Yoga Book Club is one of my favorite things. Last year, in both the fall and the spring, both books just flew at me as if on a mission; it took no effort to select the title we would read and explore together. This fall, perhaps because my attention was broadened by the studio, I didn’t hear a specific book call out to me. I had to return to favorite titles and explore other recommendations. I’m happy with Parker Palmer’s work, but here’s what I loved yet didn’t make the cut:
Fed Up by Gemma Hartely. Emotional labor in the lives of women. I’m not going to promise that this one won’t return to us in a different format, because she has a lot to say about the imbalances in many households, not just with literal chore-charts, but with the invisible work of managing it all.
Lost Connections by Johann Hari. He explores the social, vocational, spiritual and value-driven sources of anxiety and depression. He presents so much research on this book, valuable to those with and without diagnosable conditions.
Sabbath as Resistance by Walter Brueggeman. This was was a tad to deep in the theological work for our book club format, but a worthy read nonetheless. Dare I say that Walt B. might be reinforcing our yoga practice when he says that we need to return to the being and not just the doing?
Shameless by Nadia Bolz-Weber. Again, I’m not promising that this one won’t come back around. There’s so much work being presented right now about our cultural views of the body and how we might begin to make space for it’s goodness, especially in regards to human sexuality.
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Dr. Gabor Mate. Honestly, it was just too much. Too much reading, too much hurt, too much to fathom – even though it’s much too real for people everywhere. This work on addiction (and trauma and disconnection as likely root causes) had me shaking my head and texting my friends. (I know, I have nerdy friends. Or, just friends that accept my nerdiness.)
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. I read anything this woman writes and this work of fiction was light and effervescent. I really just wanted a group of you to join me in reading our favorite lines, but imagined it wasn’t quite enough for a 5 week series of discussions. Go enjoy it at your leisure.
These are the titles that come readily to mind, there are several circulating that I read in the past 6 months that might pop up in conversation (or return to the Potential Pile for spring!)
