A notable difference between Iyengar and Chicken Soup for the Soul and Dr. Phil, however, is that Iyengar repeatedly reminds readers that self-improvement through yoga is difficult, indeed often seemingly impossible. When is the last time that the self-help guru of the week told someone honestly, "this is going to take a very long time, and will often suck a ton. But you're going to have to stick with this if you want any reward?" This is a sentiment more often reserved for drug-treatment programs or prison, but Iyengar readily applies it to the simple aim of wanting to live one's current life more completely. This is refreshing, and if the payoff is that at 87 years old you can smile and laugh, share wisdom with joy and humility, and stand on your head for 30 minutes, then there are probably a lot of people willing to try.

Iyengar's love for life is evident in every page, and the rich intellectual and spiritual rigor he brings to the book makes it a fitting companion, even an extended prelude, to Light On Yoga. Although much of the book is beyond me, probably forever, this is a required text for any serious student of yoga. And even if the deeper explorations of yogic spirituality don't resonate, there is a great deal here worth reading. If yogic spirituality does happen to be your path, then there is much here that will smooth the rocky path toward eventual enlightment. Not that you'll probably ever get there, but as Iyengar stresses time and again (in an affirmation of life worthy of Camus), it's not the getting there but the journey that counts.