Yoga Folks discussion

Has anybody read any good novels that involve yoga? I haven't, but I bet there are some good ones out there.

Here is one with a good title:

Fear and Yoga in New Jersey

The story is only fair, and the main character is a yoga teacher who is not very zen! But I love the title.

I believe Mariel Hemingway wrote a novel in which each chapter title is a yoga position. Anyone?

Long Quiet Highway:Waking up in America.

You could argue it's not about "yoga" but very much about spiritual journeys and meditation.

I just read:

The Yoga Teacher by Alexandra Gray

It was alright, worth the time.

The Buddha of Suburbia, by Hanif Kureishi

Far from being only about yoga (the main topic being conflicts of cultures and generations), but a great book!

Island, by Aldous Huxley

About a close-to-perfect community who practices yoga and meditation.

"First There is a Mountain" by Elizabeth Kadetsky is a novel about a type A personality woman who is told she should try yoga and she applies to the BKS Iyengar school in India and gets accepted to study there.

This was given to me last Christmas and I have to confess that I have not read it yet (don't tell my Dad!). It isn't very long and looks pretty interesting.

I am listening to Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. It is not about yoga, but about a man's spiritual journey through life. Siddhartha uses meditation, fasting, and a fierce desire to reach a sort of perfection, and he takes this journey with many stumblings along the way.

My version is read by a man with a soothing voice and an Indian accent, and I am enjoying it. I recommend it to anyone interested in the spiritual side of things.

You know that this book is about Buddha? It's Hesse' literary interpretation of his life before he became Buddha.

I've just read The handbag, wellies and yoga club by Lucy Edge which i about a move to the country, finding some yoga soulmates and coping with infertility. A quick easy read that I finished in a couple of days and thoroughly enjoyed.

I just read Poser: My Life in 23 yoga poses by Claire Dederer and really enjoyed how she was a skeptic at first but comes to love yoga. She talks about all the things she learned from different teachers and relates different poses to different phases in her life. I read Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo a while ago and the most entertaining part was when he took his first yoga class. There's also lot's of spiritual wisdom conveyed in a lighthearted way. I hope to find more yoga related books here....

deleted user wrote: "Has anybody read any good novels that involve yoga? I haven't, but I bet there are some good ones out there."

S by John Updike is a brilliant satirical novel written as letters from the S of the title - Sarah - to people back home. Sarah is an unhappy middle aged woman who walks out on her husband and goes to an Osho style ranch in Arizona. Cue lots of deluded followers and the egotistical guru.

Great fun and thought provoking for those of us on the hunt for a guru!

Lucy Edge's book Yoga School Dropout is wonderful. Because it's a sort of travel book tracing her voyage around India trying out various styles and teachers of Yoga (both asana and more meditative forms) it is a really useful book for those wanting to know more about a wide range of different approaches. It's also funny and even includes some romance! Highly recommended.

Thank you Brenda, for that link. I really want to read your husband's The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice.

I just read Holy Cow; an indian adventure by Sarah Macdonald...quite funny and worth reading eventhough there is only a small part abour yoga...

Brenda wrote: "The story of Siddhartha is about Yoga. Yoga is not purely a postural practice as many in the West have been led to believe. Here is a link to an article that my husband Georg Feuerstein wrote entit..."

Thank's for the link Brenda...
I just started doing yoga a few months ago and really love it. Living in France I'm actually reading "Yoga for Dummies" co-written by your husband...Just wanted you to thank him for this very well done book for beginners like me..

Best,
Rikke

I just finished three "yoga" novels. The first was Yoga Bitch: One Woman's Quest to Conquer Skepticism, Cynicism, and Cigarettes on the Path to Enlightenment, then Enlightenment for Idiots: A Novel, and finally Downward Dog, Upward Fog. I enjoyed them all so much! The reason I found this site (goodreads.com) is because I was looking for a way to contact the authors, especially Meryl, who wrote Downward Dog, Upward Fog. I enjoyed her book so much, and was sad to see it end because I looked forward to reading her book each night! Looking forward to getting to know each of you. I now need to get to know this website a little better..... Julie

I am getting ready to start Tales from the Yoga Studio: A Novel. I 'll let you know what I think. Julie

Julie wrote: "I am getting ready to start Tales from the Yoga Studio: A Novel. I 'll let you know what I think. Julie"

I read Tales from the Yoga Studio. It was a nice work of women's fiction, but not as spiritual as some of the others mentioned on this thread.

