Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

This book surprised me. I picked it up in order to read about the mental aspects behind yoga, but it was so much more. This contains the best description of spiritual growth--what it looks like and feels like, and how it can look different for different people--that I've ever read. It also looks at aspects of healthy spiritual community vs. unhealthy spiritual community, which is applicable in different contexts (I've seen the same dynamics in church settings.) This book is much more in depth, well researched, and insightful than most "spiritual growth" books I've ever read. I'm at the point in my life where I avoid such books like the plague. But this one is excellent and helpful.Cope gets criticized because many of the people in his books seem to have the luxury of time and money to pursue yoga/spiritual growth in a focused way. He works at a yoga retreat center after all. You don't have to take months off from life and live at a yoga center to pursue personal growth. The examples and principles are still helpful and still apply.

I’m a yoga teacher, and I definitely enjoyed this read. Lots of interesting information and a pretty engaging story Cope tells about his own spiritual path. Easy to read and compelling. I’d recommend this book.

I bought this book because I understood it to be a study of a typical Westerner's experience of yoga beyond exercise and mindfulness. However, I could barely get though the first few chapters with my constant eye-rolling over the long-winded privilege of someone who could take months off from work to pursue a deep yoga practice. How could I relate to this person and how could they write what I thought this book was going to be? Eventually I picked it back up and I'm glad I did. The author's background as a psychotherapist is nicely melded with yogic principles without being too direct about the psychotherapist lens. If you're well read in such things, you'll easily recognize tons of elements of emotional intelligence, various aspects of trauma and recovery (such as reconnecting to the body), even a bit of Internal Family Systems, and not to mention lots of completely relatable types of stressors most of us deal with regularly. All of these things you might read about or learn in psychotherapy are, apparently, well established in the practice, metaphysics, and ideology of yoga. The author's expertise may have originated in privilege, but this book has a lot to offer pretty much everyone. If you're not well read in some of the things I described, some of what he talks about may still sound fairly new-agey, but all I can say is read it, try yoga, and see what happens. I'm super new to yoga exercise so I can't speak to my own experience, but I can speak to the legitimacy of at least much the ideology discussed. My only criticisms (other than the beginning of the book) are that the yogic vocabulary, though explained, can still be pretty hard to keep up with, and the "crash course" chapter at the end doesn't do enough to hold your hand through that learning curve. It's definitely a book to read more than once to fully get the most from it.

This book helped me in a time in my life in which I really needed some direction with yoga and meditation. I finally got past doing yoga simply as a means to an end (for physical health reasons), and started viewing it as a spiritual practice. Another reviewer said he/ her rolled his/ her eyes at the idea of taking a year off of work to find yourself in practice... but that's exactly what some people need if they are single and working 50+ hours a week in a high-stress (high-paid) job. There's little point of making excessive amounts of money if it leads to a nervous breakdown.Yoga can potentially help those with substantial depersonalization and derealization (DP/DR) issues. Giving up 90% of processed foods can help, too.

I read this book awhile back and decided to purchase it for my own reference text. Stephen Cope is an amazing author, I love his style. I have read his other two books Yoga and the Quest... and The Great Work of Your Life. He has an uncanny ability to interweave stories of ordinary people with those of famous ones as well as his own story into one. He knows how to write and get his point across. I think everything he does is wonderful.

And it definitely wasn’t, and it wasn’t in new or even good condition either.

I have devoured every single book written by Stephen Cope. Not only does he have the wisdom of a sage, but he delivers it in such a refreshing, comical and relatable way. You do not have to practice yoga to receive massive benefit from this book. But once you do read it, I'm sure you will want to start a yoga practice. Yoga changes lives. It changed mine and Stephen captures so beautifully the essence of how yoga can change one's life, on every level, from the concrete to the subtle.I also know Stephen personally and he is one of the kindest, most generous, humble and down to earth human beings that I've ever had the pleasure of encountering on this planet. His work comes from a higher place and he is doing it beautifully. Please read this book and all of his others!

Stephen Cope has written an exquisite, moving, and totally accurate ethnography of the way it was at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the late 1980s and into the 1990s.Both a memoir and an intelligent, compelling discourse about the transformation of self to Self via yoga. Answers the question: Why would any lively, sentient being hie off to an ashram, monastery, or convent. Cope explores the complex psychodynamics of the spiritual journey without talking over or down to readers. His writing is positively lyrical in places.Superb Appendix provides a detailed, well-written guide to yogic practices and disciplines.You don't have to be smitten w/the Eastern-based spiritual traditions to appreciate this book. It's an essential read for anyone interested in why, when, and how people choose "a path."

The book arrived quickly and in good condition.

Muy bueno ,todas esas dudas que surgen cuando entras al camino de yoga quedan resueltas . Un libro muy honesto y muy real.

I don't normally leave reviews but I wanted to express just how much I've loved reading this book and what a vital tool I've found it on my yoga path. I've been practising yoga for several years to manage my physical and mental health, and because I never feel closer to myself or more at peace than when I'm in a posture or being with my breath. So I found the blending of a psychoanalytic and yogic perspective really exciting, and it answered a lot of questions about how best to use yoga as a tool for healing and to get closer to your true self. I found the section on developing one's equanimity practice to keep up with the insights gained in awareness practice particularly useful as I have found myself somewhat overwhelmed by the latter in recent times. So this book came at the right time for me and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who loves yoga or is looking for a way to manage their suffering. I found the first chapter a little slow but after that I couldn't put it down so if you find that too then stick with it, it's so worth it :)

The author introduces Yoga to a Western audience. From one particular school of thought. He also interlaces modern psychological ideas throughout.It wasn't what I was looking for, I wanted to read more first hand accounts, rather than the psychoanalysis of people.It is well written, just not my cup of tea.

This book expresses what I have experienced directly through my yoga practice but struggled to put into words. It offers a beautiful integration of psychology and spiritually and I'd recommend it to therapists, yoga teachers and anyone interested in embodied spirituality.