Going Om

With candid, witty, and compelling experiences of yoga from renowned memoirists, including Cheryl Strayed (author of the number-one New York Times bestseller Wild), Claire Dederer (author of national bestseller Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses), Dinty W. Moore (author of The Accidental Buddhist), Neal Pollack (author of Stretch: The Making of a Yoga Dude) and many others, Going Om shares a range of observations about this popular practice. Unlike books on yoga that provide instruction on technique, Going Om is a unique collection of personal narratives from celebrated authors. This anthology of original material values the quality of writing over the authors’ flexibility. Ira Sukrungruang shares his heartbreaking struggle as a 375 pound yoga student discovering self-worth on his mat; Gloria Munoz explores the practice of stillness with lyrical elegance in the midst of her busy mind; Neal Pollack’s signature sarcasm leads to surprising turns at yoga class with his dad; Elizabeth Kadetsky uses yogic wisdom while coping with her mother’s devastating Alzheimer’s.

Going Om is a behind-the-scenes look at life in a men’s correctional facility, complete with alarming and surprisingly funny stories. Mike Huggins shares letters he had written from inside, lessons he had learned along the way, and how he discovered his true calling and ultimate sense of purpose. Yoga gave Huggins the strength, direction, and tools he needed to shift from his role as a corporate executive on the outside to sharing a cell in our often-corrupt prison system. Before long, he started teaching incarcerated men breathing exercises, anger management, and how to take yoga off the mat to be spiritually free.

One fine day, Om and Vidya realize that they are not ordinary children; after Sam and Julie, it is time for them to learn about their legacy. This is the second installment in the "Legacy Of The Gods" Trilogy.

The OM Mala is a book (and a mala or a rosary) about just one word-OM. OM is one of the shortest Sanskrit words, and yet is perhaps the most powerful one, besides being a globally recognized mystic mantra. The OM Mala gives 84 names of OM from Sanskrit texts and explains their meanings in 109 sections or beads: 108 chanting beads and one 'sumeru' bead. Each bead offers the meaning(s), explanation, traditions, etymology, and quotations for one or more names of OM. The book covers rare names of OM like 'shrutipada' and 'rasa' as well as common names like 'om', 'udgitha', and 'pranava'. Popular meanings (like Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva) and rare meanings (like inhalation, holding the breath, and exhalation) are included. The book contains teachings and narratives related to OM from Veda-s, Upanishad-s, Smriti-s, Purana-s, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Gita, Yoga, Tantra, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism. Pearls on OM from poems, plays, and works on music and Ayurveda are presented. The use of OM in Yogic breathing and meditation is explained and the explanations/relevance of OM in Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism is briefly touched upon. The OM Mala is a mini-encyclopaedia on OM and associated concepts in Indian religions and culture.

"Unlike books on yoga that provide instruction on technique, Going Om is a unique collection of personal narratives from celebrated authors. All of the essays are original material, written for this collection. This anthology values the quality of writing over the authors' flexibility. Ira Sukrungruang shares his heartbreaking struggle as a 375 pound yoga student discovering self-worth on his mat; Gloria Munoz explores the practice of stillness with lyrical elegance in the midst of her busy mind; Neal Pollack's signature sarcasm leads to surprising turns at yoga class with his dad; Elizabeth Kadetsky uses yogic wisdom while coping with her mother's devastating Alzheimer's. Going Om will find an eager audience with the 20 million Americans practicing yoga. The editor, Melissa Carroll, is a yoga instructor who teaches more than 200 students every week. As a writer and university creative writing professor with extensive public speaking and print experience, only Carroll could curate these true tales of life from the mat"--

Divya, an East Indian Canadian, travels to Southern India as an exchange student where she is overwhelmed by its extraordinary beauty and ugliness, its vibrancy and hypocrisy. As Divya discovers the past that her family has desperately tried to conceal, she is faced with a daunting choice: to fulfill her role as a dutiful daughter, or to search her soul and follow her Dharma. Divya's Dharma is a story about tragedy, love, and spiritual growth. Issues such as India's staggering poverty, appalling corruption, and the horrors of inter-caste wars are woven into a plot driven by characters and events that shape and change Divya's life forever.