The Way of the Happy Woman: Living the Best Year of Your Life

by Sara Avant Stover

Overview

Live in accordance with nature and your soul

Our ancestors adhered to the daily, seasonal, and yearly rhythms of nature by necessity, but modern life overrides these cycles, compromising women’s health and happiness. In this book, Sara Avant Stover shows how simple, natural, and refreshingly accessible practices can minimize stress and put us back in sync with our own cycles and those of nature. When we honor spring’s seedlings, summer’s vibrancy, fall’s harvest, and winter’s quietude, we harmonize our inner and outer worlds. Sara’s recommendations nurture the body, invigorate the mind, and lift the spirit. Illustrated yin and yang yoga sequences, one-day season-specific retreats, enticing recipes, and innovative self-reflection techniques make it easy to reconnect with the essential.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781577319825
Publisher:	New World Library
Publication date:	05/01/2011
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Sara Avant Stover is an inspirational speaker, teacher, mentor, and the founder and director of The Way of the Happy Woman.® After a health scare in her early twenties, Sara moved to Thailand, where she embarked on an extensive healing and spiritual odyssey throughout Asia and served as one of the pioneer Western yoga teachers in that part of the world. She now lives in Boulder, Colorado, and continues to teach around the world.

Table of Contents

Foreword Jennifer Louden xi

Preface Kate Northrup Moller xv

Introduction 1

Part 1 The Basics

Chapter 1 Keep It Simple 11

Chapter 2 The Cycles That Heal 21

Chapter 3 A Woman's Inner World: Yoga and Meditation 35

Chapter 4 A Woman's Outer World: Sacred Nutrition 55

Chapter 5 Preparing for the Way 67

Part 2 Spring

Chapter 6 Coming into Being 77

Chapter 7 In the Kitchen: Clean and Green 85

Chapter 8 On the Yoga Mat: Revitalize and Transform 105

Chapter 9 Spring Reflections 131

Part 3 Summer

Chapter 10 Rejoicing 135

Chapter 11 In the Kitchen: Colorful Celebrations 145

Chapter 12 On the Yoga Mat: In Full Bloom 161

Chapter 13 Summer Reflections 179

Part 4 Autumn

Chapter 14 Harvesting 185

Chapter 15 In the Kitchen: Root Wisdom 195

Chapter 16 On the Yoga Mat: Gathering Strength 209

Chapter 17 Autumn Reflections 229

Part 5 Winter

Chapter 18 Listening 235

Chapter 19 In the Kitchen: Staying Warm 249

Chapter 20 On the Yoga Mat: Deep Rest 261

Chapter 21 Winter Reflections 279

Epilogue 283

Acknowledgments 286

Notes 289

Index 291

About the Author 299

About the Way of the Happy Woman 301

Editorial Reviews

“Heartfelt and rich with personal stories, this book presents practical wisdom for women of all ages who are seeking to live a healthier, happier life.”
— Yoga Journal

“Filled with health-promoting delight, pleasure, and truth. Just lovely.”
— Christiane Northrup, MD, author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom

“In The Way of the Happy Woman, Sara Avant Stover offers hundreds of baby steps — simple yet deceptively profound — toward living a happier, healthier, more balanced life. Even a few of these, practiced regularly, could be transformational. Highly recommended!”
— Timothy McCall, MD, medical editor of Yoga Journal and author of Yoga as Medicine

“Rest in the nest of this beautiFULL book, and allow it to soak in and beam its wisdom to you. Your way is that of the happy woman, and these words will awaken, inspire, and deeply support you on your way-finding.”
— SARK, artist, creative fountain, and author of Glad No Matter What

“This lovely, born-of-experience book is a primer on how to live in accord with the energies of the natural world. Clear and thoughtful, it will help you remember that even amid the demands of work, school, family, and incessant email, you’re still a goddess.”
— Susan Piver, author of The Wisdom of a Broken Heart and The Hard Questions

From the Publisher

In an effort to help women find happiness from the inside, freelance writer and yoga teacher Stover offers a wide range of practices to help readers simplify, slow down, and be in tune with natural cycles. She pulls primarily from the mental and physical practices of yoga and meditation to offer suggestions on healing the mind, body, and spirit. The material is organized around the seasons of the year and includes ideas such as eating in-season fruits and vegetables, savoring the colors and smells of the outdoors, and performing moon rituals. More than that, the book offers a path toward loving oneself. A winner of a read for all those open to New Age practices and thought.

Library Journal