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YOGALIFE

Name: YOGALIFE
Author: Johanna Maheshvari Mosca
ISBN: 978-0-9679567-7-0

10 STEPS TO FREEDOM

by Johanna Maheshvari Mosca ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 2010

A thoughtful and often delightful book about pursuing serenity through yoga and spiritual exercises.

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A series of guided meditations, reflections, and journaling exercises, aimed at helping yoga practitioners look deep within themselves and discover inner peace.

Yoga teacher Mosca (Cultivate Contentment, 2009) offers a short but in-depth guide to the spiritual side of yoga practice. In each short section, she introduces five restraints, or “Yamas,” and five observances, or “Niyamas.” The restraints—“Non-Harming,” “Truthfulness,” “Non-Stealing,” “Moderation,” and “Non-Attachment”—are framed as ideals for the reader to strive for, but Mosca emphasizes that yoga isn’t about self-punishment: “There is no harsh criticism of anyone for wrongdoing; there is only loving opposition to wrong deeds.” The Niyamas to strive toward, she says, are “Purity,” “Contentment,” “Discipline,” “Self-Study,” and “Surrender to God.” Each Yama and Niyama comes with a guided meditation, encouraging readers to develop a relaxed state of body and mind. There’s also a list of affirmations in each section, which may help ground readers. The book is clearly organized and simply crafted to allow readers to return to each lesson and repeat journal entries as needed. One feature of Mosca’s writing is that she explores each concept on a physical level, as well as a mental and spiritual one. For example, the concept of “Shaucha,” or purity, is connected to the cleanliness of one’s body and environment. It then goes on to discuss conscious eating, fasting, and cleansing, along with freeing one’s mind of turbulent emotions and other distractions. Another important observation deals with “Santosha,” or contentment—described as a “willingness to accept whatever fate may bring with balance, gratitude and joy.” The ideal, as the author explains, is to achieve unwavering serenity throughout life’s ups and downs, but one of the book’s most positive aspects is its emphasis on process, rather than on achieving an end goal.

A thoughtful and often delightful book about pursuing serenity through yoga and spiritual exercises.

Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-9679567-7-0

Page Count: 47

Publisher: Sedona Spirit Yoga Publications

Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2018

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
TEEN TRIUMPH
by Johanna Maheshvari Mosca illustrated by Greg D. Rieves

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.