The Yogic Writer

Jennifer Sinor is Professor of English at Utah State University, USA. She is the author of several books of literary nonfiction, including Sky Songs: Meditations on Loving a Broken World and the memoir Ordinary Trauma. A teacher for thirty years, Jennifer Sinor holds a PhD in composition and rhetoric from the University of Michigan and is a certified yoga instructor (RYT 500). Currently, she teaches creative writing to undergraduate and graduate students as well as community classes on writing memoir. In addition to leading weekly yoga classes, Jennifer helps facilitate the Amrita Yoga Satsang, has offered meditation in a local jail, and has taken numerous courses and classes in yoga history, philosophy, and practice in both the US and India.

Introduction: The Sky Inside

Beginnings—Puraka

Writing with the Whole Body
The sheaths of the yogic body

Born to Write
Not seeking external validation

Set Your Goats to Roam
Art as the externalization of the internal

Breathing to Write
Breath practice: intentional breathing

Effortless Effort
Allowing your attention to be called to what you love

Form the Circle and Step Inside
Creating a sacred writing space

Don’t Wait for Cadaver Gums
Importance of daily practice

The Portable Altar
Flexibility in your practice

Casting Language
Keeping a writing notebook

X Always Marks the Spot
Writing prompt: mapping childhood

Picture This
Writing prompt: writing from a photo

I’ll Never
Writing prompt: writing into the difficult

Inhale the Stars
Breath practice: focus on inhalation

Fiction Doesn’t Exist
Finding compassion for yourself

On Fire
Writing prompt: sparking intuition

Archives Aren’t for the Dead
Writing from primary materials

Trust the Treasure
Staying with a memory

No One Blames the Baby
The importance of becoming

The Spellwork of Others
The practice of daily reading

Writers’ Eyes
Seeing as reception

The Muse is a Myth
The labor of craft

Fullness--Antar-kumbhaka

Fullness
Breath practice: retention at the top of the inhalation

Dander and Fluff
Start small

Everyone Gets Naked in a Scene
Writing scenes

Designate a Driver
Writing summary

There is no Beethoven
The musing voice

Breathing with Caesar
Breath practice: keeping the breath sacred

Enter the Snake
Significant detail

No Dead Grandmothers
Creating characters

Whose Line is It?
Creating dialogue

What to Bring to Show and Tell
The power of both showing and telling

What Piano?
Pursuing organic metaphors

The Body is Your Swing
Breath practice: somatic movement

Creating Our Own Obstacles
The myth of writer’s block

Research and Laundry
Archival and living research

Two Towers
Crafting voice

It’s Not about Cake
Finding deeper subject

Drop the Knife
Breath practice: loving kindness

No One Stands Outside
Writing and trauma

Finding Form
Linear and non-linear structure

Distillation--Rechaka

Winnowing
Breath practice: exhalation

See the Wolf
Understanding fundamental attributes

Collecting Language
Precise diction

Choose Your Wand
Verbs as energetic channels

Heart Holding
Breath practice: holding your own heart

Word by Word by Word
Focusing on syntax

Taking Refuge
Forming a writing group

The Public in Publication
Alternative Types of Publication

Rejection as Protection
How to keep going

Void—Bahyu-kumhbaka
Entering the Void
Breath practice: retention at the bottom

The Alchemy of Writing
Connections between yoga, alchemy and writing

Surrender Ritual

Epilogue
Index