awakening promised originally by Vivekananda’s Vedanta Center.
Living to the age of 103, this remarkable woman visited Russia during the height of the Cold War to spread the word, consulted with a Panamanian Colonel tied to strongman Noriega, and penned a number of “spiritualist” best sellers in the 1950’s. She lived at the end in Buenos Aires, visited Sri Lanka, and sold her message to denizens of the Hollywood Hills. It was an altogether astounding piece of esoteric vaudeville, cobbled together from the dribbles and back-splashes of Pantanjali’s “Yoga Sutra” written two thousand years ago in Sanskrit. Though she had at least one major unrequited love affair, she proceeded with neither the help nor hindrance of men. It was a bravura performance by a bravura individual.
For those interested in the spiritual ins and outs of Western “seeking”, “The Goddess Pose” is a breezy and very entertaining book.
February 21, 2021
I’ve always wondered exactly how yoga came to the U.S. and entered the mainstream, and this book explains it. The book is about a very interesting woman named Indra Devi, who lived a long and fascinating life all over the world. I now have a much better understanding of the story behind yoga in America. I still gave it only 3 stars though because I never felt like I really got to know Indra Devi. This wasn’t exactly a biography so maybe that was an unfair expectation, but it felt more like “she went here and there and met this person and that person,” with lots of charming anecdotes but not a lot of depth. Still an absolutely valuable read for anyone on a yoga journey, though.
July 9, 2015
Not as interesting as I thought it would be...too many digressions into details about side character's lives. I like the recent style of integrating personal reflections into straight historical accounts. In the end I didn't learn much more than what was covered in the interview with the author on NPR.
June 25, 2015
Essential reading for anyone interested in yoga beyond Lulumon.
My biggest quibble...a HORRIBLE cover. Couldn't they find an image of Indra Devi? Fire that designer!
My biggest quibble...a HORRIBLE cover. Couldn't they find an image of Indra Devi? Fire that designer!
July 27, 2020
I listened to this as an audio book to try and clock some extra hours for my yoga teacher training. This book read like the Forest Gump of yoga, with Indra Devi bouncing around between infamous figures and events. The writing was fine and most of the most interesting details about the evolution of yoga were cribbed directly from Singleton’s Yoga Body text, so there’s that.
I would not recommend reading this book.
I would not recommend reading this book.
December 28, 2022
Interesting biography, but I wanted it to be more about yoga than it was and it seemed somewhat unfocused.
September 22, 2024
Stunning book detailing the life of Indra Devi, the first female yogi and how she travelled the world through yoga, lived to 103 years old and fiercely did things her way.
March 27, 2025
Really glad I read this book. The author had an enormous task in researching the life of Indra Devi. Often in yogic education the females who helped bring yoga to the world are not in the spotlight, so I think this is an important book. Devi reinvented herself time and again, and never gave up on her desire to bring yoga to the West. This book made me feel so grateful. Also, she dove into a mosh pit at age 84. Hell yeah.
Read
November 25, 2015A friend originally recommended this book to me and recently I found it in my local library. "They don't make women like this anymore." Indra Devi was born in Russia in the last year of the nineteenth century and lived to be 102. During her amazing life spanning three centuries she almost singlehandedly brought yoga to the West. She lived in Russia, fleeing from the revolution, then performed as an actress during the cabaret period in Berlin. During the 1930's she was led to India and was part of an international enclave who were involved in Madame Blavatsky's theosophy while she learned about various types of yoga from Indian teachers. What was most surprising to me was that what we think of as yoga, now practiced on every corner of the world these days, was not some ancient tradition but rather synthesized from poses publicized by saddhu holy men and elements of "new thought" from theosophical and other philosophies. In the years after World War II yoga was revived in India as a type of exercise the national movement could claim was a cultural treasure to give to the world. Devi met Mahatma Ghandi and reinvented herself multiple times, hung out with bohemian intelligentsia and spiritual people alike, and began teaching yoga everywhere she went including Shanghai, Hollywood, India multiple times, and Buenos Ares, Argentina. She first promoted yoga for relaxation and health but at times both revered others and was herself revered as a guru figure. Her enthusiasm and charisma seemed always to help through difficult political and financial situations so she almost always landed on her feet. Many celebrities from entertainment and political worlds made their entrances and exits through her life. Although she did receive some acclaim in her lifetime, I think she would be surprised to learn how commonplace yoga has become in most countries of the world and how great was her pioneering influence.
