Recently I had the pleasure of checking out yoga teacher Cyndi Lee's memoir, May I Be Happy. In it, she chronicles her interesting experiences of youth, battling the mirror, finding ways to be at peace, and learning yoga along the way.

I love that the book is an exploration of what it really means to be beautiful, and the yogic practice of letting go.

Here's one passage on advanced yoga practitioners I really enjoyed:

The advanced students have already learned about the meaning of practice. They've embodied the knowledge that if they stay steady, stick with the process, and keep moving along, even if they are unsure of both the path and the destination, eventually the way will become clear.

They learn to be comfortable with problem solving and, in fact, understand that that is what a lot of yoga or meditation or any kind of mindfulness practice is really about. Taking a look at any given situation and working with things as they are...

The yoga word for friction is tapas, which really means that where there is heat, there is the potential for transformation. For the super advanced students, this is where the practice begins.