A Yoga Book About Love
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Today I'm honored to share sponsored yogini Kelsie's review of the book Mala of Love: 108 Luminous Poems. This collection features two of my favorite things in the world: yoga and poetry. Enjoy...
Un-put-down-able. Adjective informal
1. (of a book) so engrossing that one cannot stop reading it.
This book channels the inner nature of the self, and is a stunning body of work. Many of the poems are excerpts from the work of practitioners all over the world and their words embody my inner most emotions, most strongly, love. Its much easier to express my profound love to others with the help of Mala Of Love.
So true, so inspiring, so deep.
Here are a few excerpts from the book, to give you a sense of how it reads.
An excerpt from page 42:
The minute I heard my first love story
I stared looking for you, not knowing
How blind that was.
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.
They’re in each other all along.
- RUMI
Translated by Coleman Barks
An excerpt from the book's introduction:
The diverse voices form a mala, or a garland of 108 prayer beads. Although identified with Eastern traditions, the mala has been increasingly accepted as a sacred tool in other parts of the world. All the beads of a mala are equal, complete in themselves, and yet related to one another. Each turning of the beads steadies and deepens a connection to the Supreme. On a practical level, this collection — like the mala — is an interactive tool allowing the reader to commune with love. We can read the poems aloud in the same way we might recite a mantra or a prayer with a mala. Consistent use helps foster a shift in our neural pathways, so that eventually we become that which we meditate on. We become love.
Thanks, Kels, for sharing your thoughts on this beautiful book!
PS Another awesome book of yoga and poetry.