August 23, 2015
This book is a mixture of being really interesting and really dull. If you have just picked this up for the yoga, then there's a lot of other stuff to plough through, but if you like a wide reaching biography that starts in Russia, takes in India and America, and numerous other places, then this might be for you. I wanted more yoga, and I would have also liked more about Christopher Isherwood and Marilyn Monroe (both mentioned in passing) as well as more about yoga and spirituality in the 60s as part of the counterculture.
Possibly it's just too epic, maybe attempting too much (Indra Devi did live until she was 103!) as there is so much information and history packed in.
Possibly it's just too epic, maybe attempting too much (Indra Devi did live until she was 103!) as there is so much information and history packed in.
June 20, 2015
I love nothing more than biographies of trailblazing women, and I also love yoga. This book combines both. The author organizes and translates the long and fascinating story of this woman's life in an exceptional manner. It's equal parts history, feminism, spiritualism, individualism and of what can happen when you just go for it in life. One of the best biographies I've read.
May 30, 2016
I picked this one up for the Pop Sugar and Read Harder challenges. In this book we are reminded of the history of Yoga and the person who brought it to Western America. An informative read with lots of research about the person and the impact that it has on our daily lives. I enjoyed the story very much and found it to be a great read.
December 27, 2015
Enjoyed historical background of early- to mid- 20th century. Devi got as far as she aspired in a man's world.
Would have liked seeing even one picture.
Read it for book club that grew out of yoga class at D.R. Semmes Y in San Antonio.
Would have liked seeing even one picture.
Read it for book club that grew out of yoga class at D.R. Semmes Y in San Antonio.
January 14, 2016
An interesting account about a fascinating life. It's too bad that there was not more censure against the corrupt gurus.
May 28, 2016
I love yoga, history, and wild untethered women who make their own path. This book has it all.
July 23, 2017
Two words are adequate to describe Indra Devi--"lucky" and "survivor." She was a Forrest Gump Zelig like observer to world events for a century. From the Russian Revolution (she was from a White Russian family) to the overthrow of Manuel Noriega in Panama she was there. Unfortunately she didn't record what she saw or heard, another reason she managed to survive so long, but her biographer Goldberg manages to piece together the story of this enigmatic and extraordinary woman.
She is the person most responsible for modern yoga, the classes taught in gyms, studios and online. Although her interpretation has been altered and overlooked by most practitioners now for more physical and intense versions, most of her work is still in use, especially breathing techniques. She saw how to meld the Eastern spiritual origins of yoga with Western needs, particularly stress and vanity. Oddly enough there's very little here about her teachings, techniques and practice except references to her doing handstands. I admit I started this book looking for more information on early 20th century yoga poses and to see how it evolved. I did learn vinyasa was intended for hyper teenage boys, which explains why it might be difficult for a middle-aged woman.
The history is amazing, and how she seemed to sail through most of it also amazing. Devi seemed to have an incredible sense of child-like wonder and trust, from being interrogated by both the Gestapo and FBI at different times to seeing her beloved gurus found guilty of sexual abuse and not growing cynical or bitter. Her beliefs in love and detachment also made her oblivious of her ailing husband's suffering and led her to gain or drop friends easily. Goldberg shows her as a spiritual adventurer with an open heart but also feet of clay. Devi never sought to be a guru herself, possibly because she valued her independence and saw the demands and responsibilities gurus had to endure. There is a brief history of the Theosophist movement which led to Westerners looking to the East for enlightenment. Eastern religious and spiritual stuff might be difficult for modern readers and skeptics, such as how gurus materialized jewels, as well as psychics, karma, reincarnation, absolute belief and blind obedience. Goldberg doesn't glorify or whitewash the events nor does she vilify the gurus or mystics.
There are great anecdotes here: dancing for Nehru, escorting John Lennon and calling him Mr. Lemmon, crowd surfing in her 80's and meeting Gandhi and not being impressed. She is also a good example of what a long term yoga practice can achieve and that is more encouraging than fitting into a pair of lululemon pants.