One thing I want to point out to everyone that this Yoga Folks group was comatose for a few years (which thankfully we're rectifying now), so posts on many of these threads go back to 2008 or so, when the group was last active. Obviously the topics and book recommendations are still relevant, but many of the posters are no longer involved.

Meryl Davids Landau

My favorites are _Enlightenment for idiots_ by Anne Cushman and _The Yoga Teacher_ by Alexandra Gray. Anne Cushman has contributed and edited for _Yoga Journal_ and _Tricycle_ magazines, & her novel reflects her extensive knowledge. But, it was just a lot of fun to read - hilarious in parts! _The Yoga Teacher_ was thoughtful and engaging. I recommend both very highly! I agree that _Tales from a yoga studio_ was a nice read. I thought that _Fear and yoga in New Jersey_ was not really about yoga, and didn't get much out of it.

Thanks, Tricia! I thought I'd read all the novels with yoga but haven't heard of the Yoga Teacher. Glad you liked it. I'll check it out!

Meryl Davids Landau

Ok, folks. After a little research (aka Google,) lol! I stumbled upon some more yoga novels. I am wondering if anyone has read these:

Stuck in Downward Dog: A Novel

Balancing Acts

Corpse Pose (#1 in a mystery series)

I was wondering if any of these were worth a read, and if any of you have read them. There aren't many novels out there with a yoga-type theme. :)

I just requested Yoga Bitch! Hope I can catch up with you all.

Hi Julie,

I tried to read Balancing Acts, but I didn't like the author's writing, and it was just too light for me. I ended up just skimming through the last parts to finish it. However, others have enjoyed it, so you might give it a try and see if it suits you!

Thank you for your feedback, Tricia! :)

Julie wrote: "Ok, folks. After a little research (aka Google,) lol! I stumbled upon some more yoga novels. I am wondering if anyone has read these:

Stuck in Downward Dog: A Novel

[book:Ba..."

I have read Corpse Pose and all the Mantra for Murder mysteries. I just finished the 4th one Death in a Difficult Position. They are lots of fun. They are cozy mysteries so more is going on than yoga, but I really enjoy them.

Thanks, Jan. I'll have to check them out!

I not sure if this is the right place for this question, so let me know. Does anybody keep a yoga journal? I was thinking about just using a notebook. But I was also wondering if there was book out there to use, maybe with some guide lines on what to meditate on for that day. Looking for some advice. Thanks

Hi Eric:

Feel free to start a new thread if you don't see one that addresses your topics.

As for journals, I don't keep one. But I do know that in it's recommended summer reading list, Yoga Journal's blog recommended a journal called Writing Yoga, by Bruce Black. Link to that blog is http://blogs.yogajournal.com/yogabuzz...

If you do get it, let us know if it's good!

Meryl Davids Landau

Eric you might like this book, "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga" by Deepak Chopra
It's about Raja Yoga. There is a spiritual concept to ponder on and meditate for each day if the week. It's kind of cool that people who practice this type of Yoga share the same intentions world-wide for each day!

I'm not sure if they all involve yoga, but the teacher at my studio (who has a book club I'm unable to attend) let me know that they are going to be reading the following books, which I thought all sound interesting:

Buddha Is as Buddha Does
Yoga for Emotional Balance
The Happiness Project

Eat, Pray, Love. I haven't read the book, because I knew it wasn't my type of genre, however, I did watch the film adaptation and it's pretty good. Better than the movie, I've heard.

There are a lot of great book suggestions in this thread. But I do want to point out that many of them aren't novels, which is what the thread is titled. I didn't start the thread and I don't much care, but there is another thread here to recommend nonfiction yoga books (memoir, philosophy, etc), so if you think of some of those, that might be a better location.

Don't forget we ARE reading a yoga novel as our June group read: Head Over Heels by Rain Mitchell. Hope some of you join us.

Meryl Davids Landau

Can't wait to read "Head Over Heels" by Rain Mitchell, her last book was good

I just requested the sample of Tales from the Yoga Studio and if I like it I'll read that before June so that I can join in the group read.

