linds_j 's review for:

Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain, and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga by Benjamin Lorr

3.0

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I was as up & down with my feelings toward this book as the author was with the content and his feelings toward Bikram. For the most part, it kept my attention and opened me to a world within yoga that is so extremely different from my own experiences. In my few years practicing yoga, I can already appreciate it as a journey and it's clear the author does too (he refers to this near the end of the book). It could also be why I felt the content was a bit scattered at times, jumping from teacher training to yoga competitions to personal stories to the drama of the Bikram underground world to scientific explanations of the body/brain and beyond ---> most of which left me bored and eager to plow through. I think with so much to say he tried to jam too much in.

I'm not a Bikram fan and the book makes me even less inclined to practice his style of yoga, though I appreciate the classes I've gone to in the past and can attest to feeling great after doing them. It was neat to hear his students' opinions of this conflicted, dual man. Yoga is many different things to different people and everyone is drawn to it for varied reasons at exactly the time they are meant to. This speaks clearly in the book, and hearing about how Bikram yoga has benefited various diseases, addictions, injuries, etc. was one of the most enjoyable parts for me. Also the peek into the world of 'backbending club' was insanely warped yet so captivating. He did a great job portraying it.

Side note: anyone know why he constantly referred to yoga as "the yoga"?!