Buying Dharma: A Depth Psychological Look at Modern Postural Yoga

Yoga is so popular. And everyone claims to know what "real" yoga is? Religion? Exercise? Business? Spirituality? How do we navigate the tensions between yoga and consumerism? As yogis we want to let go of attachments, as consumers we want hot designer exercise clothing. But these things are not as contradictory as they seem. Buying Dharma is about the way modern postural yoga helps us live with the contradictions between our rhetoric and our actions. Jordan Shapiro takes a look at Yoga from a depth psychological perspective. He offers a brutally honest and sometimes funny account of yoga in the United States. Ultimately he concludes that yoga's contradictions are what make it such an effective spiritual practice for the 21st century.