Regarding Mariel Hemingway's book: I couldn't find a novel but she did write a memoir called "Finding My Balance: A Memoir with Yoga".

If you, my friends, haven't read THE CHAKRA DIARIES yet, you can download it on Kindle for free, all day Thursday, June 7 at http://amzn.to/KepVL2. It's a fictional account of 10 people in a chakra balancing workshop, using everything from yoga to meditation to heal, forgive, find love and happiness.The Chakra Diaries

I just read Yoga Bitch, which I enjoyed because aside from being a yogi im also quite cynical and before I read this book i thought I was the only one trying to balance the two. Didn't have too much to do with yoga, but I love Suzanne Morrison and as this was her memoir I found it quite interesting :)

Hi Lauren:

Many of us loved the memoir Yoga Bitch too! If you haven't seen the thread on it, check it out, because Suzanne commented, too. She was a terrific addition to the discussion.

Hi Lauren, glad to hear another good review for "Yoga Bitch" it's on my to read list for this fall/winter ;)

Hi all:

I thought I'd read all the novels about yoga but I just stumbled on one called the Yoga Club. Has anybody read this? What did you think?

Thanks!

Angela wrote: "I just requested the sample of Tales from the Yoga Studio and if I like it I'll read that before June so that I can join in the group read."

I recently read this one, and enjoyed it. It would make a good TV series, I think. Course it would probably have a limited audience.

Just finished

It was okay. I feel that the title was a little misleading, not much yoga in the book ;) But still glad I read it! The main character is quite stressed out and has a lot of drama in her life!

Anyone else read this one? What did you think?

I wasn't sure if this post was still active??????

I have read Balancing Acts: A Novel which is an easy fun read. It's about a yoga teacher who reunites with four friends and opens a beginners yoga course.

I really enjoyed Tales from the Yoga Studio: A Novel I got into this one. It challenges the hype and fad of yoga without being too preachy.

Elijah, as a group we read Rain Mitchell's other novel, Head Over Heels. You might want to check that one out, too. It was a light, fun read.

Meryl wrote: "Elijah, as a group we read Rain Mitchell's other novel, Head Over Heels. You might want to check that one out, too. It was a light, fun read."

I've been waiting for the release, It was only released today! (I'm in the UK) I will possibly read it this weekend.

Thanks for the recommendation, what is the group reading at the moment?

Not a novel. We're reading Stephen Cope's the Great Work of Your Life. Great book. With all the holidays, though, only a small number of readers are participating.

Meryl this is a terrific pick. I recently started this book after finishing the Wisdom of Yoga by Cope which is also a must read. I was pleased to find that in The Great Work of Your Life, Cope enlightens the reader to his understanding of the Baghavad Gita. I am about one quarter through the book. In just this much of Copes book, I am pondering new levels of understanding another book I just finished, The Alchemist.

Glad you're enjoying the book, Kris. I know several members read it, although the discussion got blunted by the holiday season, so there was not too much conversation on the thread about it.

Just read this:Mermaid Cafe

It's a fantasy fiction. There's was a lot of yoga philosophy - If you know yama and niyama you'll get a kick out of it. I also pick up some Buddhist ideas in it. But if you're looking for romantic fantasy, this is not it. It's more a spiritual quest.

I concur with Bob; I found Mermaid Cafe and read through it. The author - Neal Arbic - is a well-known yoga and meditation teacher in Toronto, Ontario, and the book is filled with the Jyana yoga (yoga of the philosopher or thinker), which is used to dismantle attachments, fears, sorrows, etc...It actually reminded me of some of the books of Carlos Castanda, where you're taken down a rabbit hole and you don't know what's real or fantasy. You'll find gurus, holy men, trippers, all sorts of strange characters. The protagonist covets money and power in the business world but comes to realize that he's unhappy, leading a pointless, wasted life. So he learns to become Buddhist-like, eliminating ego. And once he starts down that path, there's no stopping. The book can be dense with ideas at times which isn't necesssarily a bad thing, but you had better be in the mood for it, or at least ready for it. It's dark at times (very) and light at others. Like all fantasy, you sometimes have to suspend your belief system, but I found myself enjoying the ride. I would say the book is really worth reading.