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Here Comes the Sun: A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras
At thirty, Californian Leza Lowitz is single and traveling the world, which suits her just fine. Coming of age in Berkeley, California, during the sexual and feminist revolutions of the 1970s, she learned that marriage and family could wait.
Or could they?
When Leza moves to Japan and meets the man of her dreams, her heart opens in ways she never thought possible. But she's still an outsider, and home is far away. Rather than struggle to fit in, she opens a yoga studio and makes a home for others. Then, at forty-four, Leza and her Japanese husband seek to adopt—in a country where bloodlines are paramount and family ties are almost feudal in their cultural importance. She travels to India to work on herself and back to California to deal with her past. Something is still not complete until she learns that when you give a little love to a child, you get the whole world in return.
This inspiring memoir reflects the author's deep connection to yoga that allows her to realize that infertile does not mean inconceivable. Through teaching, meditation, and community, she transcends her struggles and embraces the joys of adoption and motherhood.
Leza Lowitz lives in Tokyo with her husband, the writer Shogo Oketani, and their ten-year-old son. She has edited and published over seventeen books, many on Japan, and has run her own yoga studio in Tokyo for a decade. She travels throughout Japan and Asia to teach yoga and write. Her debut YA novel, Jet Black and the Ninja Wind, won the 2013–2014 Asian/Pacific American Award in Young Adult Literature.
Or could they?
When Leza moves to Japan and meets the man of her dreams, her heart opens in ways she never thought possible. But she's still an outsider, and home is far away. Rather than struggle to fit in, she opens a yoga studio and makes a home for others. Then, at forty-four, Leza and her Japanese husband seek to adopt—in a country where bloodlines are paramount and family ties are almost feudal in their cultural importance. She travels to India to work on herself and back to California to deal with her past. Something is still not complete until she learns that when you give a little love to a child, you get the whole world in return.
This inspiring memoir reflects the author's deep connection to yoga that allows her to realize that infertile does not mean inconceivable. Through teaching, meditation, and community, she transcends her struggles and embraces the joys of adoption and motherhood.
Leza Lowitz lives in Tokyo with her husband, the writer Shogo Oketani, and their ten-year-old son. She has edited and published over seventeen books, many on Japan, and has run her own yoga studio in Tokyo for a decade. She travels throughout Japan and Asia to teach yoga and write. Her debut YA novel, Jet Black and the Ninja Wind, won the 2013–2014 Asian/Pacific American Award in Young Adult Literature.
264 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2015
2 people are currently reading
329 people want to read
About the author
Leza Lowitz
33 books71 followersI'm a California girl living in Tokyo, where I write and run a yoga studio. For over two decades, I've been charting my quest in twenty books in many genres. I hope I'm just getting started.
I’m interested in ideas of identity and history. How is culture shaped, and how are we shaped by it? All of my books deal with notions of finding home.
"Up from the Sea," my debut Young Adult novel in verse about the March 11, 2011 Japan tsunami, is just out from Crown Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House. It's about making a home within yourself when the only home you've ever known is destroyed. Named a #1 YA pick by BUZZFEED:http://www.buzzfeed.com/farrahpenn/ya...
My memoir, "In Search of the Sun" charts my quest for motherhood across two decades, two continents, and two thousand yoga poses. Its about creating connection and family--finding a home in each other, and in the world.
"Jet Black and the Ninja Wind," a YA adventure I co-wrote with my Japanese husband, is about a biracial girl seeking home across cultures. Her mission is to save her ancestral home and its ancient treasure.
Then there's the poetry. "Yoga Poems: Lines to Unfold By" deals with finding a home in one’s body. "Yoga Heart: Lines on the Six Perfections" charts the path to finding a home in the spirit.
I often write with my husband, the Middle Grade novelist Shogo Oketani (author of J-Boys, Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965 (translated by Avery Udagawa) about five fifth graders growing up during the first Tokyo Olympics). Building a bridge from East to West, we’ve collaborated on a book about kanji, a collection of poetry by a pacifist Japanese soldier, and the Jet Black trilogy in progress. Other couples finish each other’s sentences. We try to finish each other’s books.
Other Stuff people ask about: My writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Huffington Post, Yoga Journal, Shambhala Sun, The Best Buddhist Writing, The Japan Times, Art in America, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others.
I've been fortunate to have received some literary awards, including the APALA Asia Pacific Award in Young Adult Literature, a SCBWI Work-in-Progress Fiction Honor grant, a PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, The PEN Josephine Miles Award for Poetry, individual grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the California Arts Council. Shogo and I received The U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission Award from Columbia University for the Translation of Japanese Literature. I've also received the Benjamin Franklin Award for Editorial Excellence, and three Pushcart Prize nominations.
I have a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley and an M.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. I've taught writing and literature there and at the University of Tokyo. I teach yoga and meditation internationally.
I love reading, dogs, and chocolate--preferably all at the same time. Thanks for stopping by.
I’m interested in ideas of identity and history. How is culture shaped, and how are we shaped by it? All of my books deal with notions of finding home.
"Up from the Sea," my debut Young Adult novel in verse about the March 11, 2011 Japan tsunami, is just out from Crown Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House. It's about making a home within yourself when the only home you've ever known is destroyed. Named a #1 YA pick by BUZZFEED:http://www.buzzfeed.com/farrahpenn/ya...
My memoir, "In Search of the Sun" charts my quest for motherhood across two decades, two continents, and two thousand yoga poses. Its about creating connection and family--finding a home in each other, and in the world.
"Jet Black and the Ninja Wind," a YA adventure I co-wrote with my Japanese husband, is about a biracial girl seeking home across cultures. Her mission is to save her ancestral home and its ancient treasure.
Then there's the poetry. "Yoga Poems: Lines to Unfold By" deals with finding a home in one’s body. "Yoga Heart: Lines on the Six Perfections" charts the path to finding a home in the spirit.
I often write with my husband, the Middle Grade novelist Shogo Oketani (author of J-Boys, Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965 (translated by Avery Udagawa) about five fifth graders growing up during the first Tokyo Olympics). Building a bridge from East to West, we’ve collaborated on a book about kanji, a collection of poetry by a pacifist Japanese soldier, and the Jet Black trilogy in progress. Other couples finish each other’s sentences. We try to finish each other’s books.
Other Stuff people ask about: My writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Huffington Post, Yoga Journal, Shambhala Sun, The Best Buddhist Writing, The Japan Times, Art in America, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others.
