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Stephen Cope asked 25 yoga and meditation teachers to share their “tales from the path”–their thoughts on how the long-term practice of yoga and meditation has changed their lives. The result is a unique collection of stories offering insight and inspiration for everyone seeking a more satisfying life.Editorial ReviewsFrom BooklistCope, a scholar-in-residence and teacher at the Kripalu Center, examines the widespread growth of Eastern spiritual practices in America through personal interviews with 25 prominent teachers of Buddhism, yoga, and meditation responsible, in part, for this proliferation, including Sylvia Boorstein, Lama Surya Das, Judith Lasater, Larry Rosenberg, and Patricia Walden. Cope asked contributors to write about what they have experienced while conducting their contemplative practice, what fruit the practice has borne in their life, and what the source is of their deepest inspiration. While some spent significant time in traditional Indian ashrams or Zen monasteries, most developed a long-standing contemplative practice in the midst of ordinary American life, and one surprising common thread is how solitary practices positively transformed relationships within the individual’s family. Stories of dramatic mystical experiences are few, rather most teachers note that contemplative practice gradually helped them to become kinder, less fearful, and more authentic. Jane TumaCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reservedFrom the Inside FlapOver the course of thousands of years, yogis discovered and refined astonishingly practical techniques for living fully. They developed sophisticated forms of mediation — and a remarkable science of physical culture that led to refined states of well-being.In the span of a mere 30 years, these ancient practices have been transplanted into the mainstream of American culture, and we now face an interesting historical crossroads. We have, for the first time, a whole generation of Americans who have spent much of their adult lives influenced by the regular practice of yoga and meditation. An intriguing question emerges: So what? Have these practices really changed our lives? What are their real long-term benefits? Do they really make us happier? More productive? More authentic? And do these practices just change individual lives, or do they transform societies as well?In this volume of essays, well-known yoga teacher and author Stephen Cope poses these questions to 24 of the most prominent teachers of yoga and meditation in America today. Their answers, collected here in both essay and interview form, reveal an astonishing portrait of one generation’s struggle with both the promises and the pitfalls of contemplative practice. Their stories are remarkably moving, real, and human — and they take us beyond the idealized images we may have of spiritual practice into a realm of authentic personal and social transformation that has the potential to make a profound and lasting impact on our culture.File Size: 11167 KBPrint Length: 337 pagesPublisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (March 14, 2012)http://www.amazon.com/Will-Yoga-Meditation-Really-Change-ebo…