One Simple Thing: A New Look at the Science of Yoga and How It Can Transform Your Life, Paperback

A pragmatic and succinct introduction to the purposes and benefits of yoga--philosophical, physiological, mental, and spiritual

Yoga is reputed to improve our physical and mental health, and to help us become more productive at work, more caring in relationships, and more responsible contributors to society. If yoga does accomplish all that--and most practitioners will swear it's true--how exactly does it do it? Believe it or not, there are answers. And they are based in how the human body/mind functions, how we are built and wired, and how what we do can direct and change that.

Drawing on modern neuroscience, ancient wisdom, and decades of practice and teaching, Eddie Stern's One Simple Thing explains how what we do affects who we become, and reveals how a steady routine of physical movements, activities, and attitudes are able to transform not just our bodies but our brain functions and emotions, and how we experience life.

Eddie Stern and his wife, Jocelyn, are the cofounders of Ashtanga Yoga New York, the Brooklyn Yoga Club, and the Brooklyn Ganesha Temple. They studied under the Ashtanga yoga master Sri K. Pattabhi Jois from 1991 until his passing in 2009. Stern has published several books on Pattabhi Jois and Ashtanga yoga, including a translation of Pattabhi Jois's 1960 treatise, Yoga Mala. He is the coauthor, with Guy Donahaye, of Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students and the coeditor/copublisher of Namarupa magazine.