I've been fortunate to have received some literary awards, including the APALA Asia Pacific Award in Young Adult Literature, a SCBWI Work-in-Progress Fiction Honor grant, a PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, The PEN Josephine Miles Award for Poetry, individual grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the California Arts Council. Shogo and I received The U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission Award from Columbia University for the Translation of Japanese Literature. I've also received the Benjamin Franklin Award for Editorial Excellence, and three Pushcart Prize nominations.
I have a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley and an M.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. I've taught writing and literature there and at the University of Tokyo. I teach yoga and meditation internationally.
I love reading, dogs, and chocolate--preferably all at the same time. Thanks for stopping by.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
May 19, 2015
Full disclosure: I know Leza Lowitz personally, but I am not a yogi and cannot even touch my toes. I know nothing about chakras and Sanskrit, so the idea of a book organized around eight chakras made me wary. When a friend asks you to read their novel, you agree with some trepidation but you continue reading because of the story, not the friendship. Autobiographies can also be tricky to read, because the story is a biased version of the writer’s life. Some are stilted, because the writer is more focused on impressing the reader. Some, like this one, flow and you can hear the writer’s voice. I laughed and I cried with Leza as I joined in her adventure on paper. I knew her story was about adopting a Japanese boy in Japan but I still wanted to read to the end. I read the last few pages with tears in my eyes. Her sarcastic humor sprinkled here and there prevents it from being a sob story.
For those who do not know, adoption of a non-biologically related child in Japan is really difficult to do for various administrative and cultural reasons. With typical Japanese logic, it is much easier and more common to adopt adults. That gives you an idea of the obstacles Lowitz had to overcome. She outlines in detail several ways that a child can be adopted in Japan, and the book is worth its weight in gold just for that information.
As I started reading her story, it sounded like my life! I am also a foreign female resident in Japan married to a Japanese man and do not have any children. I never did any of the treatments she mentions but I have heard the stories and the want from others. As I read about her want for a child and the extremes to which she went to try to first conceive and then to adopt, I wanted to hug her. Only recently have these kinds of stories been coming out, and many of them are very depressing. Lowitz was determined to succeed and had meditation and later yoga to help her stay as positive as she could.
If you like travel memoirs, read it. If you are interested in adoption or about being childless/childfree, read it. If you want to read about a snapshot recording the life of someone who grew up in California in the Seventies, read it. If you read Jewish memoirs, read it. All of the categories overlap into a story in which you can clearly hear Leza Lowitz's voice and see her radiant smile. And remember that this is coming from somebody who cannot touch her own toes! Knees, maybe.
For those who do not know, adoption of a non-biologically related child in Japan is really difficult to do for various administrative and cultural reasons. With typical Japanese logic, it is much easier and more common to adopt adults. That gives you an idea of the obstacles Lowitz had to overcome. She outlines in detail several ways that a child can be adopted in Japan, and the book is worth its weight in gold just for that information.
As I started reading her story, it sounded like my life! I am also a foreign female resident in Japan married to a Japanese man and do not have any children. I never did any of the treatments she mentions but I have heard the stories and the want from others. As I read about her want for a child and the extremes to which she went to try to first conceive and then to adopt, I wanted to hug her. Only recently have these kinds of stories been coming out, and many of them are very depressing. Lowitz was determined to succeed and had meditation and later yoga to help her stay as positive as she could.
If you like travel memoirs, read it. If you are interested in adoption or about being childless/childfree, read it. If you want to read about a snapshot recording the life of someone who grew up in California in the Seventies, read it. If you read Jewish memoirs, read it. All of the categories overlap into a story in which you can clearly hear Leza Lowitz's voice and see her radiant smile. And remember that this is coming from somebody who cannot touch her own toes! Knees, maybe.
June 20, 2015
In a powerfully humble and intimate fashion, Leza Lowitz takes us with her on a journey of her own personal evolution from childhood to a motherhood that was difficult to manifest. It was an honor to be invited to grow with her and learn from this independent American-born woman about the Japanese man and culture she fell in love with, the dedication she had to following her dharma as a yoga teacher and writer, and her calling to become a mother. Skillfully, she weaved in wisdom from Rabbis, yogic philosophy, Buddhist practices and Haikus that gave meaning to her process, but also inspired the reader to a more profound worldview. Reading this book was a joy and created space in my own heart to contemplate many issues of the human experience, including addictions, difficult family relationships and their resolutions, and the very fact of mortality.
Accepting her inability to conceive a child, she says, "My womb can’t bear fruit, but can my mind? Can my imagination give birth to stories, breathe life into characters, build worlds and inhabit them with people? If I can’t give birth to a child, can I write myself into being?"
Yes, and she has done so beautifully and in a very down to earth way that calls us to identify with her and maneuver as well through the subtle body anatomy of chakras. She admitted she learned so much from her yoga students one day that she was amazed that they would call her "teacher," but by publishing this heartfelt, revealing memoir, she has indeed landed in the seat of teacher, in a most approachable and authentic way.
Accepting her inability to conceive a child, she says, "My womb can’t bear fruit, but can my mind? Can my imagination give birth to stories, breathe life into characters, build worlds and inhabit them with people? If I can’t give birth to a child, can I write myself into being?"
Yes, and she has done so beautifully and in a very down to earth way that calls us to identify with her and maneuver as well through the subtle body anatomy of chakras. She admitted she learned so much from her yoga students one day that she was amazed that they would call her "teacher," but by publishing this heartfelt, revealing memoir, she has indeed landed in the seat of teacher, in a most approachable and authentic way.
April 15, 2021
Beating the odds, American Leza Lowitz finds herself on the road to adopting a little boy consigned to the Japanese orphanage system where adoptions are rare and adoptions to foreign mothers still rarer. In this beautifully written memoir, the author overcomes her own self-doubts, makes peace with her childhood past, and a body that won't conceive on command. Leza's honest story guides us to share in her profound soul-searching journey. What begins in her birth country of America, moves back and forth between her current home in Japan a newfound spiritual home in India, with reflections on her Jewish roots. As the happily married but childless owner of the Sun and Moon Yoga Studio, where she has helped scores of women become pregnant, Leza's hard-earned triumph with the love of her life, the author Shogo Oketani, offers inspiration and profound hope to parents who need never give up.
January 31, 2016
This is a most unusual book, and that is certainly part of its charm. Author Leza Lowitz uses yoga and its chakras to tell the story of falling in love and making room in her life for a child. In her case, the adoption of a son in Japan, her adopted country (she is from Northern California originally). Even if the reader knows nothing about Japan, adoption, or yoga, this is still a wonderfully told tale worth pursuing.
