A heartfelt memoir of motherhood as a spiritual practice by a longtime yoga and dharma teacher.Sutra is the Sanskrit name for a short spiritual teaching, and it comes from the same root as the English word suture, or stitch. This story of motherhood as a path to awakening is, says yoga and meditation teacher Anne Cushman, "an homage to the long threads that run through all human lives, stitching up what's shredded in our hearts." The Mama Sutra spans an eighteen-year journey through motherhood as a spiritual practice, chronicling Cushman's first pregnancy, her daughter's tragic stillbirth, the joyful birth of her son, the "home retreat" of early motherhood, the challenges of parenthood, the diagnosis and gifts of her son's developmental differences, the meltdown of her nuclear family and its reconfiguration into a new and joyful form, and more. This is a powerful story of the rawness and beauty of life.

A yoga teacher finds new life in India–just not the one she was expecting.Nearing thirty, Amanda thought she'd be someone else by now. Instead, she's an ex-nanny yogini-wannabe who cranks out "For Idiots" travel guides. True, she has a sexy photographer boyfriend, but he's usually off shooting a dogsled race in Alaska or a vision quest in Peru—or just hooking up with other girls. However, she's sure her new assignment to the ashrams of India will change everything.What she finds, though, is an ashram run by investment bankers, a model-obsessed guru, tantra parties, and silent retreats. India, it turns out, is not the spiritual refuge she'd pictured. But she finds a friend in Devi Das, a redheaded sadhu who refers to himself as "we." And when a holy lunatic on the street offers her an enigmatic blessing, Amanda realizes a new life may be in store for her—just not the one she was expecting.