First There Is a Mountain: A Yoga Romance

Rating:
Summary: In Search of Peace
Review: There is enthusiasm and search for peace of the author, Elizabeth Kadetsky, as she experiences a different yoga and a different culture. This young journalist practiced the discipline for 15 years and then she learns a different technique. In India, she finds not only new awareness in yoga thinking, she encompasses new smells, some filth, and many food adventures. Meeting Guru Iyengar, she begins to see yoga as a science and not just an exercise. Learning what this man represents is a major part of this unique story.

Rating:
Summary: A terrific, clear-eyed rendering
Review: This is a terrific, clear-eyed rendering of the mystical world of yoga, and particularly of BKS Iyengar's milieu, from a skilled journalist who knows how to write from the heart as well as from the intellect. She weaves memoir and journalistic account together in a balanced way, never going too far in either direction, making incisive observations about each, and about how they play off each other. Particularly noteworthy is Kadetsy's accuracy and economy of language, which make the book a real treat to read.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting book but no index
Review: Yoga is known in America and Europe primarily as a method for relaxation technique available to all, but in India this practice is not separated from a relationship of teacher and student. Miss Kadetsky's book is an excellent description of such relationship in the Indian environment. Also, I think everyone who reads this book will learn much about Yoga and its role in India's National History. I hope the author continues to write books about exchange between East and West.

Rating:
Summary: excellent description of yoga movement
Review: Yoga is known in America and Europe primarily as a method for relaxation technique available to all, but in India this practice is not separated from a relationship of teacher and student. Miss Kadetsky's book is an excellent description of such relationship in the Indian environment. Also, I think everyone who reads this book will learn much about Yoga and its role in India's National History. I hope the author continues to write books about exchange between East and West.