Testimonials

About Anne’s Teaching:

“Anne brings compassionate attention to everything she does. She has an intimate knowledge of both yoga and mindfulness and weaves the two together so seamlessly that I always emerge from our time together feeling more connected to my practice and more open to my own process. Her delightful wit and her ability to embody a lightness of being at the same time as she holds and honors the space for profound transformation are unparalleled.”
~ Linda Sparrowe, editor-in-chief of Yoga International and author of The Woman’s Book of Yoga and Health

“Anne brings the dharma to life in a deeply embodied way. A seasoned practitioner and teacher, Anne invites us to come home to ourselves again and again, to include all parts of ourselves (the chaotic, the neurotic and the peaceful!) not just when we step on the mat or sit on the cushion, but as we move through our lives.”
~ Janice Gates, yoga teacher and author of Yogini: The Power of Women in Yoga

“Anne Cushman is a teacher of unusual sophistication. Her deep knowledge of the mindfulness tradition infuses her yoga teaching with a rare depth and
vibrancy, and allows her to help students attune to the emotional and mental states that always underlie our physical states. I highly recommend her work–her style, her precision, and her authenticity.”
~ Stephen Cope, director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living
and author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, The Wisdom of Yoga, and the Great Work of Your Life

“Anne Cushman is one of the most accessible, authentic, playful and profound teachers I have encountered on this path. Her excellent teaching reflects how much time and energy she devotes to her own practice.”
~ Annie Mahon, founder and director, Circle Yoga Washington DC; longtime mindfulness practitioner and writer.

“Anne is gifted in being able to poignantly convey the spirit of yoga with clarity and eloquence in her teaching, but more importantly she embodies the essence of yoga and inspires those around her through the quiet strength of her actions. When I first met Anne, I was struggling with intense feelings of fear, self-doubt, and self-judgment. She consistently responded to me with compassion, and generously offered insights that were wise, affirming, and empowering. I am grateful to Anne for her profound guidance, which has allowed me to deepen my connection to the teacher within myself.”
~ Rosalind Lwin, program manager of Niroga Institute’s Integral Health Fellowship and Certified Yoga Teacher Training

“Anne Cushman is a smart and compassionate teacher all wrapped up in a blanket of unexpected humor. Her years of study and experiential practice, along with great comedic timing, allows her teaching to be enjoyable and accessible to all.”
~ Leslie Booker, yoga teacher and Director of Teacher Training for the Lineage Project; founder of the Urban Sangha Project

About Anne’s Writing:

Praise for Enlightenment for Idiots:
“Cushman, coauthor of the nonfiction From Here to Nirvana and contributing editor to Yoga Journal, has written a hilarious take on the quest for truth that manages to respect the journey while skewering many of the travelers. Amanda, a 29-year-old fledgling yoga teacher, ekes out a living as a freelance writer in San Francisco and seizes the chance to go to India when her editor assigns her to research a guidebook about enlightenment. Soon she’s traipsing around India pursuing trendy gurus and yoga masters and scoring insightful encounters with ordinary folk along the way. She also collects a traveling companion: the sweet-natured, celibate truth seeker Devi Das, who, upon viewing the polluted Ganges, advises Amanda to “Think holy, not E. coli.” The discovery that she’s pregnant makes Amanda’s quest for meaning all the more poignant, forcing her to review her choices while she struggles to uncover the elusive secret to happiness. Cushman brings devastating wit and a thorough knowledge of her subject to her first novel, evoking an India that fills the senses and stirs the spirit even as it occasionally turns the stomach, and making it possible for the reader to both laugh with and root for Amanda as she comes to terms with her messy life.”
~ Publishers Weekly

“Each character is ripe for a little satire, which makes the novel a fun read, especially if you’re in on the joke (and even if you aren’t). Cushman also manages to capture the heart of their teachings, which gives the book another level of meaning…When you read between the lines for the wisdom that is woven throughout Cushman’s fun romp, this book serves as a call to enlightenment and an introduction to yoga philosophy.”
~ Yoga Journal

Cushman’s engaging debut novel follows Amanda, a 29-year-old yoga teacher in northern California, on a tumultuous journey to India and back again as she researches a guidebook on finding inner peace. Her quest becomes as much a personal journey as a writing project as she attempts to shake her attachment to her fickle photographer ex-boyfriend, Matt, and discover her own role in life. While in India, Amanda meets Devi Das, a celibate hippie with flowing dreadlocks who is looking for meaning in life following a personal tragedy. Together, they travel to ashrams and yoga centers from Bangalore to Mount Arunachala, all the while searching for elusive enlightenment. Cushman brilliantly interweaves snippets of Buddhist teachings with the mishaps and successes of their journey, infusing the book with wisdom and humor. Devi Das, an amusing philosopher-king who uses the royal “we,” helps her accomplish this goal. As for Cushman’s protagonist, when unexpected circumstances arise and Matt turns up in her life again, Amanda is forced to reexamine her search for enlightenment and where it may take her. Over the course of her quest, she realizes enlightenment may be closer to home than she imagined.
~ Booklist

“Cushman brilliantly interweaves snippets of Buddhist teachings with the mishaps and successes of their journey, infusing the book with wisdom and humor.”
~ Booklist, starred review

“Cushman’s send-up of the New Age American dream is both thoughtful and wise.”
~ The Shambhala Sun

Praise for Moving Into Meditation:

“A clear and wise book to help you open your body, heart, and mind. Anne invites you to integrate yoga, meditation, and love into a seamless whole.”
~ Jack Kornfield

“What does yoga have to do with mindfulness and how might we bring them together? How can mind training affect how we feel and help us dis-identify from habits that cause us so much self-inflicted suffering? In Moving into Meditation, Anne has gifted us a comprehensive yet concise blend of the vast wisdom traditions of Yoga and Buddhism, offering not only weekly doses of essential methods for transformation but also stirring stories that highlight each practice. This book has everything anyone would need to inhabit an integrated, heart-centered practice and will be of immense benefit to yoga enthusiasts and meditators alike.”
~ Sarah Powers, author of Insight Yoga

“For all those meditators who feel the lack of embodied presence, and those yoga practitioners who yearn for more awareness and lucidity, this book offers the missing weave. Anne Cushman draws on her own journey into the heart of these two traditions, and guides us with evocative writing and powerful yet accessible teachings and practices. In Moving into Meditation you’ll find a wonderfully crafted program that will bring you deeply into your own spiritual journey.”
~ Tara Brach, Ph.D., Author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge

“With a light touch and her characteristic humor, Anne draws us into her own life story as she leads us into mindful exercises with simple clarity and kindness. There is never a dull sentence! In Moving into Meditation there is no rigidity or expectation—as so often experienced in public classes—but rather the sense of time, space, freedom, and encouragement to explore your own needs. She is not delivering a well-trodden path; she is drawing from her own life and practice as yoga and meditation flow together into the same river of awareness. This is a book of valuable guide-lines that will provide inspiration and encouragement to even the most seasoned practitioner of yoga and meditation.”
~ Angela Farmer, yoga pioneer and creator of The Feminine Emerging, Inner Body Flow, and other videos

“Gently humorous, deeply insightful, and always practical, Anne Cushman helps us go straight to the heart of our own basic goodness amid the messiness of our every day lives. I can’t wait to share Anne’s insight with the women I teach. Her willingness to share her own life journey will give us all the confidence we need to come home to ourselves in a loving, nonjudgmental way.”
~ Linda Sparrowe, author of The Woman’s Book of Yoga