Rushing to Yoga

One of the easiest ways to describe Marilee J. Bresciani’s Rushing to Yoga is to explain that it’s a “light” version of Eat, Pray, Love. Rushing to Yoga drops the reader into Bresciani’s life and provides quick vignettes along her spiritual path. While the author doesn’t list Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir as one of her resources or references, Rushing to Yoga is also about the spiritual and love-seeking journey of a single woman. Instead of Bresciani relocating around the world as Gilbert does, one of the main themes of Bresciani’s work is that awakenings and insights can happen in a local coffee shop, in parks, alone, or surrounded by good friends, and even when rushing to a yoga class. Along her life’s path, Bresciani introduces the reader to one element that has helped ground her during her journey A Course in Miracles.

Using short chapters, Bresciani’s work is easy to read, and she has a jaunty style. She takes the reader along with her, at what often seems a break-neck pace. She introduces us to friends who have impacted her journey, and each interaction illustrates that the simplest action can provide the fuel to find an introspective moment or two. Who hasn’t felt the contradiction of rushing to get somewhere we are expected to not feel rushed, such as a yoga class or a religious service? Such views have relevance to many readers.

Bresciani allows the reader to get an idea of where she is coming from and why such a journey is so important. Bresciani’s vignettes are snippets and often her life’s frenetic pace is palpable. However, there are moments the reader may feel detached while wanting to understand more about Bresciani or to retrieve a deeper meaning from within a scene in her life.