ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THIS BOOK WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE without the love, help, and support of many people. First of all, my thanks to the teachers whose work is featured in the book, and the students whose stories are told, most of whom spent many hours being interviewed and answering follow-up questions. These real-life interactions of seasoned yoga teachers and the individuals they guided through yoga are the heart of this book. Several other teachers including Ana Forrest, Julie Gudmestad, Rod Stryker, and Leslie Kaminoff, as well as Dr. David Frawley, Dr. Dean Ornish, and Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, contributed generously with their time and knowledge.

I am indebted to the many people who have taught me yoga over the years, including Mary Dunn, Eleanor Williams, Candace Carey, James Murphy, Karin Stephan, Peentz Dubble, Amy Ipolitti, Sianna Sherman, Donald Moyer, and most especially Patricia Walden, who first inspired me to pursue the practice. Later on, a number of teachers helped me follow my interest in therapy, including Patricia and Mary, Gary Kraftsow, John Friend, and Dr. Tom Alden. I am indebted to many people in India I learned from. Special thanks to Dr. A. G. and Indra Mohan, Dr. S. V. Karandikar, Hansa and Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra of The Yoga Institute, Dr. Bindu Kutty and Dr. A. Vedamurthachar of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Dr. Mukund Bhole, the staff and volunteers at Samskrita Bharati, Tantra master Dr. Ananth Atre, and Vedic scholar Sudhakara Sharma. From the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandarim, I owe thanks to T. K. V. Desikachar, Kaustub Desikachar, Dr. Chandrasekaran, and D. K. Shidar. I am especially indebted to Dr. Shirley Telles, N. V. Ragurham, Dr. R. Nagarathna, Dr. H. R. Nagendra, Dr. Raghavendra Rao, Dr. Manoj Dash, and Falguni Harkisondas of the Swami Vivekananda Research Foundation for all their help over the years, and to Ayurvedic master A.C. Chandukkuty Vaidhyar and his son, Bency.

Many thanks to John Abbott and Kathryn Arnold of Yoga Journal, who first approached me in 2002 to become the magazine’s medical editor and write a regular column. Later that year John asked me write a book for them on yoga therapy, which I was happy to do, as I’d already begun work on Yoga as Medicine two years before. Kathryn also offered editing suggestions and helpful advice on the book’s photo shoot. Special thanks to yoga teacher Jason Crandell for his help teaching the restorative sequence to the student in the headache chapter. Thanks, too, for various favors from my nephew Sean McCall, Sarah and Ty Powers, Reed Wulsin, Dr. Carrie Demers, Dr. David Coulter, Saraswati Clere, Carlos Pomeda, Dr. Douglas Brooks, Elizabeth Eliades, Sue Luby, William Broder, Grace Jebara, Hillari Dowdle, Chandra Easton, Scott Blossom, Koren Paalman, Jaki and Allan Nett, Chris Saudek, Eleanor Williams, Dr. Jarvis Chen, Jolyon Cowen, Joan Arnold, Dr. Tom Birch, Steve and Val Smith, Ted Surman, Roopesh Arrakkal, Suzanne Gordon, Steve Hubble, as well as Dr. Sapna Velayudan, K. P. Balakrishnan and all my friends at Surya Ayurvedics in Arimpur (Thrissur) Kerala.

Several people helped me learn about published and unpublished research on yoga, or provided me with copies of hard-to-locate studies: Trisha Lamb of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, Dr. Shirley Telles, Dr. W. Selvamurthy of India’s Defence Institute of Physiological and Allied Sciences, Dr. Mukund Bhole, Gloria Goldberg, Marla Apt, Beth Sternlieb, Wyatt Townley, Bee Beckman, Dr. David Shannahoff-Khalsa, Dr. Kimberly Williams, Dr. Rolf Sovik, and especially Dr. Sat Bir Khalsa of Harvard Medical School, who shared with me dozens of studies that I’d been unable to track down. Thanks, too, to the many researchers who sent me reprints of their articles.

For the better part of a year while writing the book, during 2004 and 2005, I was honored to be a Scholar in Residence at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts. Special thanks to Stephen Cope, as well as Cathy Husid and Ila and Dinabandhu Sarley for making this invaluable experience possible. There is simply no way I could have been as productive and supported in writing the book anywhere else as I was there. The setting was gorgeous, and the many people I met there, the stories they told, and workshops I attended helped shape this book. My gratitude goes also to teachers who allowed me to attend workshops there, including Sarah Powers, Yoganand Michael Carroll, Russell Delman, Tias Little, Paul Cramer, Hilary Garavaltis, Dr. Robert Svoboda, Donna Eden, Dr. Marc Grossman, Cheri Huber, Suzie Hurley, Rama Berch, Sara Meeks, Alan Finger, and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.

A number of friends and colleagues read sections of the book and offered helpful commentary, including Andrea Kleinhuber, Richard Rosen, Joan Arnold, Vici Williams, Swami Shivananda Saraswati, Dr. Thomas Birch, Dr. Todd Patton (Srijan), Dr. Kimora, Shari Ser, Madeline Pearlmutter, Dr. Catalina Arboleda, Melitta Rorty, Josh Summers, James Vitale, Tricia Mickelberry, Dr. Tom Alden, and my brother Dr. Tony McCall. I’m deeply indebted to my brother Dr. Ray McCall, who read multiple versions of many chapters, and for years has brainstormed with me and been a fabulous sounding board, and to my friend Nina Zolotow, who read the entire book, helped rewrite the practice sequences in part 3, and offered many helpful editing suggestions.

Nina Zolotow was also the producer of the book’s photo shoot, and functioned brilliantly in that role. She did everything from creating storyboards to buying the models’ outfits to running a tight ship on the set. She helped pick a fantastic photographer, Michal Venera, and the models, Autumn Alvarez, Eric Small, Tracee Newell, Dr. Baxter Bell, Ashley Miller, and Donna Fone, all of whom were great. Thanks to stylist Chris McDonald who was excellent. Special thanks to Richard Rosen, the director of the Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland, California, who was the spotter during the shoot, and who lent us most of the blankets, bolsters, and other props we used.

I am particularly indebted to Beth Rashbaum of Bantam Dell, who is quite simply the best editor I’ve ever worked with, and I’ve worked with many. She is smart, passionate, incredibly knowledgeable, and always on the side of the book. From the beginning of our work together, she understood what I was trying to do, offered insightful commentary, and pushed me to make the book as good as it could be. Thanks, too, to Meghan Keenan and Glen Edelstein of Bantam Dell, and to copy editor Howard Mittelmark. I am also grateful to my agents Anne and Georges Borchardt for their consummate professionalism, good humor, and hard work.

My journey into yoga and the study of yoga therapy might not have happened without the support, generosity, and encouragement of my teacher, Patricia Walden. I can never repay all she has done for me. I also want to recognize Yogacharya B. K. S. Iyengar for his genius in yoga and yoga therapy and in bringing them to the world—and for training Patricia to be the extraordinary teacher she is. It was through his system that I came to yoga and fell in love with it, and through which I was introduced to yoga therapy. I’m also indebted to his children, Prashant and particularly Geeta for her generous teaching to me in both the US and India.

Finally, and most of all, my love and gratitude goes to my mother, Betty McCall, to whom this book is dedicated, who died during the final weeks of editing after a long and good life. She knew this book was for her, and I hope that some of the good karma she set in motion will live on through it.