Yoga School Dropout: A hilarious, hapless and desperate quest for mystic Indians and Tantric bliss

Yoga School Dropout is a spiritual journey through ashrams, asanas, yogis, gurus and India itself and yet it never takes itself too seriously. The writer is always honest about her own struggles to gain self-realisation and those of her fellow yoga friends. She examines her inner workings, the country around her, the philosphies and quirks of the yoga world with clear observations (even when it makes her look bad), wit and a keen sense of exploration and openess. I learned a lot from Lucy's travels, the people she met and the occasional glimpse she had of bliss. Thanks and Namaste.

Yoga School Dropout by Lucy Edge was the first book we read for our Twitter YOga Book Club (#YOBC) last November. We now have a few books under our book club belt but this one holds a special space in my yogic heart.Lucy Edge chronicles her travels from her stressful ad agency job wearing heels and drinking wine in London to India wearing orange Birkies, clutching her new copy of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. I was drawn into Yoga School Dropout immediately by the chapter titles, like my two favorites "1. The violet vibrations blow my crown chakra wide open" and "12. My kleshas really f---ed me." I wanted to read what these delicious nuggets of yogic speak and profanity had to share. Throughout Lucy's adventures I found her English wit and sensibilities painted a funny, honest, and humble portrait of woman in transition ~ she is the 'every yogi' in a sea of super yogis.From chapter one Lucy Edge fleshes out her characters, based on real people, so that we as the readers know them; they are students on the mat next to us that we all know. Juxtaposition-ed next to them are the actual modern great teachers and their schools of India. Her descriptions put you right there with her amidst the noise, smells, and sights and next to the "grumpy animals". We feel her frustrations, her joys, and, her triumphs.I liken Lucy Edge's journey to that of Dorothy to the Emerald City; we learn through her that you don't have to venture far to find the home of your true essence. It is a reminder that while you search for expansion to be just who you are and allow yourself to simply experience the experience. If you are looking for the illusion you'll get held down by the crowd.Yoga School Dropout should be on every yogi's reading list.

I really wanted to like this. Although it started off light and fun, toward the end, the author became less interesting. She seemed to have lost her sense of humor. Although nothing is wrong with a humorless yoga memoir, it's just that the book seemed a mish mash of experiences and that it wasn't coherent.Although it's not the best yoga memoir in print, it was interesting to read about the different yoga schools, ashrams and more in India. It was also interesting to read something from a British perspective instead of an American one.

The book was really cute and funny. I can definitely say that I can relate to Lucy, and maybe that's why I liked it so much. The only thing I think I didn't dig so much is the fact that it's quite similar to Enlightenment For Idiots by Anne Cushman.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I discovered yoga about 5 years ago, and have been practicing it on and off, but this past year I have been doing it regularly. I read this book, and it helped me to undetstand that I do not have to be a vegan to practice yoga, and yoga is unique to each individual and everyone's journey with yoga is different. I felt like I was in India with Lucy. I am glad that she wrote this book because it stresses the benefits of yoga, as well as accepting yourself for how one does yoga and there is no definitive yoga lifestyle.

I set out to read a handful of yoga memoirs this past year. I'm pretty open to different stories/paths and even styles of writing. The description of this book sounded like something I could relate to, so I gave it a shot. Then I tried my best to get through it. (Of the half dozen or so yoga memoirs I read, this was the only one I simply could not finish.) The author's constant self-deprecation was exhausting. The lack of character development for anyone she introduces in the book was frustrating -- it seemed as if the author just decided to write about whatever was happening in her line of view (what people wore, what they ate, what they said, etc.) without bothering to explain why any of these people were relevant to telling her story. (Hello? Was there an editor out there helping to ... edit this book?) I never really got a grip on who the author was -- I really wanted her to go more in depth about her life and why she chose the yoga path. It's all there on the surface, but the narrative doesn't go much beyond that.I don't have the book in front of me as I write this (I sold it at a yard sale months ago), but I recall reading about one of the author's experiences at the ad agency where she worked: one of her bosses asked her to explain something to him as he slipped her on to his lap. As I read that part, I thought, "Oh! Ugh! Blah! What?!" I sensed that the author was bothered by this guy's action, but she writes nothing beyond a brief mention of this incident. I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity for a writer to expand on why she had to get out and do something radical with her life. My guess, at the time, was that the author was young and inexperienced. After I gave up on the book, I googled the author's name and was surprised to read online that she was in her late 30s when she embarked on her yoga journey (now, whether or not this info is accurate is another matter). Point is, she wasn't that young and/or inexperienced. The self-reflection and depth you might expect from someone who's older, wiser and hardened from years of working in the advertising industry is just not there in the pages of this book.Look elsewhere for yoga memoirs. Or just buy this one at a yard sale.

Great read! Accurate info butted up against the best kind of trip thru India! Loved every second. Sorry to see it end.A must read for anyone interested in an extended jaunt thru India and a more thorough examination of what yoga is in the east vs west.Lucy: write more!!!!

it came in good condition!!!!

I really wanted to love this book but found myself not altogether trusting the narrator's account as she seems to judge very much on appearances, and you're never really sure whether she's listening or laughing up her sleeve when sifting through the technicolour range of teachings on offer. It's an odd mix: eyeing up the local hunks and noting the female competition with dismay, while also recording a blow-by-blow account of why one ashram after another fails to deliver the desired physical or spiritual progress. It's as though the mission (like any long pilgrimage to strange countries in search of what's ultimately located inside) is doomed to fail and the only option is to make a bit of a joke of it all, but this left me wondering why she bothered. To her credit, she acknowledges all this if you reach the end of the book, but flippancy and sincerity are difficult companions, and the balance here is not quite right.

I spent some time in one of the ashrams mentioned in this book and it was interesting to read about the place from Lucy's point of view and see how different experience different people can have - I mean this in a good way. This book is a great read for anyone interested in yoga and thinking about exploring it in country of its origin. It also shows the reasons and motives why many people in the west practice. It is down to earth and funny read, loved every minute of it!

I really enjoyed reading about the journey taken in this book.I enjoyed the personal insights along the way.

Oh Lucy why oh why did you choose this book cover? I put off buying this for quite some time as it looks like a teenagers beach read. We shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but how can we help this? All I can say is, get over the cover and buy this book. It is actually much more serious than it looks and as someone who’s just qualified as a yoga teacher it’s really interesting to read of her travel, the history and philosophy learnings and her journey

I bought this book as I have an interest in yoga and India and this was about both. It was an interesting story about Lucy's adventure with yoga with the various schools and ashrams. I found some parts funny, some educational and some boring so overall it was a mixture of all. Overall it was interesting and I learnt alot.