What a beautiful, useful, gentle book. It's been useful for my personal yoga practice and my work as a yoga instructor. Highly recommended.

The author seems highly motivated to help participants in yoga find an approach that works for them. He is willing to think outside the box. His own journey through the practice of yoga is a very clear example.

I must say grace has never been my strong suit - and yoga always seemed to be something tall, long-legged people could do. I have a couple of DVDs, several books, and every year or two in summer I break them out and give it a try and consider it a failure and return my 'yoga tools' to the bookcase in the spare room.

Peter Sterios approaches the whole field of balanced exercise with a unique viewpoint. And even my old short round body can participate, and feel good, and build on this exercise every day. Thank you, for my added strength, my better breathing, my increasing stamina. You have really made a difference in my world.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Peter Sterios, and Sounds True publishing. Thank you for sharing your hard work with me. I have read and followed the approach to exercising of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.

The blurb accurately describes this book, so if the blurb appeals to you, then you will probably enjoy Gravity & Grace. I liked how yoga teacher Peter Sterios used the concepts of gravity, grace, and levity to guide readers in discovering the interplay of effort and non-effort that leads to a satisfying yoga practice. I found Peter’s story inspiring and definitely gained some insights that will help me develop a more healing relationship to my yoga practice.

In Part 1, Teaching Stories, Peter shared lessons that he learned from his personal experiences studying yoga and meditation. I particularly enjoyed Part 2, The Energies of Gravity and Grace, and Part 3, Science and Yoga Meet. Part 3 includes a brief discussion of connective tissue and tactile perception that I found really interested. It was not as detailed as I would have preferred, but the author provides generous reference citations in his Notes, as well as suggestions for Further Reading.

I struggled to understand some of the ideas in Part 4, Subtle Body Anatomy, but I think some of that will come with more practice. Regarding the chakra system, the author himself states that, “for my first few years of practice, it felt like nothing was ‘happening.’” Despite my difficulty with some of the more esoteric aspects, I appreciated the instruction provided in Part 5, Practice Essentials. And I intend to do as the author suggested and “first let go of expectations, intentions, and goals, while still hanging on to my commitment to practice, and simply remain curious about what showed up.” This willingness to surrender and be curious about our experience is really what this book is about.

I also loved the many humorous and thought-provoking quotes throughout the text, from sources as diverse as Lao Tzu and Lemony Snicket. I think the Subtle Body Guidesheets provided in the Appendix are a bit complicated for beginners, but a nice resource for more advanced practitioners. Unfortunately, I could not locate the additional resources mentioned as being available on the author’s website. I was reviewing an uncorrected proof, so perhaps directions for how to obtain those resources have been corrected in the final published version.

I think this book has something to offer anyone who enjoys yoga, regardless of preferred style, physical condition, and whether a beginner or an advanced practitioner. I would particularly recommend this book for anyone who is working with limitations from an injury or illness.

Thanks to Sounds True for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review.

Written in a warm, candid style, this book was meaningful even to an amateur yogini like myself. The author writes as if he is talking to the reader and I have the sense that he is a natural-born teacher. He totally lives up to his stated intention to share a “nonmystical attempt to describe the mystical healing powers of the practice of yoga.”

The author uses many of his own personal life experiences and stories to illustrate what he shares with us about yoga. Also, I loved the variety of quotations sprinkled throughout.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.