Yoga Bitch: One Woman's Quest to Conquer Skepticism, Cynicism, and Cigarettes on the Path to Enlightenment

by Suzanne Morrison

Paperback, 2011

Status

Available

Publication

Three Rivers Press (2011), Edition: Original, 352 pages

Description

Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. Humor (Nonfiction.) HTML:What happens when a coffee-drinking, cigarette-smoking, steak-eating twenty-five-year-old atheist decides it is time to get in touch with her spiritual side? Not what you�??d expect . . .   When Suzanne Morrison decides to travel to Bali for a two-month yoga retreat, she wants nothing more than to be transformed from a twenty-five-year-old with a crippling fear of death into her enchanting yoga teacher, Indra�??a woman who seems to have found it all: love, self, and God.   But things don�??t go quite as expected. Once in Bali, she finds that her beloved yoga teacher and all of her yogamates wake up every morning to drink a large, steaming mug . . . of their own urine. Sugar is a mortal sin. Spirits inhabit kitchen appliances. And the more she tries to find her higher self, the more she faces her cynical, egomaniacal, cigarette-, wine-, and chocolate-craving lower self.   Yoga Bitch chronicles Suzanne�??s hilarious adventures and misadventures as an aspiring yogi who might be just a bit too skeptical to drink the Kool-Aid. But along the way she discovers that no spiritual effort is wasted; even if her yoga retreat doesn�??t turn her into the gorgeously calm, wise believer she hopes it will, it does plant seeds that continue to blossom in surprising ways over the next deca… (more)

Rating

(40 ratings; 3.2)

User reviews

LibraryThing member salgalruns
Suzanne is attempting enlightenment - so much so that she is traveling to Bali to become a yoga instructor and be at peace with the world. Her memoir takes you through the really funky (in my opinion) things that people do to achieve this. From drinking pee (no, I am not kidding) to discussing
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other bodily functions in full detail (again, seriously)...I was dying with laughter.

However, the book lost it's humor and zest about halfway through for me. It became more introspective, which may have been cathartic for the author, but given that I'm not a yoga-ish person, it didn't hit a chord with me. I WISH I were - it seems very cool, but I'm too bouncy. Could never focus for that long (although, neither does Suzanne for that matter)...

An enjoyable, short read - especially for those who have taken at least a few yoga classes that will get even more of the humorous aspect.
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LibraryThing member knitwit2
This was 352 pages of whining with an occasional insight or funny quip thrown in. Another whining 30 something looking to fulfill the "hole in her heart". Atheism - too much / Christianity - too much / Yoga - not enough cigarettes and chocolate. Too many pages of a spiritual quest spent deciding
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whether or not to buy a pistachio green Prada handbag. She had a ridiculous crush her guru, only to completely turn on her in the end. God or the absence of God and people can't please this woman. She should stick to cigarettes and call it a day.
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LibraryThing member krazy4katz
Some deep questions are posed (no pun intended), such as does God exist? What will death be like? How do I know when I have found the right partner in life? What are my goals for this life? Suzanne tries to answer all of these questions as a 25-year old by going on a 2-month yoga retreat to Bali
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just before she makes a big move from Seattle to New York City with her boyfriend, Jonah. "Whatever," as her "yoga mates" might say. As you can probably guess, things don't go quite the way she anticipates. Guru/god/yoga instructors turn into human beings with flaws and ego. The commercialization of yoga becomes an obstacle to trust and the desire for a milkshake is overwhelming. The book was humorous and entertaining while portraying what it's like when you try to find all the answers in yoga. I just think it went on a bit too long in the middle in order to really drive home the main points as thoroughly as possible.
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LibraryThing member cookierooks
Would have given it 3 stars but for the ending. Seriously?
LibraryThing member KimMeyer
This was better than I expected based on the cover and title. At times it's really funny, but there are sections that are thought provoking enough that they still come to mind often a few months later. It's a standout above most of the Life as Experiment memoir genre.

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

352 p.; 5.2 inches

ISBN

0307717445 / 9780307717443
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