The Warrior’s Path: Living Yoga’s Ten Codes by Derek Beres
In The Warrior’s Path: Living Yoga’s Ten Codes, Derek Beres provides an entertaining, thought-provoking read relevant to anyone open to a fresh perspective on living ethically in modern society.
His approach guides us through the yam as and niyamas, yoga’s 10 ethical guidelines. In his discussion, Beres combines storytelling and ancient philosophy with facts about neuroscience and the brain. His ideas inspire us to reconcile the gap between our highly stimulating outside world and our internal emotional world. Beres advocates for personal responsibility, stating that our brains have the ability to see and understand patterns, and then make changes.
The final niyama, Santosha, is the practice Beres returned to throughout his healing journey through cancer and divorce. He describes Santosha as “being comfortable inside the skin you inhabit.” The word itself translates to contentment, and Beres acknowledges that this state of being requires practice; we must learn to be easy and kind with ourselves to mindfully navigate the complexities and contradictions of our modern world.
While he suggests that at times modern yoga may have veered off course from the warrior’s path, bolstering the go instead of supporting introspection and discipline, he is confident that we are capable of finding our way back to connection with ourselves, with those we love, and with the global community. He encourages us to embrace asana, meditation, and knowledge to apply an understanding of modern mortality.
Review by Melissa Brooke Soltmar, a writer, yoga teacher, and sexual health educator. hellomelisabrooke.com