She is the person most responsible for modern yoga, the classes taught in gyms, studios and online. Although her interpretation has been altered and overlooked by most practitioners now for more physical and intense versions, most of her work is still in use, especially breathing techniques. She saw how to meld the Eastern spiritual origins of yoga with Western needs, particularly stress and vanity. Oddly enough there's very little here about her teachings, techniques and practice except references to her doing handstands. I admit I started this book looking for more information on early 20th century yoga poses and to see how it evolved. I did learn vinyasa was intended for hyper teenage boys, which explains why it might be difficult for a middle-aged woman.
The history is amazing, and how she seemed to sail through most of it also amazing. Devi seemed to have an incredible sense of child-like wonder and trust, from being interrogated by both the Gestapo and FBI at different times to seeing her beloved gurus found guilty of sexual abuse and not growing cynical or bitter. Her beliefs in love and detachment also made her oblivious of her ailing husband's suffering and led her to gain or drop friends easily. Goldberg shows her as a spiritual adventurer with an open heart but also feet of clay. Devi never sought to be a guru herself, possibly because she valued her independence and saw the demands and responsibilities gurus had to endure. There is a brief history of the Theosophist movement which led to Westerners looking to the East for enlightenment. Eastern religious and spiritual stuff might be difficult for modern readers and skeptics, such as how gurus materialized jewels, as well as psychics, karma, reincarnation, absolute belief and blind obedience. Goldberg doesn't glorify or whitewash the events nor does she vilify the gurus or mystics.
There are great anecdotes here: dancing for Nehru, escorting John Lennon and calling him Mr. Lemmon, crowd surfing in her 80's and meeting Gandhi and not being impressed. She is also a good example of what a long term yoga practice can achieve and that is more encouraging than fitting into a pair of lululemon pants.
August 1, 2017
Recommended to me while attending a Mexican yoga retreat by the teacher. I enjoyed Goldberg's writing style and the biography reads like a veritable Who's Who of yoga: Krishnamacharya, Vivekananda, Krishnamurti, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and B. K. S. Iyengar. As mesmerizing as it is tramping after Indra Devi, throughout her globetrotting life, meeting one Hollywood starlet, government attache or infamous guru after another, one feels as if one never gets to the real gist of Indra Devi. The Goddess Pose is a well-documented biography about what, where and who was with Indra Devi when she brought yoga to the west, but there's very little about the inner woman herself.
He asked her, "What do you want?"
"Jyoti," she replied. "Light. Light in my heart."
This was promising. And I could readily identify with her as she reinvented herself again and again depending on the place and the circumstances. Indra's assumed detachment is emphasized due to her flight from Russia and survival from one country's conflict to another and offered as an excuse for why she often didn't get too close to people (or for as long as they proved useful to her). We are told she was charming, but the selfish cruelty exhibited towards her husband in his final days totally negated my ability to see her as a kind and open-hearted yoga teacher.
There are a plethora of wonderful quotes from Tagore, Krishnamurti and others and I enjoyed learning about the studies of Jeffrey Kripal, Sandweiss, Rudolph Steiner and Harvey Cox and Miltown, the first, best-selling, prescription tranquilizer in the US in the mid-1950s. Not to take anything away from Indra Devi's achievements or her fabulously well-traveled life, but if you are looking for a deeply personal account of a heart-and-soul search for peace and tranquility through yoga, you'll have to keep looking.
He asked her, "What do you want?"
"Jyoti," she replied. "Light. Light in my heart."
This was promising. And I could readily identify with her as she reinvented herself again and again depending on the place and the circumstances. Indra's assumed detachment is emphasized due to her flight from Russia and survival from one country's conflict to another and offered as an excuse for why she often didn't get too close to people (or for as long as they proved useful to her). We are told she was charming, but the selfish cruelty exhibited towards her husband in his final days totally negated my ability to see her as a kind and open-hearted yoga teacher.
There are a plethora of wonderful quotes from Tagore, Krishnamurti and others and I enjoyed learning about the studies of Jeffrey Kripal, Sandweiss, Rudolph Steiner and Harvey Cox and Miltown, the first, best-selling, prescription tranquilizer in the US in the mid-1950s. Not to take anything away from Indra Devi's achievements or her fabulously well-traveled life, but if you are looking for a deeply personal account of a heart-and-soul search for peace and tranquility through yoga, you'll have to keep looking.
September 10, 2021
Super interesting. Simultaneously warm and generous and kinda heartless toward her past. Learned a ton about yoga.
"Devi, unlike most modern memoirists tended to play down her own misfortunes, casting a rosy magical glow around her history. She could never afford to dwell on trauma and eventually she made letting go of the past the centerpiece of her personal spirituality......There's no way of course to confirm that this anecdote is true. It may well simply be what she wished had happened. Indisputably true though is the way in which Eugenia would make an aura of invulnerability a cornerstone of her persona."
"While Devi was a warm person she also had a starkly unsentimental side. When a chapter of her life closed she rarely tried to revisit it.....leaving the past behind was both a spiritual philosophy and a survival strategy."
"Yoga as it eventually came to be practiced in the US, elevates exercise into a sacrement, merging the contradictory quests for beauty and selflessness. It's a kind of secular magic, promising that by assuming certain physical positions you can bring about specific changes in the body and soul. Clearer skin and clearer thoughts. It's alchemy for a disenchanted age."
"If yoga isn't just exercise and it isn't religion and it isn't in its current form all that old, then what the hell is it?"
"The author of another profile wrote that Devi "perceives a great imbalance between the sexes and describes men as being on the throne with a choice to make: either step down of their own accord or be pushed off.""
"People sometimes asked her why she never carried out her plan to retire. 'I don't know' she writes. 'I didn't want to.'....'I changed my opinion because there are always more things to do.'"
"Devi, unlike most modern memoirists tended to play down her own misfortunes, casting a rosy magical glow around her history. She could never afford to dwell on trauma and eventually she made letting go of the past the centerpiece of her personal spirituality......There's no way of course to confirm that this anecdote is true. It may well simply be what she wished had happened. Indisputably true though is the way in which Eugenia would make an aura of invulnerability a cornerstone of her persona."
"While Devi was a warm person she also had a starkly unsentimental side. When a chapter of her life closed she rarely tried to revisit it.....leaving the past behind was both a spiritual philosophy and a survival strategy."
"Yoga as it eventually came to be practiced in the US, elevates exercise into a sacrement, merging the contradictory quests for beauty and selflessness. It's a kind of secular magic, promising that by assuming certain physical positions you can bring about specific changes in the body and soul. Clearer skin and clearer thoughts. It's alchemy for a disenchanted age."
"If yoga isn't just exercise and it isn't religion and it isn't in its current form all that old, then what the hell is it?"
"The author of another profile wrote that Devi "perceives a great imbalance between the sexes and describes men as being on the throne with a choice to make: either step down of their own accord or be pushed off.""
"People sometimes asked her why she never carried out her plan to retire. 'I don't know' she writes. 'I didn't want to.'....'I changed my opinion because there are always more things to do.'"
February 26, 2018
The first time I heard the name Indra Devi, it came out of the mouth of one of my favorite yoga teachers in LA. So when I saw the book, "Goddess Pose," at Strand Books, I just scooped it up hoping to discover WHO this Indra Devi, preacher of the most "emotional" kind of yoga, was. Well, I've JUST finished reading the book and I still don't know.
The earlier chapters were fascinating with her early years in Europe. Devi's historically relevant LIFE kept her running from one war torn country to another eventually winding up Yogi to the stars in Hollywood, CA. What frustrated me as a reader is that there was so much information about OTHER yoga, meditation, spiritual leaders/leadership so I didn't feel the author ever got a handle on WHO Devi was? There was never a point where as a reader you "know" Devi. The writing is GOOD, but over done and thorough in areas that I didn't feel told the "Indra Devi Story." I also didn't understand why every time she introduces a Jewish person into the book, she had to tell us readers "the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland." NO other characters were introduced as Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Sikhs, Atheist or whatever. Why?
I'd have cut down MUCH of the LONG history of the Theosophical Society and its "spin-offs". It should have been told in another book! I bought THIS to learn about the woman named Goddess!
Ah, I did learn that her teacher (Tirumalai Krishnamacharya) taught her the poses for a middle aged woman. But why would the GRANDFATHER of ALL Yogis (Iyengar, Pattabi Jois, Indra Devi) who is named Krishnamacharia, tell Indra to go out and teach yoga? I don't believe it and I'm disappointed.
