Friday Reads: Strike a Pose

I started doing yoga when I was 17, when I took a class at our local community school. It was held in a gym, not a studio. There wasn't any bells and whistles, just plain yoga.
As a result, a lot of what makes yoga popular today is whipped cream to me.
My personal belief is that everyone needs to practice yoga-and if that happened, the world would be a much better place.
It was from this on the mat perspective that made me want to read Poser. I really wanted to like this book, I did. I wanted to. The author seemed like someone who would make a good friend.
I can totally relate to the wellspring of emotions asanas can release. I remember not that long ago, being in camel pose (you are kneeling and reaching in a back bend for your heels) and just wanting to sob. No reason, except muscle and fascia are tight in many people because of memory. You release that tension and so goes that memory.
There is a poignant vignette in Poser, where the author is in cobbler's pose and she recalls her daughter's birth and NICU stay. I have had instances where yoga reveals things to me I wasn't aware of or conscious of.
When my practice is strong, I am definitely more aware of my world. I feel more connected, grounded, with the whole universe.
I related to the mom-petion she endured. Although not as bad or blatant in south Dakota as in Seattle, there is still a lot of attempted one upmanship. Claire (since she could be part of my social circle) struggled to be the perfect parent and do it all.
I completely relate.
I did struggle with her retelling of her mother hooking up with Larry and destroying her childhood family. I struggled with trying to find her mother as a sympathetic figure, and to understand the motivation for what she did.
There were obvious repercussions for the daughter.
The other thing I found troubling was as the book hurtled forward, the more marginalized her husband Bruce was. He started off as a looming figure. Page by page, his presence shrunk.
The more I read, the more I realized the book was less about yoga and more about relationships. The subtitle of the book is "My Life in 23 Poses", which sums it up-life, with poses as a backdrop.

Photo of the author is from here: http://writingismydrink.com/2011/01/25/drink-sits-down-with-claire-dederer-author-of-poser/, which features a great interview with her!