A Journey to Inner Peace and Freedom - Yoga for Life

I sent this back. The cover promised more than the book actually delivered. Saidman Yee's story is somewhat interesting, but the accompanying images were uninspiring. She should have stuck to writing an autobiography for half the price, but even that would have been a stretch. There were small black and white images of asanas and an artsy black and white image of the author at the beginning of a chapter. This is not a book I would reach for again and again. "The Sivananda Companion to Yoga" is 32 years old and far surpasses Saidman Yee's book.

Colleen Saidman Yee has woven together the threads of a remarkable life with humor and insight. The through lines of her memoir are stitched together chapter by chapter in themes familiar to us all. By demystifying the practice of Yoga and binding it to what we feel and think in our daily lives this book opens a unique door between eastern philosophy and yoga practice to the emotional journey of western life. Colleen Saidman Yee is a unique observer of the human condition. In Yoga for Life we see first hand how love, hard work and intuition come together to build sequences that not only guide our physical health but address the emotions surrounded by the powerful transitions and trials we live through day to day. This is both a marvelous practical guide to understanding how we can use yogic practice to focus and heal, alongside a memoir of a life truly worth reading about. It is spiced with insightful quotes that offer surprising moments of reverie. It is a delight to read

Part memoir, part manual, part philosophy, this book by the inspirational Colleen Saidman Yee is both enlightening and entertaining. Connection between life and yoga are made beautiful, relevant and applicable. Read it if you want your life changed.

what a beautiful guide to yoga and to life ! think "sid and nancy" meet "light on yoga" --- grit and glamour to inner peace and freedom.
and loaded with photos to inspire and instruct your home practice. thank you, colleen. i'm so happy i own this book.

I have serious medical and chronic pain issues, and Colleen Saidman Yee's mastery as a teacher and a writer has enhanced my life. I am not a yoga devotee, but I try to do my best. This is what Colleen inspires us all to do..try our best and give our best to the world. I could not put this book down. The book is a hybrid, like getting 2 books in one. Colleen has written a gripping memoir about her journey and enhanced every chapter with a section of photos and easy to follow instructions on how to do certain poses. Is it possible to learn yoga poses from a book? In this book, YES! I recommend this book twice, as a memoir and as an easy to follow practical book on how and why select poses are beneficial to our body and spirit. I've given three copies as gifts, I believe this book is something you will go back to again and again.

After skimming some of the reviews, I was a little skeptical that reading Yoga For Life would enrich my yoga practice. I've been a practitioner for a decade and a teacher for several years and, I'm embarrassed to admit, I wondered what a beautiful former model could teach a reader about navigating life's waves -- I mean, she's living a fairy tale life, right? So, I borrowed the book from the library. Now, after reading it cover to cover I'm ordering two copies, one for myself and one for my sister. I appreciate the author's honesty and generosity in sharing her struggles and her yoga practice. The sequences are thoughtful and lovely with easy to follow step-by-step pictures and text. I do think the book delivers the promise in its subtitle "A Journey to Inner Peace and Freedom." If practiced, each chapter's story and sequence addresses a particular life challenge (for example, Trauma, Addiction, Chaos, Fear), or aspiration (Forgiveness, Confidence, Awakening, Service ...). It is a book I will reach for again and again, not only for myself but gratefully to share with students.

Colleen Saidman Yee, is a beautiful writer. I have been reading her blogs for years and am so happy that she has written this book. Colleen is a compassionate and sensitive person that is unafraid to share life's foibles. She has traversed many worlds which she shares with candor and insight. This is not a book that is written primarily for Yoga practitioners. Colleen's book is one that can be read and reread by a broad audience. Highly recommend.

From the touching reminiscence of author Colleen Saidman Yee as a child watching her mother alone at a window at the opening of this book to the almost encyclopedic and illustrated chapters that follow, “Yoga for Life” is likely to become a standard of the Yoga bookshelf.
Working with talented editor and writer Susan Reed, Yee offers an impassioned guide to a practice that—as for many others—changed her life. “In many ways,” Yee writes, “Yoga became my church, even though I don’t see it as a religion.”
Whether one is a sophisticated practitioner or a yoga newbie (moi), this is a book to own. The chapters, accompanied by compelling personal stories comprise carefully explained sequences and poses with instructive photographs. If you obtain this book, I bet it’s spine will soon be cracked in dozens of places from its loving and frequent use like a cherished cookbook.

This is a great book. Colleen inspires and motivates with her amazing story and knowledge.
I wish I could practice with her every day. I will buy this book for friends and family.
It is amazing and I am most impressed with Colleen's courage to expose what she has gone through.
She is a beauty inside and out. Anyone will benefit from this book. I love it.

Colleen bares her life experience without inhibition and with admirable honesty in a beautifully endearing and daring way. Marrying that with yoga poses and sequences, Colleen offers her readers very practical instruction that is applicable to any skill level. The book is riveting and soulful. I couldn't stop reading. What an inspiration. THANK YOU.

Coleen Saidman Yee's Yoga for Life is a profoundly transformative book. It is just as much about yoga as it is about real life. It will move you to a new place. The yoga asanas and her life experiences compliment and enrich each other to guide the reader to a deeper understanding of not only yoga but one's authentic self.

I absolutely love this book--it is probably one of my favorite books ever. Colleen's story is honest, real, engaging, and makes you think about your life. She writes so conversationally--it seems like she is sitting next to you and telling you about her life over a cup of coffee or something. Colleen's story inspired me to pick my yoga practice back up and think about my life in a different way. I love the variety of yoga sequences she has in her book; I only wish they were on a poster or something, because it's hard to follow them while you're in the middle of a sequence as they span multiple pages and the book likes to try and close unless you pin the corners down with heavy objects!

Amazing book. Transformative. Read it!

Open, brutally honest and raw. Not so sure when I read about the author shooting up her friend in the eye even though she was trying to help her. I was taken back by that. But, her journey into yoga isn't about judgment, its about truth. There were many wonderful black and white pictures throughout the book. The different yoga poses were interesting to learn as I am new to yoga. I will incorporate some of the techniques into my yoga tool box. Namaste