The earlier chapters were fascinating with her early years in Europe. Devi's historically relevant LIFE kept her running from one war torn country to another eventually winding up Yogi to the stars in Hollywood, CA. What frustrated me as a reader is that there was so much information about OTHER yoga, meditation, spiritual leaders/leadership so I didn't feel the author ever got a handle on WHO Devi was? There was never a point where as a reader you "know" Devi. The writing is GOOD, but over done and thorough in areas that I didn't feel told the "Indra Devi Story." I also didn't understand why every time she introduces a Jewish person into the book, she had to tell us readers "the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland." NO other characters were introduced as Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Sikhs, Atheist or whatever. Why?
I'd have cut down MUCH of the LONG history of the Theosophical Society and its "spin-offs". It should have been told in another book! I bought THIS to learn about the woman named Goddess!
Ah, I did learn that her teacher (Tirumalai Krishnamacharya) taught her the poses for a middle aged woman. But why would the GRANDFATHER of ALL Yogis (Iyengar, Pattabi Jois, Indra Devi) who is named Krishnamacharia, tell Indra to go out and teach yoga? I don't believe it and I'm disappointed.
September 4, 2017
This is a really interesting read about a solitary woman who shows up all over the world at pivotal moments in human history- from her initial home in Riga to Moscow, which she left in 1917 when revolution was on the streets, to Berlin and her eventual departure with the onset of world war II. Devi found herself in India as it sought independence from the British, and on the street in Dallas when Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. She lived in Hollywood and taught yoga to the rich and famous of her day, rubbed shoulders with Gandhi and was a senior adviser to a Panama official when Panama faced its darkest days.
I don't believe in gods and gurus; Devi's story shows, perhaps more than any other, that the power of a guru is just as liable to corruption as a bureaucrat in government. Some of her decisions are highly questionable and there is a selfishness about her life that can't be denied, but this is definitely the tale of an extraordinary life- and for a woman born in the 19th century, who saw the entirety of the painful 20th and the beginnings of the new millennium, it's a story that should spark a sense of adventure in every woman who wants more than the status quo.
The story spreads across the world and is often digressive, diving into peripheral characters and happenings with brilliant attention to detail, adding richness to a history that hasn't been recorded before. If you're interested in feminism, world history or yoga, this is a great read- I learned a hell of a lot more than I had expected to.
I don't believe in gods and gurus; Devi's story shows, perhaps more than any other, that the power of a guru is just as liable to corruption as a bureaucrat in government. Some of her decisions are highly questionable and there is a selfishness about her life that can't be denied, but this is definitely the tale of an extraordinary life- and for a woman born in the 19th century, who saw the entirety of the painful 20th and the beginnings of the new millennium, it's a story that should spark a sense of adventure in every woman who wants more than the status quo.
The story spreads across the world and is often digressive, diving into peripheral characters and happenings with brilliant attention to detail, adding richness to a history that hasn't been recorded before. If you're interested in feminism, world history or yoga, this is a great read- I learned a hell of a lot more than I had expected to.
September 22, 2017
Eugenia Peterson was born into minor aristocracy in Russia. Forced to flee the country, she traveled the world searching for something. She found that something in India when she began to study yoga. First, she introduced it to the diplomats in China while stationed there with her husband. Then she moved to America and helped to birth the yoga revolution here in the United States.
While this book seems fairly admiring of Indra Devi (the name Eugenia eventually started using), she sounds to me like a fairly selfish person. Yes, spiritual detachment exists in yoga but she started using as an excuse to be utterly selfish.
Goldberg seems to have been very fond of using the thesaurus for this book. Too bad she sometimes chose words that were just a little off the mark of what the context clues point to what she was trying to say. Every once in awhile, she'll take a great sentence or word and repeat it twice on the same page. In a book that is otherwise very interesting and readable, these grammar issues tended to stop my flow of reading and send me to the dictionary to see if my understanding of a word was missing one of the possible definitions (it happens) but usually it did not.
While this book seems fairly admiring of Indra Devi (the name Eugenia eventually started using), she sounds to me like a fairly selfish person. Yes, spiritual detachment exists in yoga but she started using as an excuse to be utterly selfish.
