PenguinRandomhouse.com
Yoga Bitch: One Woman's Quest to Conquer Skepticism, Cynicism, and Cigarettes on the Path to Enlightenment
By Suzanne Morrison
Published 2011 by Three Rivers Press
978030771443
336 pages
Synopsis: The storyline is a personal journal of Suzanne Morrison addressing and questioning her Catholic faith, spirituality, and fear of death. She is a normal cigarette smoking (when that was popular), coffee-drinking, meat-eating fun-loving person. At the age of twenty-five, she decides to connect with her ‘spiritual’ side. Her yoga mentor Indra is her idol and Suzanne is willing to follow her anywhere in order to learn how to live without fear. “I was once you, so one day you can be me”(13, p.).
Suzanne attends a two-month yoga teacher training with Indra and her partner Lou. This adventure is her ‘down payment’ on a new her and have a clean slate.
She is surrounded by different yoga mates who share and support one another on this retreat. She learns that wellness is a big factor among the group and yoga poses help to purge repressed emotions and traumas so they can be purified. Also, yoga is about ‘getting away from the ego and seeing that we all are one’(87.p).
She is taught that she needs to ‘practice dying’ and embrace each change as if it were a small death. This will allow her to grow. She has a ‘kundalini’ event, a spiritual breakthrough that allows her to meditate with ease, but she is afraid of being ‘duped’ that it was not the real thing. This ties into her belief ‘in a system of faith, God, and afterlife.’ She comes to terms with this uncertainty and realizes she has all the benefits that ‘come along with faith, such as peace of mind, and the ability to live in the moment without always fearing death’ (153, p.).
Even though Suzanne tells her story in a crazy humorous way, it deals with a deeper message, that we all are searching for answers to the same old questions about life, the universe, and God, but we need to be reassured that we are on the right path.
Genre: Nonfiction, autobiography/memoir
Rule of Three: Appeal
Protagonist: Likable character, honest and funny, and down to earth, relatable; Pace: Fast pace throughout the whole book, easy read; Tone: humorous; Storyline: Change, yoga, fear of death; Mood: Light; Plot driven; Writing Style: Candid.
Read-a-likes
Downward Dog, Upward Fog by Meryl Davids Landau
Similarities: Female character dealing with life, yoga, and spirituality realizes the importance of her own personal power.
Enlightenment for Idiots by Anne Cushman
Similarities: Female character deals with the basic life question, who am I and where am I going? Relatable character travels to India and the book describes her journey in a humorous manner.
Tales from the Yoga Studio by Rain Mitchell
Similarities: Female characters are brought together by their love of Yoga. The characters are from different backgrounds, lives, and struggles. Yoga and self-healing are interwoven in the storyline.
Personal Comment:
My oldest daughter recommended this book. She is a yoga instructor. The title, plus the photo on the cover of the book was very intriguing. I am a ‘cradle’ Catholic so I could absolutely relate to the author’s views, plus I have been practicing yoga for years. It is a very funny and honest story. The author deals with the normal questioning we all go through in our lifetime. It is a little dated in some of her examples; you might not get them (I had no trouble J), but it is well worth the read. In my synopsis, I use a few of her words that describe her examples, because they were so good at explaining her experiences. I added the YouTube so you can see her as a down to earth person.
Yoga Bitch Trailer: Full-Length https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPenVbo6dz0
References
Morrison, S. (2011). Yoga Bitch: One woman’s quest to conquer skepticism, cynicism, and cigarettes on the path to enlightenment. New York: Three Rivers Press.
Novelist Plus. Ebscohost. Accessed 24 March 2019 through the Indianapolis Public Library.
Saricks, J. (2009). At Leisure: The Rule of Three. Booklist, 106(3), 25. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Saricks, J. (2009). The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction (2nded.). Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the book. I recently read a work of fiction that felt dated, too, and I wonder if the book would have been stronger (but perhaps less nonfiction) if it would have dealt with more overarching and less specifics so as to not feel dated. Happy to put this on a list for yoga (and those looking for enlightenment - and maybe some help on the path) enthusiasts!
ReplyDeleteThis book looks hilarious! I have never tried yoga, but my wife loves it, and one of my best friends has started to go regularly and he said he was pleasantly surprised by the experience. Do you think this book is pretty gender specific in its focus, or would a guy like me, whose wife does yoga, appreciate this book as well?
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to read this book for ages. You do a great job on your summary and I'm so pleased you included a personal note and a youtube link. I'm an occasional yoga enthusiast and I think I would enjoy a lot of the aspects included. Great readalikes as well! Full points!
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ReplyDeleteZach,
Oh trust me if you have a sense of humor, you'll like this book! She is a real down to earth person and we all question ourselves as we go through life. I love yoga and its benefits.