Awake: The Life of Yoganada has released a companion book with rare images, quotes, and interviews from the inspirational film.
More than a year after its theatrical release, the record-breaking film Awake: The Life of Yogananda is available on DVD (it is currently the top documentary on Amazon) and has just been released on Netflix, increasing the accessibility of this inspiring story.
The team behind the film has put together a stunning companion hardback book. Through more than 400 rare archival images seen in the film, quotes from notable figures interviewed, and expanded explanations of the story of Yogananda’s life, the transmission of Parmahansa Yogananda’s teachings is vibrantly alive in these pages. Instead of having to press pause to gaze at a particularly compelling photo, readers can leave the pages open to see the master at various points in his life.
Directors Paola di Florio and Lisa Leeman along with producer Peter Rader worked for years alongside Yogananda’s vast networks of devotees, especially the Self-Realization Fellowship, to tell the story of this extraordinary teacher. They all agree that one of the great gifts of this process of making the film is the uncovering of the collection of amazing photographs documenting Yogananda’s life, another is the sense of both transmission of and context for the teachings presented in the film. All are found within these pages.
The book is a perfect holiday gift for a long-time devotee as well as someone inspired by—or even new to—Yogananda’s life and teachings. Meant to be read again and again, the inspiration is always fresh—and always transformational.
Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.