May I Be Happy

October 22, 2012
Renowned yoga instructor Lee (Yoga Body, Buddha Mind) juxtaposes her expertise in mindfulness and fitness with her lifelong hatred of her body. Instantly relatable to almost every woman, Lee’s journey reels readers in. Though she danced and choreographed with Cyndi Lauper in the 1980s, she writes, “I just felt like an un-cool person with a wrong-shaped body.” In the present, Lee struggles about letting her hair go gray and feels empowered when she goes for it. With skill, Lee weaves together the story of her personal hardships—her dying mother, her marriage heartbreak—with yogic wisdom and sage advice from experts, gurus, and friends (including Jamie Lee Curtis). Determined to stop feeling bad about herself, she has several breakthroughs, one while she teaches yoga in Japan during the recent devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. Yogis will devour the insightful dharma talks, but the book transcends its New Age genre. Lee takes the familiar body image subject and makes it fresh—and better yet—manageable.

November 15, 2012
A yoga expert charts her path to centered serenity. From the opening pages of her memoir, the founder of Manhattan's renowned OM yoga center is outspokenly quick to correct misconceptions about yoga instructors, who are assumed to be "always chill and never grumpy." Lee's (Yoga Body, Buddha Mind, 2004, etc.) life has been a mix of long-sought-after wellness and the trials of caring for an increasingly frail mother fraught with a merciless diagnosis of Lewy body disease, "which presents as a cruel combination of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's." She reminisces about an upbringing greatly influenced by her father, a Protestant minister, and momentous visits from Gloria Steinem at her high school in the 1960s. Dancing and a steady interest in yoga buoyed Lee through an obsession with her physical image, which bloomed into a dogged "body grudge" and chronic low self-esteem that plagued her into adulthood. Several trips to India helped her comprehend that it wasn't her body being "the real troublemaker," but her mindset. Lee beautifully describes the yin and yang of an all-encompassing yogic lifestyle. Sprinkled throughout are short (but sweetly sage) anecdotes from the veteran yoga instructor's classes. The author writes that her beloved mother's firm direction on "how to be ladylike and strong at the same time" still resonates with her today and pretty much sums up the tone of this distinctively Zen autobiography. A reassuring treat for the yoga set and inspiration for flexible newcomers.

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December 15, 2012
Renowned yogi and established memoirist Lee has written a book that, under the right circumstances, could change your life. Lee tackles with candor an issue that plagues most womennagging dislike of some aspect of their bodies. Lee's own fixation has been on her weight. For years, neither her successful career as a professional dancer nor the affirmation of her husband convinced Lee to change her attitude, or her eating habits. With refreshing humor, she acknowledges both the narcissism and the inescapability of this sentiment, allowing the reader to watch as her thoughts vacillate from hating her thighs to hating herself for hating her thighs to hating herself for hating herself. She eventually turns to her yoga practice and the tenets of Buddhism, which prove to be a challenging but workable road map toward inner peace. Short accounts of Lee's style of yoga and instruction methods make this book of particular interest to those familiar with yoga, but any woman will find insight and genuine encouragement toward self-acceptance, even self-love, here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)