Tara Stiles: make your own rules diet {a review}

I’ve been a fan of Tara Stiles and her approach to yoga for years. It was her that really got me interested in practising yoga and later on becoming an instructor. I wrote about it here w-a-y back but sadly it was one of the posts lost when my site was hacked a few years ago. Tara had commented on that post (which made me a little – okay a lot – giddy), and tweeted me. And the weird-o I am I saved both the comment (which I can’t find right now) and the tweet. I only wish

Anyway, over the years I’ve purchased her yoga books and videos, so when I heard that she was releasing a new book I was excited to check it out as well.

One of the perks of being a blogger is sometimes you can get your hands on advance copies of books, and I was pretty stoked when I had the opportunity to review Tara’s new book prior to the release date (which was yesterday). I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from this book, so I’m sure others might be wondering the same thing. We’ve come to know Tara for her yoga, but this didn’t appear to be *just* another yoga book. When I looked at it more closely I could see that it’s not just another diet book either. Instead Tara lays out a step-by-step goal setting process, provides readers with 6 different yoga routines, 8 breathing and meditation practises, 50 different recipes and a 7-day kick-start program to take the guess work out of “what to do” and to help “launch readers on their healthy, happy, radiant path.”

The downfall of advance copies is that they are almost always the e-version of the book. In most cases that suits me just fine, and for review purposes that worked here as well, but if you were purchasing it for using the recipes and workouts I would strongly suggest going the actual book route as flipping back and forth in and e-book can get quite annoying especially if you are doing the 7-day kick-start.

Tara starts off by giving readers an inside look at her history, how ad where she grew up, the struggles she faced and how she eventually found her way to yoga and finding a healthier way of life. As a fan of Tara’s I knew some of the story, but certainly not all of it. Finding out a bit more about the person behind the face, so to speak was enlightening and you can tell she really put her heart into this project.

I personally really enjoyed the section on “Learning the Rules” the best. Of course the yoga flows and recipes are wonderful too, but for the most part they were nothing I hadn’t seen before. Living in the fitness world (and blogging world) a lot of that content was exactly what I would expect from a book like this. It’s wonderful for people beginning or re-discovering their journey, but might not be “new news” for people like me who have been hanging around in the fitness/blogging world for a while.

The recipes are simple, easy to make and don’t involve a lot of weird ingredients. There is still so much misconception that healthy food has to taste like a hay stack. 😉

The book is visually stunning with lots of high quality beautiful photos of the food and recipes, yoga and Tara herself. I feel like it would make a great coffee table book based on the photography alone.

If you are still searching for the right path for you on your wellness journey, this would make a great place to start. As I mentioned, the recipes are simple, look amazing and use normal ingredients. There is nothing intimidating about Tara or her approach to life and I think the information in “make your own rules diet” while perhaps not life changing, might be just the kick start you need to change your life.

Disclosure: I was provided with an advance e-copy of this book free of charge through Hay House via Net Galley in exchange for my honest review, and that’s exactly what you have read. My opinions are always 100% my own.