I'll begin this review with a disclosure: Charlotte Bell is my yoga teacher. I write this even though it's been at least a year and a half since I've been in class. But I consider Charlotte to be my teacher because her lessons stay with me whether I'm engaged in active practice or not. The examples she sets with her grounding, her grace, the authenticity of her practice, and her sneaky sense of humor continually inspire me.

Charlotte's latest book, Yoga for Meditators: Poses to Support Your Sitting Practice, is designed to assist those who are challenged by the "rigors of sitting." Now you may laugh upon reading that phrase. I did when I encountered it in Charolotte's book, even though I get it. Anyone who has meditated for any period of time will nod in recognition upon hearing it. As Charlotte points out in her introduction, while we may sit at computers or desks all day, we don't sit all day. Our bodies aren't accustomed to holding still for extended periods of time, especially in particular poses. 

Yoga for Meditators is divided into four parts: the most common physical issues for sitting meditators, poses selected to ease those issues, sequences of asanas (poses) for specific concerns, and alternate meditation postures. Each section is amply illustrated and written in Charlotte's quiet, knowledgeable prose. If you're a person coming to yoga through meditation, you'll find the poses very easy to understand and execute.  Her tips for using props or making positioning adjustments will prove most helpful for beginners and experienced practitioners alike. Meditators will also find her attention to breathing helpful. Instructions for the asanas are so clear and detailed that I can almost hear Charlotte's voice as I read the words.

Charolotte's clear writing style makes this book readable and easy to use. But if it weren't backed up by solid knowledge, the book wouldn't be nearly so valuable. Bell's years of practice, teaching and study are the solid foundation of this work. Her knowledge of anatomy and its application in yogic practice is exquisite. Her explanation of how to find the proper curvature of one's spine in the Wall Dog Pose is a fine example, "Reach one hand back, and place your fingers on your lumbar spine. If you feel the knobby processes poking out in your lower back, walk your hands up the wall a few inches. When The spinous processes poke out, it's a signal your lumbar spine is in a convex, rather than concave, curve." Don't worry by the time you read that you will have already read a description of the spine and seen a diagram of it.

I haven't seen many books like Yoga for Meditators in the past, which is surprising. As Charlotte notes, "Asana practice, by its very nature, is about preparing the body for meditation." There isn't a lot we do with our bodies these days that supports sitting. So this book will be a fine addition to the library of anyone who sits or is beginning a meditative practice. It's also a nice book for those, like me, who may want a refresher on positioning the body in asanas and maybe a guided sequence or two.

CHARLOTTE BELL WILL READ AND SIGN AT WELLER BOOK WORKS SATURDAY, JUNE 2 AT 6:00 P.M.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the move was our secret preparation for Operation Book Drop. The Book Drop was conceived as a publicity campaign by the extra creative guys at Super Top Secret, our marketing firm. The idea was to gather a lot of books, create eye catching and informative jackets for them, and covertly leave them at selected spots in the City. This would not only draw attention to our relocation and our new web site, it would proclaim our love and books in a way that would draw in members of our community -- not preach to them.

The amazing STS artists designed seven dust jackets for the project. Each jacket is a manifestation of STS's guerrilla idea and Tony's concept of marrying messages about reading, books, and our bookstore with provacative, thoughtful oneliners and art. They embody ideas about books that we hold dear and firmly believe: reading books is good for the mind, books are important to people and the cultures  in which they live, books are entertaining and pleasing in very tangible ways, booksellers still have a meaningful role in this modern world, locally owned businesses make our communities better places to live.

The second part of the project's preparation was procuring the books themselves. We approached several publishers we identified as producers of quality books that are nicely packaged. Six of them partnered with us for the Book Drop: Algonquin Books, Chronicle Books, FSG, Gibbs Smith, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, and W.W. Norton. All of them deserve kudos for believing in bricks and mortar stores and the people they serve -- and for backing up that belief with action.

At last we got to the real fun. Tony mapped twelve square miles around our new location in Trolley Square. Then he identified hot spots within the radius. Finally, he broke the area into zones and assigned teams of two to five people to each zone. After we closed on January 8th, eight booksellers and volunteers spent about 3 hours admiring the jackets and applying them to the nearly 900 donated books. The night after that we sorted the books by zone, split into our teams, and slipped into the night to distribute the gift of reading to the community. It was a blast.

You can see the page on our web site devoted to the Book Drop here. It shows the jackets and lists the titles donated by each publisher. If you got a book, let us know. We'd love to hear what you think.