{"product_id":"surviving-modern-yoga-isbn-9798889840107","title":"Surviving Modern Yoga","description":"\u003cb\u003eGrounded in investigative research and real survivor stories, \u003ci\u003eSurviving Modern Yoga\u003c\/i\u003e uncovers the physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by Ashtanga yoga leader Pattabhi Jois—and reckons with the culture, structures, and mythos that enabled it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe revised edition of \u003ci\u003ePractice and All is Coming\u003c\/i\u003e from Conspirituality co-host Matthew Remski\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYoga culture sells well-meaning westerners the full package: physical health, good vibes, and spiritual growth. Here, investigative journalist Matthew Remski explores how cultic dynamics, institutional self-interest, and spiritualized indifference collude to obscure the truth: Harm happens in plain sight.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThrough in-depth interviews, insider analysis, and Remski’s own history with high-demand groups, \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSurviving Modern Yoga\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e brings to light how we’re each susceptible to cult abuse and exploitation. He shows how, with the right kind of situational vulnerability and the wrong kind of guru, the ideas we hold close about ourselves—like \u003ci\u003eIt wouldn’t happen to me\u003c\/i\u003e or \u003ci\u003eI’d speak up for victims\u003c\/i\u003e—fail to protect us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRemski reckons with his own complicity in spiritual power dynamics, and shares how a process of disillusionment allowed him to recognize harm. He does the same for readers, peeling back the veneer of yoga marketing to reveal the abuse, assault, and silencing perpetrated against seekers who trusted Jois as a mentor, their \u003ci\u003eguruji\u003c\/i\u003e—even a father figure. Each survivor speaks in their own words, on their own terms, reclaiming agency against an insular, in-group culture that enabled a charismatic leader’s devastating harm—and positioned him as its only remedy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSurviving Modern Yoga \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003ealso includes practical tools to help readers:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUnderstand how high-demand groups trap would-be targets\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEvaluate their own situational vulnerabilities\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLearn to listen for loaded, red-flag language\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCultivate their literacy of cult tactics\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"With interviews and real stories of recovery, Remski presents us an authoritative guide on the effects of sexual abuse, misconduct, and trauma in the modern, globalized yoga world as well as an analysis that invites the possibility of change to this culture of abuse. This book offers hope and practical solutions for those who seek an end to the cycle of trauma, abuse of power, and sexual violence in yoga culture today.\"\u003cbr\u003e—SUSANNA BARKATAKI, founder and director of education at Ignite Yoga and Wellness Institute\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This text centers the voices of the female victims of serial abuser Pattabhi Jois, and it illuminates the wider psychoanalytic and structural conditions that enabled such abuse.... Remski has established himself as one of the most perspicacious and important scholar-practitioners of contemporary transnational yoga.\"\u003cbr\u003e—ANN GLEIG, associate professor of religion and cultural studies at the University of Central Florida\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This is a text that can heal the wounds of yoga and allow us to reimagine it as a safe practice for everyone, free from abuse and injury.\"\u003cbr\u003e—JIVANA HEYMAN, founder and director of Accessible Yoga\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A potent treatise, bringing well-needed, thoughtful, and measured scrutiny to a controversial subject.... This book should be considered required reading for all those involved in yoga therapy training, and I strongly recommend it to all yoga professionals as well.\"\u003cbr\u003e—CASSI KIT, director, faculty, and administrative coordinator at the School of Embodied Yoga Therapy and yoga therapist (C-IAYT, PYT)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"...a remarkable book. [Remski's] fair examination of some of the cultish and dogmatic elements in yogic culture—and the impact they've had on women, in particular—is erudite, well-researched, and engaging. But what's of particular note in his work is the empathy, sensitivity, and respect he takes in addressing the abuse inherent in authoritarian systems. In doing so, he's created a testament to those whose lives have been directly impacted by such abuses of power.\"\u003cbr\u003e—CARRIE OWERKO, senior-level Iyengar yoga teacher, Laban Movement analyst, and functional range conditioning mobility specialist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Informative, challenging, and thought-provoking, a foray into the difficult topics of personal agency, spirituality authority, and cult dynamics.... If you practice or teach yoga, please consider this book an essential companion on your path.\"\u003cbr\u003e—CHRISTINA SELL, author of \u003ci\u003eYoga from the Inside Out, My Body Is a Temple,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA Deeper Yoga\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Jois and ashtanga had a significant influence on what yoga is today in the US and worldwide.... We need to face and discuss this history and that of any harm in order to move into the true promise of living out yogic teachings—harmlessness, integrity, generosity, non-attachment, and the wise use of sexual energies.\"\u003cbr\u003e—JACOBY BALLARD, yoga teacher, social justice educator, and author of \u003ci\u003eA Queer Dharma\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Thank you, Matthew Remski and the courageous women who have stepped forward to offer this pivotal work, a service to humanity, to the yoga world at large, to long-time practitioners, and to future generations so that we can evolve into cultivating a safe space that all beings deserve.\"\u003cbr\u003e—SHIVA REA, author of \u003ci\u003eTending the Heart Fire\u003c\/i\u003e and founder of the Samudra Global School for Living Yoga\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eMatthew Remski is an author and freelance journalist, with bylines in \u003ci\u003eThe Walrus\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGEN\u003c\/i\u003e by Medium, \u003ci\u003eTIME\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eGlobe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e. He’s a former yoga teacher whose research is informed by\u003cbr\u003ehis past experiences as a member of two cults. He’s published eight books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, including \u003ci\u003eThreads of Yoga: A Remix of Patanjali’s Sutras with Commentary and Reverie\u003c\/i\u003e (2012).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRemski has cohosted the \u003ci\u003eConspirituality\u003c\/i\u003e podcast since 2020. With colleagues Derek Beres and Julian Walker he has appeared as an expert on COVID-era spirituality and political extremism for dozens of news outlets. In 2023, they published \u003ci\u003eConspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat\u003c\/i\u003e. Senior yoga teacher Seane Corn called the book “a fascinating, straightforward, well researched, and sobering unpacking of the complex history and present-day phenomena of distorted beliefs within New Age yoga\u003cbr\u003eand wellness spaces.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first edition of \u003ci\u003eSurviving Modern Yoga\u003c\/i\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePractice and All Is Coming:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAbuse, Cult Dynamics, and Healing in Yoga and Beyond\u003c\/i\u003e—earned international praise as a groundbreaking resource for critical thinking and community health. Remski lives in Toronto with his partner and their two sons.","brand":"North Atlantic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301326278885,"sku":"NP9798889840107","price":23.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9798889840107.jpg?v=1767737632","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/surviving-modern-yoga-isbn-9798889840107","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}