My main motivation for reading the book was not learning about adoption or sharing in that experience (as is likely for most readers I'd guess). The final welcoming in of an adopted child is a wonderful part of the book, however. No, for me the story I was interested in was the story of the author's travels and just how she wound up living as an expat in Japan. And this book offers a lot of both travel insight and insight into Japanese culture, from an American standpoint.
Not having practiced yoga did not detract from the story whatsoever, and even offered a closer examination into the value of the practice beyond exercise. How Lowitz moves from writer to owning a yoga studio is an evolution that she chronicles beautifully and helps her readers understand just what yoga and its practice brought to her life, besides a career.
It's a credit to the author that even someone like me who doesn't know anything about any of her three main subjects (yoga, Japan, adoption) can find this book and her story so compelling. Her tale is really about the strength of the human spirit and the love that helps us all succeed and brings joy and light into our lives, no matter the country, no matter the career, no matter the family structure.
My main motivation for reading the book was not learning about adoption or sharing in that experience (as is likely for most readers I'd guess). The final welcoming in of an adopted child is a wonderful part of the book, however. No, for me the story I was interested in was the story of the author's travels and just how she wound up living as an expat in Japan. And this book offers a lot of both travel insight and insight into Japanese culture, from an American standpoint.
Not having practiced yoga did not detract from the story whatsoever, and even offered a closer examination into the value of the practice beyond exercise. How Lowitz moves from writer to owning a yoga studio is an evolution that she chronicles beautifully and helps her readers understand just what yoga and its practice brought to her life, besides a career.
It's a credit to the author that even someone like me who doesn't know anything about any of her three main subjects (yoga, Japan, adoption) can find this book and her story so compelling. Her tale is really about the strength of the human spirit and the love that helps us all succeed and brings joy and light into our lives, no matter the country, no matter the career, no matter the family structure.
May 30, 2015
(This review copy was given by the author in exchange for an honest review.)
HERE COMES THE SUN is Leza Lowitz's memoir about adoption-but not from the perspective of process and legalities. Rather, it focuses on the emotional journey that Lowitz and her family go through in her quest to become a mother. This raw, personal, reflective piece is an engaging read.
This narrative is presented around the concept of chakras which Lowitz, founder of Sun and Moon Yoga Studio in Tokyo, uses in her practice. (I also found the story of how Lowitz' began the studio really interesting-particularly for expats starting a business in Japan)
Lowitz is not afraid to bare her soul about pain, anguish, indecision, and anger. She writes how she feels; leaving a visceral impression on the page. At the same time, Lowitz doesn't do the blame memoir-this is not an expose of family problems or settling of personal scores. If anything, she goes to great pains to protect others' privacy. What she does do, very convincingly, is show her emotional growth.
I found reading this very cathartic. Lowitz has a way of putting herself out there-heck, she's a poet- and making you feel. Even if the details of motherhood, infertility, adoption are not the same, the emotions are universal and this book taps into those very well.
Highly Recommended.
HERE COMES THE SUN is Leza Lowitz's memoir about adoption-but not from the perspective of process and legalities. Rather, it focuses on the emotional journey that Lowitz and her family go through in her quest to become a mother. This raw, personal, reflective piece is an engaging read.
This narrative is presented around the concept of chakras which Lowitz, founder of Sun and Moon Yoga Studio in Tokyo, uses in her practice. (I also found the story of how Lowitz' began the studio really interesting-particularly for expats starting a business in Japan)
Lowitz is not afraid to bare her soul about pain, anguish, indecision, and anger. She writes how she feels; leaving a visceral impression on the page. At the same time, Lowitz doesn't do the blame memoir-this is not an expose of family problems or settling of personal scores. If anything, she goes to great pains to protect others' privacy. What she does do, very convincingly, is show her emotional growth.
I found reading this very cathartic. Lowitz has a way of putting herself out there-heck, she's a poet- and making you feel. Even if the details of motherhood, infertility, adoption are not the same, the emotions are universal and this book taps into those very well.
Highly Recommended.
June 21, 2015
I was drawn to Leza Lowitz's memoir because I wanted to read about her life as an expat in Japan and her cross-cultural marriage with a Japanese man. I was also curious about her path to adoption and how that was accepted in Japan, a place that doesn't have many adoptions. I was also curious about how she integrated yoga into her story (I do Pilates, which uses a lot of yoga positions). What I found was a rich memoir filled with love, heartbreak, and acceptance. Leza's voice shines through her words and her experiences. The way she writes about her husband Shogo, from the very first meeting to the end of her memoir after they experience the Tokyo earthquake, is probably the greatest love letter someone could write to her spouse. Her book can serve as a great inspiration to many. If you're interested in adopting internationally or want to create a new life abroad or are interested in reading about starting a career in publishing, Leza's experiences will serve you well. Her book also shows how old wounds can heal and how it's possible to find love in the most unlikely of places.
May 26, 2015
“There are hundreds of ways to be a mother, only one of which is to give birth.” This beautifully true statement made me smile the most while reading Here Comes the Sun. This is a honest and engaging story of the journey to motherhood through self discovery. Leza has a wonderfully open approach to her story of how, through yoga, she was able to overcome her past and open herself up to love and motherhood. As a parent of an adopted child, this story struck me on many levels and I was able to draw many parallels to my own emotional journey to becoming a mother. The profound question “Why do you want to be a mother?” becomes daunting when you’re first faced with infertility. Similar to Leza, I was fortunate to have yoga to help me through the disappointment, strain on my relationships and eventual acceptance that lead me to create the family I always dreamed of. This book is a very true outline of the heartbreak and joy in discovering that motherhood comes in many different ways
June 5, 2015
Instant Classic
“Here Comes the Sun,” about one woman's quest to create a family, is one of those rare books that will be close to my heart forever.
Much like the teachings in "Women Who Run With The Wolves,” I found this book to be full of timeless wisdom.
At one point it read like a suspense novel, and I couldn’t put it down. Other times it was light and easy.
When a writer writes from a place
of honesty, we learn from it. All of us. Lowitz's journey mirrored what I needed to hear and explore in my own life.
It was a giver of hope, and a bringer of cleansing tears.
Lori Davis-Sandoval
Artist/Musician
“Here Comes the Sun,” about one woman's quest to create a family, is one of those rare books that will be close to my heart forever.
