Earlier this spring Columbia Journalism professor Robert Love published his book The Great Oom, The Improbably Birth of Yoga in America (Viking Adult, $27.95). This biography chronicles Pierre Bernard's transformation from an Iowa-born nobody into a radical leader of mind-body consciousness--in the late 19th century. According to this NPR story, contemporary yogis have Bernard to thank for the existence of yoga in America. All Things Considers interviews Love on this fascinating story in which author Robert Love tells NPR's Guy Raz how Bernard weathered early rumors of rampant sex and drug use, and later an arrest, to lay the foundation for an empire. Listen to the interview with Robert Love on NPR here (opens an MP3 file).
Meditation & "True Love": Musings for V-Day
I'm delighted to have a personal essay up today on the online magazine YourTango.com, "smart talk about love." It's a new venue for me---and a new genre. Soul baring!Well, soul baring with a purpose. I use a story of my own heartache to talk about a powerful meditation practice. For me, this is also a writerly experiment: the personal essay is a form I've long admired. Also, I've been trying to reveal more of myself in my teaching as a way to engage students and avoid setting myself up as an untouchable authority. After all, I am very human.Your Tango is a relationship-focused magazine, so while you're there you can also read why bad relationships are a waste of time, or watch a video of Valentine's Day cards we wished existed.My piece is How Meditation Lead Me to True Love, on the home page, and in it I tell you how, for me, meditation and love are related. Let me know what you think!Had any similar experiences?