Surviving Modern Yoga | Matthew Remski

Surviving Modern Yoga

non-fiction, 2024

Grounded in investigative research and real survivor stories, Surviving Modern Yoga uncovers the physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by Ashtanga yoga leader Pattabhi Jois—and reckons with the culture, structures, and mythos that enabled it.

The revised edition of Practice and All is Coming with a foreward by Theo Wildcroft, PhD.

Yoga culture sells well-meaning westerners the full package: physical health, good vibes, and spiritual growth. Here, investigative journalist Matthew Remski explores how cultic dynamics, institutional self-interest, and spiritualized indifference collude to obscure the truth: Harm happens in plain sight.

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Praise for Surviving Modern Yoga

  • Ann Gleig, associate professor of religion and cultural studies at the University of Central Florida
    This text centers the voices of the female victims of serial abuser Pattabhi Jois, and it illuminates the wider psychoanalytic and structural conditions that enabled such abuse…. Remski has established himself as one of the most perspicacious and important scholar-practitioners of contemporary transnational yoga.

    Ann Gleig, associate professor of religion and cultural studies at the University of Central Florida

  • Susanna Barkataki, founder and director of education at Ignite Yoga and Wellness Institute
    With interviews and real stories of recovery, Remski presents us an authoritative guide on the effects of sexual abuse, misconduct, and trauma in the modern, globalized yoga world as well as an analysis that invites the possibility of change to this culture of abuse. This book offers hope and practical solutions for those who seek an end to the cycle of trauma, abuse of power, and sexual violence in yoga culture today.

    Susanna Barkataki, founder and director of education at Ignite Yoga and Wellness Institute

  • Jacoby Ballard, yoga teacher, social justice educator, and author of 'A Queer Dharma'
    Jois and ashtanga had a significant influence on what yoga is today in the US and worldwide…. We need to face and discuss this history and that of any harm in order to move into the true promise of living out yogic teachings—harmlessness, integrity, generosity, non-attachment, and the wise use of sexual energies.

    Jacoby Ballard, yoga teacher, social justice educator, and author of 'A Queer Dharma'

Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Public Health Threat | Julian Walker, Matthew Remski and Derek Beres

Conspirituality

non-fiction, 2023

Conspirituality takes a deep dive into the troubling phenomenon of influencers who have curdled New Age spirituality and wellness with the politics of paranoia—peddling vaccine misinformation, tales of child trafficking, and wild conspiracy theories.

Since May 2020, Derek Beres, Matthew Remski and Julian Walker have used their Conspirituality podcast to expose countless facets of the intersection of alt-health practitioners with far-right conspiracy trolls. Now this expansive and revelatory book unpacks the follies, frauds, cons and cults that dominate the New Age and wellness spheres and betray the trust of people who seek genuine relief in this uncertain age.

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Practice And All Is Coming | Matthew Remski

Practice And All Is Coming

non-fiction, 2019

Through investigative work, survivor stories, and analysis of cultic mechanisms in Pattabhi Jois's Ashtanga community, Practice and All Is Coming offers a sober view of collective and intergenerational trauma.
Threads of Yoga | Matthew Remski, Author

Threads of Yoga

non-fiction, 2012

Threads of Yoga is a “remix” of Patanjali’s yoga sutras, pieced together from a dozen other translations, classical commentaries, and reflections from 15 years of practice. A blend of philosophy, psychotherapy, literary theory, anthropology and aesthetics.
yoga20

Yoga 2.0

non-fiction, 2010

Yoga 2.0: Shamanic Echoes, co-authored with Scott Petrie, offers a poetic exploration of yoga's natural history.

Contributor

survival-guide

The Yoga Teacher's Survival Guide

non-fiction, 2024

A collection of wisdom from some of the best-known and respected yoga teachers worldwide. Edited by Theo Wildcroft and Harriet McAtee. Foreward by Matthew Remski.
21st Century Yoga | Matthew Remski (Contributor)

21 Century Yoga

non-fiction, 2012

Written by practitioners, teachers, therapists, activists, and scholars, 21st Century Yoga provides a multifaceted exploration of yoga in the West. Edited by Carol Horton and Roseanne Harvey. Includes an essay by Matthew Remski.

Poetry

Rosary | Matthew Remski

Rosary

poetry, 2014

This collection is a rosary of personal, ethnographic, and psycho-somatic prayer-poems that peer into the nature of consciousness.
syrinx

Syrinx and Systole

poetry, 2010

his book explores the nexus point connecting rapture and sound. A passage from Syrinx explains it perfectly: "Prayer seems spontaneous, but only because the singers of the past are working my lungs like bellows."
Organon | Matthew Remski

Organon Vocis Organalis

poetry, 1994

Matthew's first book of poems, Organon Vocis Organalis, was mentored by Christian Bok and Darren Wershler, and other denizens of the early 90's Café May crowd.

Fiction

Mad Angels and Amphetamines | Matthew Remski

Mad Angels and Amphetamines

fiction, 2000

This is a collection by four emerging Canadian writers and three graphic designers, integrating design with prose and poetry. Co-authored by Nik Beat, Mary Elizabeth Grace, Noah Leznoff, and Matthew Remski. Edited by Mike O'Connor.
Silver | Matthew Remski

Silver: A Novel

fiction, 1998

Silver combines cartoon and ritual to explore existential questions, unveiling the narrative of power's evolution from fascism to corporate America, exploiting icons, victims, and misunderstood saviors.
dying-veronica

Dying for Veronica

fiction, 1997

Infused with black humour and sharp satire, Dying for Veronica reveals dark secrets and intertwines Catholic imagery with modern North American culture, creating a compelling narrative.