Much like the teachings in "Women Who Run With The Wolves,” I found this book to be full of timeless wisdom.
At one point it read like a suspense novel, and I couldn’t put it down. Other times it was light and easy.
When a writer writes from a place
of honesty, we learn from it. All of us. Lowitz's journey mirrored what I needed to hear and explore in my own life.
It was a giver of hope, and a bringer of cleansing tears.
Lori Davis-Sandoval
Artist/Musician
July 26, 2016
This book for me was about the power of love and the beauty of self discovery. It is beautifully written and inspirational. Families come together in many different ways and they are all beautiful and unique. Through this book you get to witness one woman's courage and determination in this journey we call life. It's hopeful, moving and above all honest.
July 10, 2015
I received a Kindle version of this book in exchange for a fair review.
Let me also add that I have mostly stopped reviewing authors who solicit me through Amazon/Goodreads because usually they fall victim to my policy of not posting reviews if I would give a book less than 3 stars.
I'm happy to say Here Comes the Sun was much better than 3 stars. But I must admit that the reasons I went ahead and accepted the review request were probably the reasons I enjoyed the book so much: they hooked directly into my personal life experiences as a caucasian US citizen who married a Japanese chonan (eldest son), lived in Tokyo for a time, practices yoga, and dealt with various cultural and racial issues about having children within that marriage.
So yeah, I enjoyed it. I think Lowitz does a pretty good job of tying together all the parts of her life to the memoir's overall themes of acceptance, mothering, unintentional hurts we bestow on each other, and the release of painful emotional burdens. The narrative arc of experiencing infertility in a cross-cultural marriage in a society that places a premium on tracking bloodlines coupled with her various yoga and yoga-retreat experiences illuminates the kinds of themes anyone who is a parent or who has wanted to be a parent can appreciate.
Lowitz constantly struggles with her expectations and what fate throws her way. While I was a bit non-plussed by some of the more "spiritual" scenes in the book (she consults a psychic, experiences many things at various yogic retreats, has a brain-damaged man tell her things that impossibly relate to a necklace she gets from her aunt, etc) Lowitz's focus always comes back 'round to how both her yoga and Judaic roots filter spirituality in her mothering quest.
I certainly enjoyed the parts where she talks about her marriage, students at her Tokyo yoga studio, and the long, slow process of adoption in Tokyo more than the passages exploring yoga/meditation philosophy, but that's a personal preference and not a reflection of Lowitz's writing, which is entirely competent.
Very interesting memoir I would recommend to anyone interested in ex-pat experience in Tokyo, intercultural marriage, adoption or what the more philosophical side of "mothering" means.
Let me also add that I have mostly stopped reviewing authors who solicit me through Amazon/Goodreads because usually they fall victim to my policy of not posting reviews if I would give a book less than 3 stars.
I'm happy to say Here Comes the Sun was much better than 3 stars. But I must admit that the reasons I went ahead and accepted the review request were probably the reasons I enjoyed the book so much: they hooked directly into my personal life experiences as a caucasian US citizen who married a Japanese chonan (eldest son), lived in Tokyo for a time, practices yoga, and dealt with various cultural and racial issues about having children within that marriage.
So yeah, I enjoyed it. I think Lowitz does a pretty good job of tying together all the parts of her life to the memoir's overall themes of acceptance, mothering, unintentional hurts we bestow on each other, and the release of painful emotional burdens. The narrative arc of experiencing infertility in a cross-cultural marriage in a society that places a premium on tracking bloodlines coupled with her various yoga and yoga-retreat experiences illuminates the kinds of themes anyone who is a parent or who has wanted to be a parent can appreciate.
Lowitz constantly struggles with her expectations and what fate throws her way. While I was a bit non-plussed by some of the more "spiritual" scenes in the book (she consults a psychic, experiences many things at various yogic retreats, has a brain-damaged man tell her things that impossibly relate to a necklace she gets from her aunt, etc) Lowitz's focus always comes back 'round to how both her yoga and Judaic roots filter spirituality in her mothering quest.
I certainly enjoyed the parts where she talks about her marriage, students at her Tokyo yoga studio, and the long, slow process of adoption in Tokyo more than the passages exploring yoga/meditation philosophy, but that's a personal preference and not a reflection of Lowitz's writing, which is entirely competent.
Very interesting memoir I would recommend to anyone interested in ex-pat experience in Tokyo, intercultural marriage, adoption or what the more philosophical side of "mothering" means.
September 9, 2015
“Here Comes the Sun” is a story of becoming a mother, with truths of motherhood. I read as a progression – start to finish. Then I read it again … more slowly. Some parts kept pulling me back. Now, ‘plot’ aside, I saw depths I missed the first time: witty asides, historical aspects blend in and give the event a foundation with barely a notice, her trust of intuitive messages, traditional and new wisdoms. I learned much about yoga with the reasons and results, the suffering I am not privy to, being a father, yet as a parent, I feel her sharing, a reaching out to each reader. I cry. Barely a page is without my tears and my laughter… sometimes together. Leza Lowitz has a way of giving, giving all, to the reader, with a bare-bone brightness. I feel her suffering, her pain, her joys, inside me. Her writing radiates life, the white space, the incomplete sentences, the short jibs, all flow with and reflect her journey. Some sentences seem to describe a lifetime, in those few words. We have onomatopoeic sounds; Lowitz uses the same with her word choice and placement. The writing reflects the journey.
Fifth Chakra:
“… I know that the samurai spirit also embodies an acceptance of failure, usually at the sharp end of a sword.
When one has tried one’s best, failure is noble, dignified.
I hold up my head, try to be dignified.
I try to embody the samurai spirit.
Just keep me away from anything sharp.”
Many of the cross-cultural marriage incidents, joys, and growing I share. Having lived and worked in Japan for some years, books about the culture interest me. The way Lowitz describes the interactions with her Japanese husband echo mine with my Japanese wife. And family.
Dictionaries don’t converse nor give the cultural use nor implications of words. If I could say that I always understand what I mean, then maybe I could expect others to understand, especially in my birth family. Another person, another place, another culture – as Lowitz says, we are not sure what our spouse understands. Nor they of us. Lowitz shows many ways a marriage can work, two participants from very different places, both willing to work and sacrifice to become a family.
Fifth Chakra:
“… I know that the samurai spirit also embodies an acceptance of failure, usually at the sharp end of a sword.
When one has tried one’s best, failure is noble, dignified.
I hold up my head, try to be dignified.
