From a scholar of yoga psychology—who is also a Western-trained psychotherapist—comes this irreverent modern Pilgrim’s Progress, a lively and personal account of yoga, the 4,000-year-old practical path of liberation: “the way of the fully alive human being.” Drawing on the vivid stories of practitioners at Kripalu, the largest yoga centre in America, where he has lived for over a decade, Stephen Cope introduces, with clarity and wit, an unforgettable cast of contemporary seekers—on the road to enlightenment carrying all the baggage of the human condition: confusion, loss, disappointment, addiction, and the eternal conflicts around sex and relationship. This is a book on spiritual practice, excluding nothing—“where the rubber hits the road” in our culture—that’s as compelling to read as a good novel. It vividly and conversationally describes what the life of yoga entails.

I have attempted to write the Baedeker I needed as I began my own exploration—an account of the interaction of real Western human beings with the psychology, philosophy, and practice of yoga; an account that attempts to build a bridge between a sometimes complicated and esoteric theory and an essentially straightforward and down-to-earth practice.

“A down-to-earth, wise, spiritually mature and compassionate teaching that integrates the best of yoga and our own Western humanity. Destined to be a classic.” —Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart

“Captures the essential magic of yoga—brilliantly helping us to connect muscle, bone, and sinew with spirit, soul, and consciousness. An inspiring guide to anyone interested in the deepest possibilities of human existence.” —John Welwood, author of Journey of the Heart