For many years at the Jivamukti Yoga School in New York City and throughout the country, popular and highly regarded yoga teacher Ruth Lauer-Mancnti (affectionately known as "Lady Ruth") has been offering her students "dharma talks"---stories from her life that accompany her classes and represent the yogic commitments to ahimsa (nonviolence), compassion, and service. Some of these talks have now been collected in a book, many of them accompanied by a reading from classic Hindu texts. Composed with humor and sensitivity, An Offering of Leaves is the perfect gift for the aspiring yogin and any spiritual seeker wanting to live with thoughtfulness and integrity.
"Ruth sces not only beauty and wonder in the world around her, but receives profound guidance from observing everyday activities like an old woman getting her hands dirty changing a flat tire or ants carrying carrots. This is because to Ruth all of life pulsates with the wisdom teachings of the guru---the enlightenment principle that surrounds and permeates through all of us at all times."---Sharon Gannon, co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga School
"Ruth gives readers an understanding of the philosophy of yoga through all that she has experienced in her many dedicated years of practice under the guidance of my grandfather, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois."---Sharath Rangaswamy
"Ruth is an able teacher of yoga and a serious student of Sanskrit. Her deep knowledge of the Indian heritage and tradition makes her views very interesting. Her incisive mind finds various hidden meanings in the words of ancient scers. Needless to say, her students are sure to gain true knowledge if they pay attention to her, even when she speaks casually."---Prof. H. V. Nagaraja Rao, Sanskritist
About the Author
Ruth Lauer-Manenti is the daughter of Lothar and Stefanie Lauer. Her parents came to the United States from Europe as refugees. Her father was a scientist and her mother is a published author. Both set an example of how to be a decent human being. Ruth found her way to yoga twenty-five years ago after spending a year in bed due to a serious car accident. She has been teaching yoga for the past eighteen years to students from around the world, primarily at the Jivamukti Yoga School in New York City, her home. Ruth is a devoted student and has the blessings of her teachers: Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Saraswati Jois, Sharath Rangaswami, Sharon Gannon and David Life, Dr. Jayashree, Prof. Nagaraja Rao, and Dr. Gurudath and his family. Her husband Robert is a humble tai chi master and a gentle nurse who works with those in critical care at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City. Ruth also has an MFA from the Yale School of Art, and sometimes teaches drawing and painting at Dartmouth College. She is the author of An Offering of Leaves and Sweeping the Dust.