I try to embody the samurai spirit.
Just keep me away from anything sharp.”
Many of the cross-cultural marriage incidents, joys, and growing I share. Having lived and worked in Japan for some years, books about the culture interest me. The way Lowitz describes the interactions with her Japanese husband echo mine with my Japanese wife. And family.
Dictionaries don’t converse nor give the cultural use nor implications of words. If I could say that I always understand what I mean, then maybe I could expect others to understand, especially in my birth family. Another person, another place, another culture – as Lowitz says, we are not sure what our spouse understands. Nor they of us. Lowitz shows many ways a marriage can work, two participants from very different places, both willing to work and sacrifice to become a family.
June 18, 2015
I'm not massively into memoirs as I prefer fiction to non-fiction, but what appealed about Leza Lowitz's Here Comes the Sun: A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras was that it is set in Japan (and I always love reading about different people and cultures) and it is about a couple's journey to adoption, something which I know relatively little about but am very interested in.
Lowitz writes:
"In Japan, there's a word for empty space, like the white around a haiku on the page, the blank canvas on the top of a scroll of calligraphy, or the void between rocks in the ocean where sacred rope is strung. It's called ma, written as the sun seen through a gate. It is also the universal name for Mother. Ma..."
I feel that this book encompasses three love stories. The first is with Shogo, a man who lets her be herself and quietly sweeps her off her feet.
The second love story is with yoga. "I fall in love with yoga as I fell in love with Shogo." Yoga is something I have tried in the past and failed at. My body is not flexible enough and my mind won't make my body keep trying. Lowitz, however, shows far more dedication and through yoga she tries to break down the walls she has built around herself. "I dive deeper into my yoga. I sweep my arms overhead, open my heart, and salute the sun. I imagine bringing in light, joy, contentment."
And the final love story is with her child. Leza Lowitz's account of her journey to adoption is brutally honest. "In my body," she writes, "the center was empty when it should have been full. [...] Everywhere I turn, I see pregnant women - mothers pushing strollers, shopping, talking absent-mindedly on their cell phones as their kids throw tantrums. What I wouldn't give for a screaming child, I think. I try not to wallow or judge, but I fail." I had no idea what level of commitment is needed to adopt a child, especially in Japan. When Shogo and Leza were finally successful, it brought tears to my eyes.
This woman's account of the ups and downs of her life will always stay with me and I hope that if you read it, it has a similar effect on you.
Lowitz writes:
"In Japan, there's a word for empty space, like the white around a haiku on the page, the blank canvas on the top of a scroll of calligraphy, or the void between rocks in the ocean where sacred rope is strung. It's called ma, written as the sun seen through a gate. It is also the universal name for Mother. Ma..."
I feel that this book encompasses three love stories. The first is with Shogo, a man who lets her be herself and quietly sweeps her off her feet.
The second love story is with yoga. "I fall in love with yoga as I fell in love with Shogo." Yoga is something I have tried in the past and failed at. My body is not flexible enough and my mind won't make my body keep trying. Lowitz, however, shows far more dedication and through yoga she tries to break down the walls she has built around herself. "I dive deeper into my yoga. I sweep my arms overhead, open my heart, and salute the sun. I imagine bringing in light, joy, contentment."
And the final love story is with her child. Leza Lowitz's account of her journey to adoption is brutally honest. "In my body," she writes, "the center was empty when it should have been full. [...] Everywhere I turn, I see pregnant women - mothers pushing strollers, shopping, talking absent-mindedly on their cell phones as their kids throw tantrums. What I wouldn't give for a screaming child, I think. I try not to wallow or judge, but I fail." I had no idea what level of commitment is needed to adopt a child, especially in Japan. When Shogo and Leza were finally successful, it brought tears to my eyes.
This woman's account of the ups and downs of her life will always stay with me and I hope that if you read it, it has a similar effect on you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2016
Here Comes the Sun by Leza Lowitz is an engaging memoir, one woman’s search for meaning, a story laced with many spiritual lessons and one that will offer a beautiful path to dreamers and seekers. The style is deceptively simple, but beneath that simplicity are powerful currents of energy and a wisdom that will help many people seeking the path to themselves. The book can be read as a memoir on personal development, a path to self-discovery, or the author’s quest for meaning.
At the bud of youth, Leza Lowitz is a free woman, free like the wind, and she takes advantage of this freedom to travel, but a journey to Japan brings her into contact with a new culture and a man with whom she develops a very deep relationship that will reveal her to herself and lead her to new paths. She narrates the challenges of adapting in a new milieu, the struggles with immersion, and ultimately, the challenge of interracial marriage. “But once I’ve made the decision to return to the States,” she writes, “it becomes harder to negotiate being in Japan—the language issues, the cultural rigidity, the ambiguity, the inability to get things done as quickly as I imagine I could do them in California.” As if facing a new culture weren’t a huge challenge in itself, Leza discovers that she can’t have children with Shogo, the man she loves. So, she decides to embrace a new form of motherhood: adoption. Will she succeed to adopt in a country and a culture where bloodlines are so strong? It is amazing to see how she faces this challenge with the man she loves.
Here Comes the Sun is a powerful message of hope for everyone facing challenges in their lives – and who doesn’t face any challenge? The author invites readers to go out of themselves to embrace others, for it is in our encounter with others that we discover who we are. When we muster the courage to face the world, we discover the beautiful home within our hearts. This is a book that will inspire, enrich, entertain, and help millions of readers on their search for meaning.
At the bud of youth, Leza Lowitz is a free woman, free like the wind, and she takes advantage of this freedom to travel, but a journey to Japan brings her into contact with a new culture and a man with whom she develops a very deep relationship that will reveal her to herself and lead her to new paths. She narrates the challenges of adapting in a new milieu, the struggles with immersion, and ultimately, the challenge of interracial marriage. “But once I’ve made the decision to return to the States,” she writes, “it becomes harder to negotiate being in Japan—the language issues, the cultural rigidity, the ambiguity, the inability to get things done as quickly as I imagine I could do them in California.” As if facing a new culture weren’t a huge challenge in itself, Leza discovers that she can’t have children with Shogo, the man she loves. So, she decides to embrace a new form of motherhood: adoption. Will she succeed to adopt in a country and a culture where bloodlines are so strong? It is amazing to see how she faces this challenge with the man she loves.
Here Comes the Sun is a powerful message of hope for everyone facing challenges in their lives – and who doesn’t face any challenge? The author invites readers to go out of themselves to embrace others, for it is in our encounter with others that we discover who we are. When we muster the courage to face the world, we discover the beautiful home within our hearts. This is a book that will inspire, enrich, entertain, and help millions of readers on their search for meaning.
June 22, 2015
Leza Lowitz’s beautiful new book maps the geography of longing, desire, and eventually fulfillment, as she travels back and forth between her birth country of the United States, and her adopted country of Japan.
Although the subtitle suggests that Here Comes the Sun is based on the ancient yogic system of the energy centers, or chakras, like yoga (union, wholeness, oneness) her story embraces all aspects of the practice - as she learns it! - which makes it all the more valuable to us. From meditating with Mr. Sereno as a youngster, to beginning her asana practice, and cultivating that throughout, to finding her breath in pranayama, Leza's intimate journey of awakening to life’s bounty is recorded here in funny, touching detail.
Her thoughtful, poetic rendering of her personal tale of love and family also serves as an invitation, because she unflinchingly presents her life story from childhood to parenthood, introducing us to the key characters along her path, for good or ill. By being willing to incorporate the various influences of people and events that help to shape her worldview, we are able to see that even a tragedy, such as losing a pregnancy to a mugger’s attack, can serve as a pivotal moment in a life. And I found it interesting that as a teenager, Lowitz adopted her friend’s parents as well as her own aunt in a mother-like role, effectively operating in that milieu years before it had anything to do with creation of her own family.
Applying the yogic principle of svadhyaya, or self-study, before she even knows what that is, Leza shares with us what it’s like to fall in love, to consider how to navigate within the self-designed, shared boundaries of that gift, and how a growing awareness of life, in all its mystery, can help create the way we choose to live it. This is a yogi’s story as she becomes one, moving from practitioner, to teacher and studio owner, in tandem with moving from friend and lover, to wife and parent.
Although the subtitle suggests that Here Comes the Sun is based on the ancient yogic system of the energy centers, or chakras, like yoga (union, wholeness, oneness) her story embraces all aspects of the practice - as she learns it! - which makes it all the more valuable to us. From meditating with Mr. Sereno as a youngster, to beginning her asana practice, and cultivating that throughout, to finding her breath in pranayama, Leza's intimate journey of awakening to life’s bounty is recorded here in funny, touching detail.
Her thoughtful, poetic rendering of her personal tale of love and family also serves as an invitation, because she unflinchingly presents her life story from childhood to parenthood, introducing us to the key characters along her path, for good or ill. By being willing to incorporate the various influences of people and events that help to shape her worldview, we are able to see that even a tragedy, such as losing a pregnancy to a mugger’s attack, can serve as a pivotal moment in a life. And I found it interesting that as a teenager, Lowitz adopted her friend’s parents as well as her own aunt in a mother-like role, effectively operating in that milieu years before it had anything to do with creation of her own family.
Applying the yogic principle of svadhyaya, or self-study, before she even knows what that is, Leza shares with us what it’s like to fall in love, to consider how to navigate within the self-designed, shared boundaries of that gift, and how a growing awareness of life, in all its mystery, can help create the way we choose to live it. This is a yogi’s story as she becomes one, moving from practitioner, to teacher and studio owner, in tandem with moving from friend and lover, to wife and parent.
June 7, 2015
I was sent this book in exchange for an honest review.
In correspondence, the author Leza Lowitz has stated that, "among other things,
this book is about forging a creative life."
Reading the tale of that forging, I was and am astonished by the courage and
skill it took to reveal with luminous clarity those deeply private moments, crises,
and triumphs while linking them to the universal. The beguiling simplicity—how
dare the author write in so casual, so conversational, a tone—is soon revealed to
have many layers, as we readers look back and note how far we have been led,
through vast distances of thought and space, from California to India to Japan,
crossing Judaic, Indian, Japanese, Native, and American cultures.
And along the way, we hardly notice that certain lessons have been given, including
a delightful compendium of Buddhist, Yogic, Judaic lore and poetry, prayers and
sayings, all shaped in a clear, fluid confluence of three wisdom traditions that never
get occluded and are fully revealed, reminding us of what we know and teaching us,
inevitably, things from the schools of Yoga thought and practice only a devoted
practitioner and teacher would know.
-----------------------------------------------
I tore through it, sometimes on the edge of my seat, sometimes leaning back
to consider some of the concepts shared. Only after finishing this compelling read
did I realize the narrative had been specifically woven to gather tension ever so
slowly, like threads wound on a spindle, until the moment when one word of two
syllables releases the taut dramatic line, catharsis in a long sigh of relief that
something meaningful has been forged which links three lives into one.
And, of course, there also are the wonderful, self-deprecating lessons
in Mindfulness, that bioluminescent ocean of thought and practice.
In correspondence, the author Leza Lowitz has stated that, "among other things,
this book is about forging a creative life."
Reading the tale of that forging, I was and am astonished by the courage and
skill it took to reveal with luminous clarity those deeply private moments, crises,
and triumphs while linking them to the universal. The beguiling simplicity—how
dare the author write in so casual, so conversational, a tone—is soon revealed to
have many layers, as we readers look back and note how far we have been led,
through vast distances of thought and space, from California to India to Japan,
crossing Judaic, Indian, Japanese, Native, and American cultures.
And along the way, we hardly notice that certain lessons have been given, including
a delightful compendium of Buddhist, Yogic, Judaic lore and poetry, prayers and
sayings, all shaped in a clear, fluid confluence of three wisdom traditions that never
get occluded and are fully revealed, reminding us of what we know and teaching us,
inevitably, things from the schools of Yoga thought and practice only a devoted
practitioner and teacher would know.
-----------------------------------------------
I tore through it, sometimes on the edge of my seat, sometimes leaning back
to consider some of the concepts shared. Only after finishing this compelling read
did I realize the narrative had been specifically woven to gather tension ever so
slowly, like threads wound on a spindle, until the moment when one word of two
syllables releases the taut dramatic line, catharsis in a long sigh of relief that
something meaningful has been forged which links three lives into one.
And, of course, there also are the wonderful, self-deprecating lessons
in Mindfulness, that bioluminescent ocean of thought and practice.
June 5, 2015
The second you hear the title, Here Comes the Sun, you hear George Harrison's voice in your head: "Here comes the sun, do do do do do..."
You remember the first time you heard the song, a time when you listened to it non-stop and most importantly, you are reminded that when the sun rises it is a slow, lovely, process of wonder, anticipation, hope and faith.
Leza Lowitz’s, Here Comes The Sun—A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras, is a yoga book. It tells the story of an adventurous journey, of opposites who patiently follow their path of love until the sun comes to them.
Ms. Lowitz guides the reader, like a well sequenced vinyasa class, from the first chakra at the tailbone to (eighth chakra) beyond the crown of the head on her quest for family. The experience is tranquil and subtle, not like watching the numbers light up in an elevator floor by floor.
Here Comes The Sun—A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras progresses like a travel journal of the author’s personal journey, with ups and downs, successes and set-backs, frustrations and peace as an offering like a ceremonious prepared cup of tea.
What this book is not is a teacher training book or a how-to guide to poses, history, philosophy or pranayama. Here Comes The Sun—A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras peels away another layer with every chapter or chakra. Your breath flows from San Francisco, CA to Japan gathering wisdom with every obstacle. Ms. Lowitz opens herself up with raw, authentic truth shooting the reader into a compassionate heart.
Leza Lowitz is an American writer and yoga teacher who lives in Japan with her husband and son. She has written, edited or co-translated several books including Yoga Poems Lines to Unfold By. A book this writer reads to her yoga students.
You remember the first time you heard the song, a time when you listened to it non-stop and most importantly, you are reminded that when the sun rises it is a slow, lovely, process of wonder, anticipation, hope and faith.
Leza Lowitz’s, Here Comes The Sun—A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras, is a yoga book. It tells the story of an adventurous journey, of opposites who patiently follow their path of love until the sun comes to them.
Ms. Lowitz guides the reader, like a well sequenced vinyasa class, from the first chakra at the tailbone to (eighth chakra) beyond the crown of the head on her quest for family. The experience is tranquil and subtle, not like watching the numbers light up in an elevator floor by floor.
Here Comes The Sun—A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras progresses like a travel journal of the author’s personal journey, with ups and downs, successes and set-backs, frustrations and peace as an offering like a ceremonious prepared cup of tea.
What this book is not is a teacher training book or a how-to guide to poses, history, philosophy or pranayama. Here Comes The Sun—A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras peels away another layer with every chapter or chakra. Your breath flows from San Francisco, CA to Japan gathering wisdom with every obstacle. Ms. Lowitz opens herself up with raw, authentic truth shooting the reader into a compassionate heart.
Leza Lowitz is an American writer and yoga teacher who lives in Japan with her husband and son. She has written, edited or co-translated several books including Yoga Poems Lines to Unfold By. A book this writer reads to her yoga students.
May 10, 2015
Author Leza Lowitz is a Jewish California girl who went on a journey of self-discovery and ended up living in the least likely place -- Japan. An early trip to Japan introduced her to her husband to be, perhaps the least uptight Japanese man in the world. Shogo gives space for self-discovery and a comfortable space to land when she finally decides that he is her b-shert (destiny). Then comes the interesting part. Can a young woman who identifies as Jewish find true happiness with a Japanese atheist? Amazingly she can and is even welcomed by her loving mother-in-law and stiff-necked father-in-law. In fact, the in-law problems come from her dysfunctional American family. Along the way Leza becomes very deeply engaged with Yoga and Buddhist philosophy and this provides a framework for her book. She also becomes obsessed with her journey to have a child, something her body cannot achieve although she tries every approach of western medicine and Ayurvedic practice. Ultimately, at a relatively advanced age, she and her husband begin the complex (even more complex in Japan) route to parenthood by adoption. there's a bit of navel-gazing in this story, but that is what the practice of meditation is about and the outcome of Shogo and Leza's journey to parenthood will give hope to many infertile women or people who are simply seeking the peace in an alien landscape that Leza seems to have finally found.
June 9, 2015
In Japan, they have a saying: Mateba kanro no hiyori ari ~ If you wait…the sweet nectar of fair weather will come. But sometimes waiting simply isn’t enough. Sometimes you have to push the river, and no one knows better than Leza Lowitz, author of Here Comes the Sun: A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras.
Leza Lowitz is a force of nature: Neither tempest nor tremblor, but rather a steady, purposeful momentum that carves canyons and moves mountains over time. With the yogic chakra system as a metaphor in this autobiographical memoir, Leza walks her readers up the path she followed, from her beginnings in the San Francisco Bay Area, to Japan, and beyond. Along the way, she narrates the labyrinthine process involved in starting her own business and building a home in Tokyo, and the near-miracle of adopting of a Japanese child. And like a lotus unfolding its petals, she lays bare her mental, emotional, and spiritual inner dialogue with pathos, compassion, and unblinking candor.
Read Here Comes the Sun for the power of storytelling. Read it for the heart, for the spirit, for the love. And then go out and make your own miracles.
Leza Lowitz is a force of nature: Neither tempest nor tremblor, but rather a steady, purposeful momentum that carves canyons and moves mountains over time. With the yogic chakra system as a metaphor in this autobiographical memoir, Leza walks her readers up the path she followed, from her beginnings in the San Francisco Bay Area, to Japan, and beyond. Along the way, she narrates the labyrinthine process involved in starting her own business and building a home in Tokyo, and the near-miracle of adopting of a Japanese child. And like a lotus unfolding its petals, she lays bare her mental, emotional, and spiritual inner dialogue with pathos, compassion, and unblinking candor.
Read Here Comes the Sun for the power of storytelling. Read it for the heart, for the spirit, for the love. And then go out and make your own miracles.
Read
June 26, 2015From "Now Reading" by Literary Mama staff:
Fiction Editor Suzanne Kamata adds, "In Here Comes the Sun: A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras, Leza Lowitz, an award-winning poet and writer—and yoga instructor to the stars at her studio in Tokyo—writes of her unconventional path to motherhood. Having survived a difficult adolescence in 1970s Berkeley, she makes her way to Japan where, in her 30s, she eventually meets, falls in love with, and marries a Japanese poet and writer. After a bout of infertility, the couple makes the difficult decision to adopt a Japanese toddler—this, in a country where bloodlines are all-important and adoption is rare. Even extended family members must agree to the process before an adoption can be made legal. A love story on many levels, Here Comes the Sun is a beautifully told, life-affirming memoir."
Literary Mama's full Now Reading post can be found here: http://www.literarymama.com/blog/arch...
