Yoga and the Quest for the True Self
Author: Stephen Cop
Millions of Americans know yoga as a superb form of exercise and as a potent source of calm in our stress-filled lives. Far fewer are aware of the full promise of yoga as a 4,000-year-old practical path of liberation—a path that fits the needs of modern Western seekers with startling precision. Now Stephen Cope, a Western-trained psychotherapist who has lived and taught for more than ten years at the largest yoga center in America, offers this marvelously lively and irreverent "pilgrim's progress" for today's world. He demystifies the philosophy, psychology, and practice of yoga, and shows how it applies to our most human dilemmas: from loss, disappointment, and addiction, to the eternal conflicts around sex and relationship. And he shows us that in yoga, "liberation" does not require us to leave our everyday lives for some transcendent spiritual plane—life itself is the path. Above all, Cope shows how yoga can heal the suffering of self-estrangement that pervades our society, leading us to a new sense of purpose and to a deeper, more satisfying life in the world.
Publishers Weekly
Yoga, according to first-time author and longtime yoga teacher Cope, can cure the sense of separation that dogs many people in our culture: "a separation from the life of the body; a separation from the hidden depths of life, its mystery and interiority." Here, Cope, a psychotherapist who left a practice in Boston to live, study and ultimately teach at the Kripalu Yoga ashram in Lenox, Mass., navigates yoga for Western seekers. Drawing on his own experiences and the stories of many friends and yoga students, Cope holds up ancient yogic concepts of the self against evolving theories of modern psychotherapy. Rather than attempting a reductive comparison, Cope suggests that various ideas experienced during yoga practice can enhance the goals of Western psychotherapy. Readers familiar with Jack Korn- field's A Path with Heart or Mark Epstein's Thoughts Without a Thinker may find Cope's approach noncommittal. He tells stories of liberation and release without ever quite conceding that yoga and psychotherapy are two profoundly different worldviews. Although ineluctably drawn to yoga practice and the ashram, Cope's point of view is resolutely Western and psychotherapeutic. Still, Cope's psychotherapeutic orientation and genial win-win approach lights up a notoriously arcane subject for Western readers. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
Loosely utilizing the parable of the Indian king Viveka's spiritual journey to frame his own, Cope describes his ten years of yoga practice, first as a resident and now as a senior teacher at the Kripalu Institute in the Berkshires. Inspired by a devastating breakup, Cope, a psychotherapist by training, first went to Kripalu to investigate an undefined but powerful spiritual yearning. He found a home for himself in the vibrant, complex community dedicated to yoga and personal growth. In this, his first book, he provides a Western perspective by drawing parallels between yogic philosophy and psychology and emphasizing yoga's benefits as both a therapeutic tool and a spiritual path. Cope hints that yoga is being reinvented by its widespread practice in the United States, but, unfortunately, he only begins to probe such changes when, for example, he describes the liberating reorganization of Kripalu following a scandal in 1994. Though Cope's emphasis on Kripalu's style of yoga and his New Age tone will turn some readers off, few other accessible books provide as good an overview of the spirituality of yoga. As a result, this will be in demand wherever yoga is popular.--Rebecca Miller, "Library Journal" Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Book about: Ogilvies Book for a Cook or Salut
Elder Rage or, Take My Father... Please! How To Survive Caring For Aging Parents
Author: Jacqueline Marcell
Including an addendum by Dr. Rodman Shankle, founder of the UC Irvine Alzheimer's Center, A Physician's Guide To Treating Aggression In Dementia With the Proper Medications.
Internet Book Watch
In Elder Rage: How To Survive Caring For Aging Parents, Jacqueline Marcell shares the story of her shocking discovery of how the lives of her elderly parents had deteriorated with the onset of her father's dementia and inability to continue to care for her ailing mother. Elder Rage is more than a personal memoir and eventual success story, it is also a revelation into one of today's rapidly burgeoning problems of elder care and what resources are available for caregivers in dealing with problems of their parent's senility, character disorders, and age-based health issues. Of special value is the addendum "A Physician's Guide To Treating Aggression In Dementia With The Proper Medications" by former Medical Director of the UC Irvine Alzheimer's Clinic, Rodman Shankle, M.D. Elder Rage is very highly recommended reading for anyone concerned about dealing with an aging parent's needs when impacted by dementia or Alzheimers.
What People Are Saying
Robert A. Stern Ph.D.
Robert A. Stern, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurology and Associate Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Clinical and Research Program, Boston University School of Medicine
Thank you so much for your superb presentation at our Alzheimer's Research Seminar. The audience included dementia specialists, senior neurologists and neuropsychologists, basic scientists, nurses, fellows, residents, medical students, clinical research staff, and others from New England who came specifically to hear you. And, what a fabulous presentation it was! Your ability to combine humor, personal insight, wisdom, and critical meaningful guidance to all of us involved in the web of care for those with dementia was sensational. Each gained useful tips and tools that will enrich our professional practices and personal experiences.
Regis Philbin
I thought I knew Jacqueline until I read her book. Wow, What a story! If you're caring for an elder, you won't believe how much this books will help you.
Steve Allen
A remarkable book! You have charted a relatively untrod field associated with the aging process. You deserve a great credit—congratulations!
Hugh Downs
Jacqueline's story and style of writing will surely grab a large readership. Studded with flashes of humor, it demonstrates the enormous resourcefulness and resilience of the human spirit.
Dr. Dean Edell
Jacqueline tackles that part of life that most think will never happen, and shocks us out of our denial with what it can really be like dealing with the personality and diseases of our elders.
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