Yoga Girl by Rachel Brathen

For some reason when I first started using Instagram, I decided to start following @yoga_girl.  Some of her earlier posts were very heart wrenching and so honest that you couldn’t help but feel sorry for her and wish her good luck.  She is now doing really well for herself and because of her honesty and openness or maybe because I’ve been following her for so long, that you do feel really happy for her.  Her Instagram posts are still very open and honest but it’s also interesting to see where she is with her life – married, pregnant and in the process of building a yoga studio on the idyllic island of Aruba that they live on.

When her book came out, I eagerly bought it and read through it in about 2 days. It’s like an autobiography interspersed with yoga poses, a few healthy recipes and a list of ‘loving insights’ at the end of each chapter which can easily be taken on their own even though it is related to the chapter.

These are the 7 chapters in the book – Everyone as thought provoking as the last:

Chapter 1 – Yoga Every Damn Day

Chapter 2 – To love what is ahead, you must love what has come before

Chapter 3 – Not all those who wander are lost

Chapter 4 – The body is a place for the soul to reside in

Chapter 5 – Going with the flow

Chapter 6 – Love over fear

Chapter 7 – Moments of silence

I think one of the things that draws me to her book and Instagram account is her almost carefree attitude and trusting that everything will turn out to be ok.  An attitude I think I would love to have but instead I’m too worried about what I’m going to do tomorrow and how I’m going to fit everything in rather than be still and appreciate what I have here, right now. Although, from reading her book I can tell that it hasn’t been that easy for her to get where she is and yoga has been a big part of her life to get here.

I really enjoyed reading the book and I do want to try some of the yoga poses and some of the smoothies.  I took pictures on my phone of all the ‘loving insights’, so I could read them and remind myself to appreciate life as it is right now. As I’m rereading them now, I’ve realised that I have started to do a lot of things that she mentions in the first chapter of the book.  It was also good to know more about her life and to really appreciate the meaning of her posts.  It’s definitely a good health book that I would happily recommend to anyone with my favourite part being the easy to read insights at the end of each chapter.

‘You will always be okay.  Money and material things come to you when you dare to trust in life’s ability to take you exactly where you need to go.  When we live in fear we create tense vibrations that keep the things we long for at a distance.  Worrying is praying for what we don’t want to happen.  Focus on what you want, not what you fear.’ One of so many insights taken from the book.

You can buy the book here: