Looking for something to read that is funny, educational, and inspiring all at the same time? Look no further!

I was gifted this book last Christmas, but I didn’t get around to reading it until the Spring. It ended up being the perfect time, as I was dealing with stomach issues that would later be diagnosed as IBS (read more here), and Leaf tells some pretty hilarious stories about his struggles with Colitis – for reference, the opening lines of the book are:

“There’s surely an uneven power dynamic between one person sitting naked on the toilet and the other hovering above in a dark suit. This is especially and egregiously true if the person sitting is pushing to no avail. Such was the case as I sat naked in Dr. Brenner’s special post-colonoscopy bathroom.”

When you have an illness that affects the way you poop, there is no other option than to find humor in stories about pooping. This was my first hint that I would love this book. Read the rest of the reasons why I loved it below!

About

Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi: My Humble Quest to Heal my Colitis, Calm my ADD, and Find the Key to Happiness is a memoir by Brian Leaf about how he found health and happiness through yoga and all the things that come with it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is immersed in the yoga world! It’s one of the more accessible “yoga books” I’ve read because its so relatable – rather than just spouting off information about mindfulness, intuition, etc., those things are weaved into the stories Leaf tells, so you can see their real life applications.

In Misadventures, Leaf tells hilarious and often embarrassing tales, like that of his first yoga class (with an über hippie Peruvian man named Oskar), eventually becoming disillusioned with yoga and stopping the practice altogether, and going on the most epic road trip of all time with his friend Zach (which included accidentally almost getting a “happy ending” massage, having a spiritual awakening at a Grateful Dead concert, swimming naked in a crowded hot spring, and practicing yoga in the midst of a sandstorm in the desert). It’s one of those books that can make you cringe with sympathy one minute and laugh out loud the next.

Throughout his story, Leaf weaves in his 8 keys to happiness, which he believes are the foundation for health and vitality. They may sound pretty overwhelming and difficult, and once you break them down, they’re not so scary!

8 Keys to Happiness

• “Do yoga. And if you already go yoga, do more yoga.”
  • Find the right style of yoga by trying out many different ones. As Leaf says, “Finding the right style of yoga is like dating” (Leaf, 18). I was lucky enough to find vinyasa right off the bat and fall in love with it, but with so many different styles out there (from the traditional Ashtanga, Bikram, Hatha, Iyengar, Vinyasa, etc. to the more new age Buti Yoga, Acro Yoga, Aerial Yoga, and even Goat Yoga…yes its a thing), it can be difficult to choose.

• “Follow your heart.”
  • Sound cliché and ambiguous, but it’s life changing! Leaf’s advice: “Notice what gives you a feeling of rightness, ignites your creativity and passion, and makes you feel most alive, and pursue that. Before every major decision, ask yourself, ‘Which choice feels right, is in line with my values, ignites my creativity and passion, and is an expression of my truest self?'” (Leaf, 36).

• “Cultivate and follow your intuition.”
  • As vague as it sounds, “the way to develop intuition is to listen for it and follow it” (Leaf, 96). The best way to go about this, is to slow down, relax, and literally ask yourself what would feel good or right at a given time. Instead of just going on your routine morning run, ask your body: “do you want to go on a run? Or would a stretching session feel better today?” etc. Like a muscle, the more you use your intuition, the stronger it will become.

• “Apply at least three pieces of Ayurvedic wisdom to your daily schedule.”
  • Ayurveda is the sister science to yoga and its all about finding what foods, supplements, movements, daily practices, etc. will keep your body at its healthiest state. Every person’s body is different, but people more or less fit into three “doshas” (mind-body types) and each one has different needs, “For example, while spinach indisputably contains abundant vitamins and minerals, some people digest it well and integrate its nutrition, while others don’t, and the nutrition is lost on them” (Leaf, 74).

• “Meditate.”
  • Leaf imparts this wisdom from an Ayurvedic practitioner: “Luther described the brain as an overgrown forest. The easiest paths to walk are the ones that are most habitually used and well worn. The same is true of the mind. That’s why habits are so easy to repeat and difficult to break…meditation practice bushwhacks new pathways of sustaining concentration, which, once work and traveled, become new, healthier behaviors and habits” (Leaf, 158).

• “Connect with your heart, and interact with others from that place.”
  • Leaf says, “I am committed to opening my heart before every interaction. It takes a lot of work and a lot of reminding. But it’s worth it. When I have lunch with friends, I can notice myself trying to be liked or entering a subtle contest to be the funniest or the most interesting. It’s exhausting. But when I’m…coming from my heart, I relax and our dynamic shifts to a few imperfect humans sharing and connecting. When I interact from my mind, I’m insecure and competitive. When I interact from my heart, I’m connected” (Leaf, 189).

• “Speak and act from your true self.”
  • Many of us are guilty of telling people what they want to hear, or what we think they will find funny, or what will make them like us, rather than saying what we actually want to say. In order to actually be authentic with others, we first have to become aware of how we are truly feeling. Leaf says he learned that, “I need to be radically honest with myself about what I’m thinking and feeling. I want to make choices from the place of transparent self-honesty, from the deepest, purest connection to my heart and soul” (Leaf, 198).

• “Become most real.”
  • This one is the biggie. This is the key that all of the other keys are leading up to. This is what the yoga, meditation, cultivation of intuition, etc. are preparing us for: being most real. Leaf describes being most real as being, “present to reality, grounded in my heart, in the truth of my being, I am unshakeable, the opposite of spacey, distractible, inconsistent” (Leaf, 206). It basically means being the most true version of oneself, by acknowledging the reality of what is happening and how you are responding to it or feeling about it.

Appendices

Leaf includes some awesome resources in the 7 appendices at the end of the book. He references them throughout his story, as each one becomes relevant. They are meant to give you some of the same tools that Leaf acquired along his journey, so that you too can integrate some of this knowledge into your being.

The appendices include:

1. Sample yoga practice – gives a couple of pranayama (breath) practices followed by some explanations of simple poses you can do.
   1. You can also listen to and follow along with this guided yoga practice here!
2. Sun Salutation – gives a succinct outline of the sun salutation A
3. Meditation – provides 2 meditations, one for concentration and one for being most real
4. Colistening – describes a practice you can do with a partner to improve your active listening skills
5. Guided Relaxation – provides the instructions for a guided progressive muscle relaxation practice.
   1. You can also listen to this guided meditation here!
6. Ayurvedic Constitutional Survey – provides a short questionnaire that can help you determine your dosha (mind-body type)
7. Ayurvedic Recommendations – gives simple recommendations for what each dosha should try to incorporate into their daily routine (remember, one of his keys to happiness is incorporating three pieces of Ayurvedic wisdom into your life!).

Sound Bites

A collection of my favorite quotes from the book

“I seek not to decide but to relax and calm my mind enough to simply realize and feel the correct path before me” (Leaf, 7).

 

“I don’t think one can actually serve the world best by assessing what the world needs. I think instead, we serve the world best by responding to our heart’s call” (Leaf, 35).

“Your own body is the best expert on yoga you will ever find” (Leaf, 48).

“traveling is an opportunity to live as you want to, an opportunity to experiment with new ways of being and thinking. It’s a clean start. You leave behind those who know you, you leave behind your job, you leave behind those who expect your habitual patterns. It’s an opportunity to begin anew, to be reborn” (Leaf, 51).

 

“Amrit Desai…said ‘The more beliefs and conclusions you have about life, the less you are willing to explore the infinite wealth and beauty of [what actually happens].’ You can’t know or plan for where you’ll find transcendence; you can only follow the whispers as they call out to you” (Leaf, 102).

 

“I believe that’s where growth and freedom are to be found, in transparent, compassionate, mindful honesty, at least to one’s self, about one’s rationales, desires, emotions, and thoughts” (Leaf, 145).

 

“People do bad things from self-hatred and feelings of inferiority, never from self-love. True and complete self-acceptance and self-love always arouse inspirational and moral behavior” (Leaf, 152).

I hope you’ll check out this book if you found any of this interesting! Leaf also has a second book, Misadventures of a Parenting Yogi, which I have no doubt would be hilarious for any parents! He also has a a guide called The Teacher Appears: 108 Prompts to Power Your Yoga Practice (endorsedby Maroon 5’s Adam Levine!).

Let me know if you read, or have read, any of these books and what you think of them!