Goldberg seems to have been very fond of using the thesaurus for this book. Too bad she sometimes chose words that were just a little off the mark of what the context clues point to what she was trying to say. Every once in awhile, she'll take a great sentence or word and repeat it twice on the same page. In a book that is otherwise very interesting and readable, these grammar issues tended to stop my flow of reading and send me to the dictionary to see if my understanding of a word was missing one of the possible definitions (it happens) but usually it did not.
June 11, 2021
Audiobook duration: 10 hours 20 minutes
Narrator: Tanya Eby
This was an interesting story that I had not heard of before: a white woman from Russian brought yoga to America. Goldberg did a good job researching and pulling all the information she could find about Devi's past and writing it into a logical biographical story. She touches briefly on the topic of cultural appropriation of yoga into the western world and she touches briefly on the controversy regarding the guru Devi followed. Other than that, she mostly sticks to Devi's fantasy of India and her journey of spreading awareness of yoga to the Americas. At times Devi comes across as heartless and cold due to her devotion to her independence and detachment. A few times throughout the book you can also hear the author's cynicism/personal criticism of Devi's more mystical beliefs peaking through her writing despite her trying to be nonpartial.
Overall it's somewhat interesting tidbit of yoga history in America but not an essential read by any means.
Narrator: Tanya Eby
This was an interesting story that I had not heard of before: a white woman from Russian brought yoga to America. Goldberg did a good job researching and pulling all the information she could find about Devi's past and writing it into a logical biographical story. She touches briefly on the topic of cultural appropriation of yoga into the western world and she touches briefly on the controversy regarding the guru Devi followed. Other than that, she mostly sticks to Devi's fantasy of India and her journey of spreading awareness of yoga to the Americas. At times Devi comes across as heartless and cold due to her devotion to her independence and detachment. A few times throughout the book you can also hear the author's cynicism/personal criticism of Devi's more mystical beliefs peaking through her writing despite her trying to be nonpartial.
Overall it's somewhat interesting tidbit of yoga history in America but not an essential read by any means.
May 12, 2023
I bought this book at a used book store years ago and now I’m heading on a (decolonizing) yoga retreat so I thought I’d read this beforehand.
What a wild ride. She is like The Doctor in the ways she shows up in historical events. I had to search so much history as I was following along. Learned lots about European Theosophy and WWII-era European interaction with eastern religion.
I liked the titular character in so many parts, but I lost her on her non-political stance when it came to the history of (this) yoga teaching being riddled with so much sexual assault.
Also, she was super interesting but saying she brought yoga to the west wasn’t really the way the story played out. Her story was more complicated than that and I think and there wasn’t a sufficient enough analysis of the role of colonialism in the American version of yoga (her time in the U.S. wasn’t even the most interesting part of her journey.)
An interesting read, but if it’s gonna be a white lady, I think I prefer “Yoga with Adriene” to “Yoga with Eugenia.”
What a wild ride. She is like The Doctor in the ways she shows up in historical events. I had to search so much history as I was following along. Learned lots about European Theosophy and WWII-era European interaction with eastern religion.
I liked the titular character in so many parts, but I lost her on her non-political stance when it came to the history of (this) yoga teaching being riddled with so much sexual assault.
Also, she was super interesting but saying she brought yoga to the west wasn’t really the way the story played out. Her story was more complicated than that and I think and there wasn’t a sufficient enough analysis of the role of colonialism in the American version of yoga (her time in the U.S. wasn’t even the most interesting part of her journey.)
An interesting read, but if it’s gonna be a white lady, I think I prefer “Yoga with Adriene” to “Yoga with Eugenia.”
October 16, 2020
Goldberg is a delightful tour guide as she traces Indra Devi’s life from imperial Russia to the throws of Europe during the Great War and rebuilding era, to India and her striving for independence and recognition as a power in her right, to WWII in China, and Hollywood in its golden age. Devi leads a life that you have to question if it’s all true and how is there not a movie about her yet? Goldberg occasionally throws in some of her commentary and dry humor that just adds another flavor to the book.
I appreciated Goldberg’s warning in the beginning that if you are looking for a saint, this biography was not the place to look. If it wasn’t for her semi-caustic, always sarcastic comments on some other cultures -mainly her occasional remarks on Christianity- I would find her voice reliable. Even so it was a informative and engaging read.
Read with a dictionary in hand! Words like ennui, inchoate, doyen are nestled in every page.
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