Fiction Editor Suzanne Kamata adds, "In Here Comes the Sun: A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras, Leza Lowitz, an award-winning poet and writer—and yoga instructor to the stars at her studio in Tokyo—writes of her unconventional path to motherhood. Having survived a difficult adolescence in 1970s Berkeley, she makes her way to Japan where, in her 30s, she eventually meets, falls in love with, and marries a Japanese poet and writer. After a bout of infertility, the couple makes the difficult decision to adopt a Japanese toddler—this, in a country where bloodlines are all-important and adoption is rare. Even extended family members must agree to the process before an adoption can be made legal. A love story on many levels, Here Comes the Sun is a beautifully told, life-affirming memoir."
Literary Mama's full Now Reading post can be found here: http://www.literarymama.com/blog/arch...
February 21, 2016
An amazing piece of literature which delves into the world of fertility and adoption in Japan. Leza does an excellent job of describing the process of trying to conceive, while explaining in detail the difficulties that her and her husband (Shogo) faced during this difficult time. I loved how Leza was honest about her feelings, which made me fall in love with her positive outlook on life, despite her difficult situation at the time. It was wonderful to read about how the adoption process in Japan works, while learning more about how Japanese society views adoption. Although I am not a yogi, and didn't understand the yoga processes in which Leza speaks of, I loved how she followed her passion, and brought yoga to Japan in a fundamental way. This book was an excellent memoir of how one overcomes difficulties, while coming out on top in more ways than one. Looking forward to a sequel!
July 3, 2015
I appreciated her book because I recently relocated myself to another city and still searching for my soul while asking my own life questions. I thought the relationship with her husband, her strong will of not-giving-up like a samurai, and how she opened her very personal difficult experiences honestly to readers are brave and beautiful. She kept asking herself about meanings of love, family, child, adoption, mother, health, teacher, and yoga while going through tough transitions from a beautiful healthy Northern Californian lifestyle to a big foreign city lifestyle in Tokyo. Although I am not a woman, I still, similar to her as a man, often ask myself “How far can you go following your heart? When should we stop or not to stop considering risks and trade-offs.” I was encouraged by her stories.
May 16, 2015
This is a story of love and yoga, courage and transformation. Leza Lowitz takes us on a real life journey of a California girl living, working, and building a family Japan. Like every hero, she is challenged on her quest. Every time she is told no, she finds a new path to "yes". It is a story of two cultures blending, and of a mothers' love the exists through time. Best of all, Lowitz's writing is sparse in the best of ways, powerful. there are no wasted words on this personal journey, no incessant self -reflection that one can find in memoir writing. Instead, the writing moves along like the adventure story it is. Compelling and beautiful!
Good for readers interested in memoir, yoga, parenting, adoption, Japan, California, living in multiple cultures, empowerment and love.
Good for readers interested in memoir, yoga, parenting, adoption, Japan, California, living in multiple cultures, empowerment and love.
January 6, 2016
Here Comes the Sun chronicles Leza’sheart-warming story of becoming a mother. It also tells the story of a woman finding love and finding herself. This beautifully written book is not just for aspiring mothers. Anyone looking to embrace their unique journey in life may find inspiration in Leza’s courage and faith on her road to motherhood. By example, she shows us the way to open up, let go and invite in. Her words encourage me to stay open on my own path. Beautifully written and captivating from beginning to end. Leza Lowitz
May 9, 2015
Here Comes the Sun is a story of courage and love, courageously and lovingly told.
Leza's writing feels as comfortable and familiar to me as the craftsman homes of her Berkeley youth, but it is also infused with all the elegant simplicity and effortless poetry of her Japanese teahouse. This is to say: Leza takes you with her, takes you by the hand and by the heart. Like Amma, the hugging saint she admires so much, Leza wraps you up in her story and opens her soul to you, leaving you a bit bigger, more hopeful, more willing to be brave than you were before.
Leza's writing feels as comfortable and familiar to me as the craftsman homes of her Berkeley youth, but it is also infused with all the elegant simplicity and effortless poetry of her Japanese teahouse. This is to say: Leza takes you with her, takes you by the hand and by the heart. Like Amma, the hugging saint she admires so much, Leza wraps you up in her story and opens her soul to you, leaving you a bit bigger, more hopeful, more willing to be brave than you were before.
June 9, 2015
This is a beautiful book about one woman's journey to become a mother and to understand the love that can only happen between a mother and her child. But _Here Comes the Sun_ is so much more. Using yoga and the 8 chakras, Leza shows us a better way to live, a more productive way to self examine, self reflect, and to reach our dreams. I will recommend this book to all my friends, single, married, with children or childless. It has much to teach.
August 20, 2015
I won this book from Goodreads First Reads. I was excited to read the novel and I was not disappointed by what I found within its pages. The author told her story in such a way that I could almost join her as she traveled both literally and figuratively. I enjoyed watching the way in which her relationships with others and with her self unfurled throughout the course of the novel. I would definitely recommend it to a friend.
November 9, 2015
I've been practicing yoga for almost 15 years, and, from to time, taking it for granted. This book re-animated my practice, showing me how much yoga can give to a searching heart. Leza Lowitz writes cleanly--and often poetically--about her journey to find herself as an American yogi in Japan, a forgiving daughter, and an adopting mother. Whether or not you've struggled with infertility, as Lowitz has, you will cheer for her achievement and admired her candor in this wonderful memoir.
May 31, 2015
This is a beautifully written story of one woman's unconventional approach to life, love, and motherhood. Readers with an interest in adoption, yoga, and cross cultural relationships will find Leza's story particularly inspiring, but this is a book that can also be enjoyed on a more general level as one woman's journey along a path less travelled.
June 29, 2015
This book is a love letter, rich in wisdom and emotion. It is beautifully written and a pleasure to read. A hanky may be necessary.
December 8, 2017
"Here Comes the Sun" is one of those unusual books that makes you think as well as feel. I found it particularly moving, and thought provoking, for a variety of reasons. I've recently become acquainted with the luminous author of this inspiring story. Then, there are the coincidences. I, too, come from a dysfunctional American family, have similarly found salvation -- mental and spiritual as well as physical -- in practicing yoga, and I've also had the good fortune to meet and marry a remarkable, unconventional Japanese man and been able to make a new life for myself in Japan. Lowitz's memoir is written in supple, elegant prose that draws the reader in; she has produced the proverbial 'page turner'. As we read, we desperately want this wonderful woman to have her fairy-tale ending. But Lowitz's book ends on an even better note than that. Rather than the wish-fulfillment of fantasy, Lowitz finds contentment in real life itself, in all its puzzling and occasionally frustrating but mesmerizing complexity. Highly recommended.
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