Hell-Bent : Obsession, Pain, and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga

Lorr, Benjamin

ISBN 10: 031267290X / ISBN 13: 9780312672904

Published by St. Martin's Press, 2012

About this Item

Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects.

Seller Inventory # GRP83197515

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Hell-Bent : Obsession, Pain, and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 031267290X
• ISBN 13: 9780312672904
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Author Benjamin Lorr wandered into a yoga studio--and fell down a rabbit hole

Hell-Bent explores a fascinating, often surreal world at the extremes of American yoga. Benjamin Lorr walked into his first yoga studio on a whim, overweight and curious, and quickly found the yoga reinventing his life. He was studying Bikram Yoga (or "hot yoga") when a run-in with a master and competitive yoga champion led him into an obsessive subculture--a group of yogis for whom eight hours of practice a day in 110- degree heat was just the beginning.

So begins a journey. Populated by athletic prodigies, wide-eyed celebrities, legitimate medical miracles, and predatory hucksters, it's a nation-spanning trip--from the jam-packed studios of New York to the athletic performance labs of the University of Oregon to the stage at the National Yoga Asana Championship, where Lorr competes for glory.

The culmination of two years of research, and featuring hundreds of interviews with yogis, scientists, doctors, and scholars,Hell-Bent is a wild exploration. A look at the science behind a controversial practice, a story of greed, narcissism, and corruption, and a mind-bending tale of personal transformation, it is a book that will not only challenge your conception of yoga, but will change the way you view the fragile, inspirational limits of the human body itself.

About the Author

BENJAMIN LORR graduated from Columbia University with a degree in environmental biology and creative writing. He lives in New York City and is currently at work on his second book.