My book will officially be out two weeks from tomorrow and I think from here out it’s going to be pretty interesting to see what happens. Publishing a book is such weird business. It could come out to a completely flat response. Alternately it could be a hit within a week or two. A more likely scenario is the slow-burn, wherein word spreads slowly and the book does moderately well. For now it’s a matter of me staying calm and trying not to check things like Amazon sales rankings for pre-orders, or obsessing over how many people have added the book to their GoodReads “to-read” list. (Both of which, I admittedly do on a regular unhealthy basis.) Speaking of GoodReads, there’s a give-away for my book going on right now. Enter to win!

Thankfully I have lots of things to keep my mind occupied. Interviews to answer, guest blog posts to write, book parties to plan (you’re invited!), clients to see, a toddler to run around after, a husband to nurture, plants to water, dishes and laundry to do, and a baby who is suddenly kicking around in my tummy ALL the time.

January is usually a really sad month for me. My friend Julie died eleven years ago last week and next week will mark 16 years since my mother has been gone. However, this January is feeling a lot more sparkly and exciting than usual, and for that I am grateful.

I hated it.

I felt self-conscious and awkward. My body didn’t do the things the teacher was urging us to try. I had trouble concentrating on my breath. I couldn’t stop the constant waves of thoughts coursing through my mind.

I didn’t try again for nearly ten years.

But a decade later when I made it to that first class in Santa Monica I still felt awkward and insecure. But I felt something else too. Something that would change my life for years to come. I walked into this class during a particularly rough period of my life. A relationship I was in was deteriorating and I was overloaded with a full time job and a master’s program. I was desperately searching for something to quell the constant buzzing in my head.

Walking home after that class I felt the tiniest sensation of relief. A hint of serenity. My mind was relaxed for the first time in weeks. The anger and frustration that I was constantly carrying around inside of me, all that self-hatred and despair, had been replaced by space. I felt like I could breathe again. It was an addictive feeling and the very next morning I found myself back in another class. I went the day after that too. In fact, I went to yoga almost every day that week. The growing feeling inside of me was too good to let go of.

Before long I was going to yoga 3-4 times a week and the effect this had on me was profound. Yoga seeped into every aspect of my life and gave me the courage and the tools to confront parts of myself I had been afraid to acknowledge for many years. But along that journey were a hundred funny moments. Poses that I fell over during, yoga lingo I didn’t understand, weird yoga retreats with strangers who became friends, and all along was the recognition that I was on a quest for something I didn’t quite understand.

This last week, reading Suzanne Morrison’s excellent memoir Yoga Bitch was like reliving that journey. I put this book down feeling as though I either could have written parts of it myself or like I could at least be BFFs with the author. Yoga Bitch isn’t just a book for yogis; rather it’s a book for seekers, for those of us who know there’s more out there, even if finding it means giving up everything about who you thought you were in order to become who you always wanted to be.

Yoga Bitch brought up a hundred memories of my own awkward, floundering journey into this beautiful, spiritual practice, and Suzanne made me laugh out loud a dozen times with her recounting of the same. I thought it was so great that I had to share it with you. And by share, I mean literally share. Read the rules below and enter for a chance to win a copy for yourself!

WIN: A copy of Yoga Bitch: One Woman’s Quest to Conquer Skepticism, Cynicism, and Cigarettes on the Path to Enlightenment by Suzanne Morrison. Courtesy of Random House.

TO ENTER: Just leave a comment telling me about your relationship with yoga. Hate it? Love it? Scared of it? Addicted?

RULES:

• No duplicate comments. (In other words: NO CHEATING)
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on Twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• Contest ends 9/1/11