A Necessary Joy: Yoga and the Quest for Transformation

Beneath everything you think defines you is a self that cannot be lost.

This is the central tenet of the ancient practice of yoga. It is also the profound discovery at the heart of transness.

Transgender is a term that describes a person who experiences a gender mismatch. Transness is something else entirely. It is the experience of discovering that abiding self, the one that remains when everything else falls away. Different as they may appear, transness and yoga are parallel practices on the path to liberation.

A Necessary Joy follows Mark Gardett’s own complicated quest toward self-realization and offers a new approach to understanding yoga philosophy. Through personal narrative and accessible teaching, this book illuminates:

• How transformation is itself a practice by which we find out who we are
• The yogic concept of the unchanging self and what it reveals about identity
• Why we practice in order to be transformed-and what that means
• How to live in a world of change without losing touch with your divine inner light

That is freedom.

Whether you’re transgender, a yoga practitioner, going through major life transition, or seeking spiritual depth beyond dogma, this book offers a map toward authentic selfhood and liberation.

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A Necessary Joy: Yoga and the Quest for Transformation is published by Tehom Center Publishing, an independent press elevating marginalized voices. Learn more at www.tehomcenter.org.