For many years at the Jivamukti Yoga School in New York City and throughout the country, popular and highly regarded yoga teacher Ruth Lauer-Manenti (affectionately known as “Lady Ruth”) has been offering her students “dharma talks”―stories from her life that accompany her classes and represent the yogic commitments to ahimsa (non-violence), compassion, and service. Some of these talks have now been collected in a book, many of them accompanied by a reading from classic Hindu texts, such as The Bhagavad Gita, The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Composed with humor and sensitivity, An Offering of Leaves is the perfect gift for the aspiring yoga practitioner and any spiritual seeker wanting to live with thoughtfulness and integrity.
One of my yoga teachers, Heather Lilleston, has been giving daily dharma talks during this time of Shelter in Place. She has read from this book during many of her talks which is how I got interested in it. It's a wonderful little book full of stories from the author's life that she uses to accompany her yoga classes at Jivamukti Yoga School. The stories are short and inspiring vignettes- perfect to read as part of a meditation/yoga practice. Perfect for any spiritual seeker.
Read it. Please read it. It will make your soul feel good. It will make your heart feel good. It will make your head feel good. And it will make people around you feel good, because they won't be able to help themselves from smiling when they see you smiling while reading this gorgeous piece of love.
It's been a long time since I've been so deeply and profoundly affected by a book, and I am an avid reader. It's really a lovely read, and quite quick. I plan to reread it many many times.