Nurturing one’s spiritual self comes in many different forms and Spiritual Yoga by Paul Ardennes is one of them. Popular culture has elevated yoga, in some respects, to wearing cute yoga pants, doing different poses on a mat along with others in dedicated yoga classes and even posting shots of impressive poses on Instagram accounts for others to like. According to Webster's dictionary, yoga is "a Hindu theistic philosophy teaching the suppression of all activity of body, mind, and will in order that the self may realize its distinction from them and attain liberation; and a system of exercises for attaining bodily or mental control and well-being.” In Sanskrit, the word “yoga” itself means “union” of the individual consciousness or soul with the broader Universal Consciousness or Spirit. In other words, yoga is as much about spirituality as it is about good health through physical exercise. The author defines “spiritual yoga” as the discipline that enables the mind to transcend its energies to divine consciousness until it reaches the state of stillness/silentness.

Spiritual Yoga reads more like a diary of personal introspections than like a book. Booklet length, it’s divided into various chapters that include a course map, The 9 Christ Letters, Emptying the Box, My Time in Meditation, Making Time for Prayers, Fasting and the author’s daily routine as well as a chart of the various chakras. There is an intimacy in Ardennes’ narrative – almost as though he’s sharing a very personal and intimate aspect of his life with the reader, which makes for an engaging read. At certain points, like in the section on fasting, he’s very matter-of-fact (as only the French can be) as to why he fasts – to achieve spiritual goals of higher demand. Whether one believes in the fasting route which he espouses is not the point. It is a lifestyle that he has chosen – not one he’s advising others to try. Enlightening spiritually and intellectually, Spiritual Yoga is for those who seek to find grounding and spiritual enlightenment as a life’s discipline.

Spiritual Yoga: How to transcend our human consciousness to Universal consciousness by Paul Ardennes is so much more than simple exercises that keep the body limber, loose and in good shape. It is exactly what the title suggests, a way of understanding how our lives (past and present) are interlaced and how to repair the tears we put in our souls during our previous existences as well as this one. When a soul passes from one life to the next, tears are formed due to the things we have done through each life. The only way to heal the soul is by first acknowledging that the soul can be repaired, then gaining knowledge about how to do so.

Spiritual Yoga by Paul Ardennes is a wonderful guide that will help any reader discover new truths about themselves, their soul, as well as the effects on and from the world around them. After going from home to home as a child, the author realized several important things about himself. He was not angry nor did he feel neglected or poor. Ardennes explains the nine letters of Christ and how they can help us understand our body and soul more clearly. Meditation, fasting, and prayer are very important parts of deep development that help the individual discover the wounds in the soul and how to begin repairing them. Ardennes also discusses what attracts and repels different souls and how to attract the ones we seek. I recommend Spiritual Yoga to anyone who wants to achieve a higher state of understanding of how to nurture and mend their soul as well as their physical form.