Review: The Yoga of Self-Love
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The Yoga of Self-Love: The Sacred Path to Wholeness and Healing Through Inner Child Work
By: Ramaa Krisnan
Published by Full Bloomed Lotus Center for Self-Awareness (2024)
ISBN: 979-8-9910080-0-6
$17.95
“As they say, when a student is ready, the teacher arrives. The teacher may be alive or dead, in person or in a book. One way or another, the teachings arrive when it is time. I began reading the book” (117).
I began reading The Yoga of Self-Love: The Sacred Path to Wholeness and Healing Through Inner Child Work by Ramaa Krishnan with the interest of expanding my knowledge of self-healing techniques and coming away with *hopefully* interesting content for my blog. I was humbled to sit in front of this book, head bowed in reflection, and came away with the teacher I needed at the time.
The book is a narrative of Krishnan’s journey of self-discovery and healing that weaves in takeaways and workbook style questions and exercises that prompt reflection. It has 5 parts broken into 22 chapters, each of which opens with an insight and closes with journaling prompts. Her journey has included many challenges, a number of which I found familiar—including having a given name that affects your very self-identity. Her openness and relatability helped connect me to her and made me feel that her teachings could help me.
Krisnan starts by describing how to connect with your inner child and how to mend and accept past experiences. Some techniques she introduces include speaking to a picture of yourself as a child and writing this child a letter. What does that child need to hear you say? The exercise is intended to provide wisdom in identifying what wounds—however trivial on the surface they may seem to you now—might be living deep inside. It can also provide a space to begin taking control over those wounds, a process Krisnan dedicates a separate chapter to.
After helping you begin to understand and accept your emotional roots, Krisnan delves into deeper lessons for consciousness, including conducting a Myers-Briggs Personality Test, helping you become aware of your fears, and introducing rituals into your life that can help you grow. One particularly helpful concept from this section is a chart mapping out each chakra—linking what fear each relates to and how it demonstrates our attachments. For example, the first (root) chakra is associated with the fear of death and an attachment to physical wellness. It is interesting to reflect on how our fears play out in our lives, relationships, and actions. Since the death of my grandmother when I was 13, I have been plagued by the fear of death. I do see my own attachment to physical wellness and making the right bodily choices as things I do in order to avoid this (inevitable) fear. Acknowledging this interconnectedness might help me find a healthier relationship with my attachments and fears. Krisnan uses this section to challenge your fears and trust in your journey.
Krishnan is relatable throughout and uses her life experiences to guide you through some potentially troubling thoughts, memories, and fears. The book is quite successful in disseminating her wisdom while combining quotes from other sources and guides, like Buddhism and the Bhagavad Gita—all of it introduced in a way that regularly sparks aha moments and introspection.
While I took the time to reflect on Krishnan’s questions, I didn't write out responses in a separate journal. Although this isn't designed as a workbook, including space within its pages for responses could have added value. Someone who is struggling with inner pains may not take the small—but additional—steps of keeping a separate journal. An early page of the book or the back cover might have planted the seed of having a journal ready. I knew reflections were coming but wasn’t prepared for the interaction that could be had, if only I had a journal handy. Moreover, those expecting a yoga asana or pranayama guidebook will be disappointed. The practices within this book are to build self-awareness, which is connection with yourself and therefore yoga, but it doesn’t offer the guidance on poses that many readers might expect.
Despite my more limited engagement without an additional journal, I found this book valuable—as inspiration to develop an improved understanding of myself and to help navigate the pains and challenges I have and will experience. I didn’t just walk away from The Yoga of Self-Love with information; I’ve also internally shifted my relationship with myself. In sum, anyone studying spiritual and personal growth with childhood pains or trauma will find value in these pages.