RUDRA IN SEATED LOCUST POSE
The new coffee table book, Yoga Bodies, celebrates 80 yogis of different shapes, sizes, ages, skills and backgrounds — their stories distilled by author, Lauren Lipton, and favorite poses captured by photographer, Jaimie Baird. Yoga Bodies showcases real people and their yoga stories — humorous, heartfelt, and profound – told to entertain as they enlighten.
CHAD IN HALF LORD OF THE FISHES VARIATION ~ CLAUDIA IN HAPPY BABY POSE
“The last thirty years was the practice of yoga; the last three years has been the application of yoga. Getting my son dressed and out the door in the morning is a daily test of patience and compassion and trying to not react in a knee-jerk way. I invite any Buddhist monk who has been studying in a monastery for however many years to take care of a three-year-old for a few days.” -CHAD
In what could be titled “Yoga Stories”, Yoga Bodies captures yoga’s vibrant and individual spirit: from Esco, a former drug dealer whose time in prison led him to the yoga mat; to Susan, a transgender woman, and how she worked up the courage to use the ladies locker room; to Kevin, an internet entrepreneur who became a yoga teacher after his 1990’s dot.com bubble burst; to Jyll, who does yoga so she doesn’t “punch somebody in the throat”; to Claudia (yours truly!), who openly admits she doesn’t like yoga and finds nothing zen about it.
JYLL IN DIAMOND POSE VARIATION ~ TONY IN CHIN BALANCE VARIATION
“There are so many times in a football game when you have to recapture yourself and recommit to yourself. It could be during a long play, when you come back to the huddle winded and have to keep on going. Yoga helped me during those times. When I got fatigued during a game, I’d tell myself, “Breathe. Calm down.” -TONY
Yoga Bodies illuminates the endless diversity of the human form — expressed through a physical and spiritual practice that welcomes all – and celebrates the compelling stories that bring so many of us to the mat.
