Going Om: Real-Life Stories On and Off the Yoga Mat

by Melissa Carroll (Editor), Cheryl Strayed (Foreword by)

Overview

With candid, witty, and compelling experiences of yoga from renowned memoirists, including Cheryl Strayed (author of the number-one New York Times bestseller Wild), Claire Dederer (author of national bestseller Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses), Dinty W. Moore (author of The Accidental Buddhist), Neal Pollack (author of Stretch: The Making of a Yoga Dude) and many others, Going Om shares a range of observations about this popular practice. Unlike books on yoga that provide instruction on technique, Going Om is a unique collection of personal narratives from celebrated authors. This anthology of original material values the quality of writing over the authors' flexibility. Ira Sukrungruang shares his heartbreaking struggle as a 375 pound yoga student discovering self-worth on his mat; Gloria Munoz explores the practice of stillness with lyrical elegance in the midst of her busy mind; Neal Pollack's signature sarcasm leads to surprising turns at yoga class with his dad; Elizabeth Kadetsky uses yogic wisdom while coping with her mother's devastating Alzheimer's.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936740864
Publisher:	Start Publishing LLC
Publication date:	09/09/2014
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Melissa Carroll is a writer and yoga instructor who believes in the power of being present. Based in Tampa, she guides more than 200 students every week at the largest yoga class in Florida. Melissa leads yoga and creative writing retreats all over the world, and teaches creative writing at the University of Tampa. Melissa is the author of the chapbook The Karma Machine, and her work has appeared in many literary journals and magazines. Discover more at MelissaCarrollYoga.com.Cheryl Strayed is the author of #1 New York Times bestseller WILD, the New York Times bestseller TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS, and the novel TORCH. WILD was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as her first selection for Oprah's Book Club 2.0. Strayed's award-winning writing has appeared in THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS, the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post Magazine, Vogue, Salon, The Missouri Review, The Sun, Tin House, The Rumpus—where she wrote the popular "Dear Sugar" advice column—and elsewhere. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages around the world. The movie adaptation of WILD will be released by Fox Searchlight in December 2014. The film is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and stars Reese Witherspoon, with a screenplay by Nick Hornby. Strayed holds an MFA in fiction writing from Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two children.

Editorial Reviews

"Perhaps that's the reason I admire the essays in this collection so deeply. Like shavasana, they seem to be one thing—writers on the subject of yoga—but really they're another: profound examinations of what it means to be human. In these essays there are funny stories, sad stories, moving stories, and real stories. In sharing their experiences with us, each of these writers have tapped into the universal questions that we're confronted with when we get ourselves down on the mat. Questions about humility and determination. Simplicity and acceptance. About moving forward, doing the work, and most of all, receiving with equanimity what comes next on breath at a time." —Cheryl Strayed, author of #1 New York Times Bestseller Wild

Reviews

"Perhaps that's the reason I admire the essays in this collection so deeply. Like shavasana, they seem to be one thing—writers on the subject of yoga—but really they're another: profound examinations of what it means to be human. In these essays there are funny stories, sad stories, moving stories, and real stories. In sharing their experiences with us, each of these writers have tapped into the universal questions that we're confronted with when we get ourselves down on the mat. Questions about humility and determination. Simplicity and acceptance. About moving forward, doing the work, and most of all, receiving with equanimity what comes next on breath at a time." —Cheryl Strayed, author of #1 New York Times Bestseller Wild

"Carroll, a Florida-based yoga teacher and creative writing professor, compiles essays from noted writers including Neal Pollack, Dinty W. Moore, and Claire Dederer, asking each to reflect on what millions of Americans—themselves included—are searching for in yoga practice, and what they are finding. Yoga helped one writer cope with her mother's Alzheimer's disease; another found self-worth through the challenges of being a 375-pound yoga student; yet another gained new perspective on the notion of "stillness" in a busy world." —Publishers Weekly

"A beautiful, hilarious, touching account of why we love yoga." —Brian Leaf, author of Misadventures of a Parenting Yogi

"Going Om is the literary equivalent of dropping in on class to find all your favorite yoga writers packed in there on their mats. Just like our bodies, every essay here is wildly unique—some are graceful, some are sexy, a few might make you cry—the only constant being the diverse ways these writer's lives interact with their practice." —Benjamin Lorr, author of Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain, and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga

"A wonderful collection of essays that illustrate the power and promise of yoga on and off the mat." —Gary Halperin, author of Feel Better Now Meditation and Feel Better Now: Essays on Yoga, Meditation, Mindfulness, and Love

From the Publisher