This book is for every yogi.
It is for lifelong yogis, for yogis newer to the practice, and for yogis who
have never stepped foot on a mat. That is, who haven’t yet.
If you’ve tried yoga, you may have experienced what I call the yoga buzz.
Leaving the studio after class, maybe you found yourself unexpectedly
happy, thinking, “Everything is exactly as it should be.” In this enchanted
state, the world, even with its suffering, heartache, and aggravation, feels
miraculous. People seem divine and beautiful, and you remember that
despite our disagreements, we’re all traveling through life with one another
for company. The feeling doesn’t last forever; inevitably, honking horns
and arguments and “your call is very important to us” sneak back in to
mess with your yoga buzz. But you can get it back whenever you want,
just by returning to your mat.
The wish that everybody might have access to this deeply peaceful state
of mind led me to create this book.
Yoga Bodies celebrates the many ways yoga can bring joy and meaning to
our lives and demonstrates that anyone can do it. You don’t have to be
athletic and flexible, or any particular age, shape, or size (or, as you’ll
discover in these pages, even human). You don’t need to embrace Eastern
spirituality or chant in Sanskrit. You need not wear yoga pants, eat kale,
or spend years perfecting your poses—or, in Sanskrit, asanas. There’s no
rule that you have to say “asana.”
You definitely don’t have to have a “yoga body,” at least not in the ungenerous
way the media often defines it: sexy, skinny, and able to contort into impos-
sible positions. The superstar yogis you see in magazines and on the Internet,
the women and men who backbend on paddleboards and handstand on cliffs,
are extraordinary talents. Some of them are in this book. And they would be
the first to tell you that they don’t own the term “yoga body.” They believe,