the evolution of a book...
If you've been following #WAWADIA so far, you'll know this book-in-progress is too big a project to describe in this window. So I made the video above.
I've also published a 52-page prospectus to help you see the future book more clearly.
You can open the prospectus in a new window by clicking here.
The prospectus is easy to browse, with a linked Table of Contents. You can dip in at any point. It contains:
- a working thesis
- a mission statement
- a descriptions of the book's audiences and intentions
- the book structure so far
- a rough roadmap of sections and chapters
- a projected budget for the target fundraising amount
- the starting lineup of my production team (research assistance, editorial, design, and more)
-
four draft excerpts: "The Cremation of B.K.S. Iyengar", "Meeting Nancy Cochren", "My Left Hand: I Am That", and "Six Lenses for Studying Modern Postural Yoga". (Starts on p. 16, if you're eager to get to it...)
- a list of emergent themes
- a "Dramatis Personae" (list of on-record informants)
- answers to some early objections
-
testimonials
- my bibliography so far
Here's a beautiful draft of the book's cover. Thank you to designer Laura Shaw.
why is this book important?
Millions benefit from Modern Postural Yoga (MPY) every day. But many are also injuring themselves, or being injured by their teachers. Just how many is hard to know, but it is happening at a higher rate than either yoga marketing or its spiritual pedigree would suggest.
Yoga injuries occur for many interweaving reasons. Obvious factors include prior conditioning, poor education in biomechanics, overbearing instruction, sacrificial attitudes towards pain, and group pressures to fulfill presumably shared spiritual ideals.
More subtly, many people are first driven to asana by feelings of inadequacy or shame, and trauma. These experiences can motivate the desire for bodily reclamation and redemption, but they can also acidify practice with anxiety and impulsiveness. Asana is a crucible in which some attempt to forge new selves, and in the process, burn their bodies.
Shining light on this shadowy process can only help current and future practitioners make more mindful and sustainable choices on their path.
There is no way to prevent all injury. But I do believe that this book can model the skills of self-inquiry that will lead to more lucid understandings of practice, the flesh, experiences of pain, the studio, and the relationships of learning and teaching. My hope is that this work may help prevent the worst kind of injury: the injury one cannot digest or understand; the injury that leaves one feeling broken and embittered.
I also hope it will help those who teach become more aware of and humble before the beautiful tensions of this embodied journey, and to be clearer on where they need to learn more.
what I'm asking for...
-
30K for the 20 months of work ahead.
- Expenses include research assistance, investigative travel, editorial support and design. Oh, and time to write.
- A detailed and transparent budget is laid out in the prospectus.
- (I have a proven record of making good on these campaigns. Threads of Yoga and Family Wakes Us Up have found their readership, and acclaim. There will be bumps along the road, for sure. But I have an amazing story to follow, a lot of fire, and a ton of good help.)
support by pre-ordering!
- Single copies
- Gift amounts
- Wholesale amounts
- You can also invite me to your studio or conference event to present from my ongoing findings, and facilitate community discussion. Makes for a very rich evening.
or, you can support by:
- Chipping in whatever you'd like.
- Making noise about the campaign. (See the share tools.)
- Sending along thoughts/feedback...
my intentions for this book:
- To produce an accurate, contemplative,
and hopeful account of modern yoga practice that will serve a maturing community.
- To help shift yoga culture into a more self-reflective era. To help reach beyond the fading
paradigms of faith, charismatic authority, and the transcendent and often
self-harming view of the body as something that must be perfected, instead of
simply made more functional, enjoyed and explored with
curiosity.
- To shine light on the innovative pathways that are
emerging as earnest yogis recover from the injuries of yoga’s adolescence.
an early testimonial :
Matthew
Remski's WAWADIA research digs beneath the statistics of yoga injuries to
examine the stories we tell ourselves about our bodies, perfection, inadequacy
and freedom. We all know that repetitive strain or too much flexibility creates
the conditions for injury. But what we haven't brought to light yet are the
consequences of the narratives we tell ourselves - how they set us up for
physical trouble in practice and how they influence the way we go through life.
This research will help you pay attention to the strange unconscious intentions
that get all mixed up in a life-long practice, so you can clear out unhelpful
motivations and follow through on what's truly good for you.
-- Michael Stone, teacher, author
________
Thank you for your support.
warmly,
Matthew Remski
