Review: Where in the OM Am I?

Title: Where in the OM Am I?

Title: Sara DiVello

Publication Date: June 3, 2013

Synopsis:

Sara has invested years dutifully climbing the corporate ladder to become head of PR at a major financial services company, but can’t shake the feeling she’s not where she belongs. When her latest boss, a wine-guzzling, drama-loving diva, finally drives her to the brink, Sara seeks sanctuary in yoga-teacher training…only to encounter an entirely different assortment of craziness and calamity. Where in the OM Am I? is an irreverent, honest, and hilarious memoir chronicling one woman’s journey from the fast-paced, cutthroat corporate world, to the slow-paced, surprisingly catty, and sometimes perilous world of yoga. Along the way, Sara confronts the harsh reality of working in a male-dominated industry, the challenges of being a corporate interloper in the yoga community, and the complexity of interactions between women in both realms. As epic mishaps beget personal revelations, Sara digs deep for the courage to forge a new life for herself.

My Thoughts:

Sara DiVello is a hard working business woman. She is the head of PR for a multi-million dollar corporation and is very good at what she does. There's only one problem, she hates it. Unhappy with her job and working for a crazy boss, Sara is looking for something to give her life a purpose. On a whim, she decides to take yoga training in her spare time to become a yoga teacher, hoping that this world will be far different than the corporate one. Unfortunately for Sara, she is very wrong. How will Sara deal with the pressures of work along with the added stress of her workshop? Will she be able to keep her head above water and make it through the year long training and come out smiling at the end?

Sara DiVello reminds me a lot of myself. She works hard, but she has low self esteem and little confidence in herself. Even when she does something well, she still finds a reason to think she could do better. I have this same problem. I could paint a masterpiece and still find something wrong with it. For this reason, I liked Sara. I connected with her. But at the same time, her constant inner battle had me shaking my head. 

There is a lot of stress in Sara's life. Her boss, known as Vomiting Vicky after a rather ridiculous incident, is constantly making rude remarks to her and treating her like a child. The women in Sara's yoga workshop are catty, vindictive, and have seemed to single Sara out as the enemy. They are rude to her and ignore her and seem to disagree with her just for the fun of it. Even her instructor seems to enjoy antagonizing her with her snarky remarks and double standards. But even with all of this going on, Sara rarely sticks up for herself. Even when attacked for asking a simple question like "Where are you from?", she still doesn't tell this person to calm down or grow up, she just apologizes like she is in the wrong. This drove me absolutely crazy. I was desperate for her to grow a backbone and tell these women to get over themselves, especially Thea, her instructor. This woman was a walking contradiction and I couldn't stand her. In fact, at times I didn't think Sara could either. One minute she is complaining about Thea's methods and the next she is praising her worth. It was hard to follow her thinking and decide if she genuinely liked the woman or not. 

While there is a lot of talk about Sara's work and her journey through her yoga training, there is very little talk about her relationships or personal life outside of those situations. I was a little bummed out by this. I wanted to know more about her family and her relationship with her husband, especially since they were newlyweds. I also wanted to know more about her sisters and the relationships between them, but again there was little mention of them. 

The main focus of this book is Sara's yoga training and this was hard for me to follow. I've never been to a yoga class and don't know the terminology so every time a new pose or phrase was used I had to stop reading to look it up because no explanations are given within the story. This did, however, spark up an interest in yoga for me and I think I might even give it a try. 

What I did like about this book though was Sara's fun sense of humor and her ability to laugh at herself. I can only imagine how stressful her job was and then having to deal with the ridiculous women in her workshop? I don't know how she made it through without strangling someone. Her intentions are pure and her emotions are heartfelt and real. She has a quick wit and her inner monologue made me giggle out loud at times, especially at this quote:

"I feel out of control, overwhelmed, and exhausted. And, frankly, that makes me grumpy. And not in a cute seven-dwarf-y kind of way. More in the Darth-Vader-I'll-choke-a-bitch way." (Kindle 44%)

Overall, I can't say I was blown away with this book. There is little relationship and family drama and while that's a good thing for Sara, it's not as much fun for the me. However, I think anyone who takes yoga or has at least a little bit more knowledge about it than me would greatly enjoy this story. I can only imagine the kinds of people Sara must come in contact with in her yoga classes that have completely gone off the deep end, like a few of the other yoga trainees. 

I recommend Where in the OM Am I? to anyone who enjoys yoga, memoirs, or for women who are also struggling with their profession and are in need of an escape.

For more about Sara DiVello and Where in the OM Am I?, visit her website here. 

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*I received this book for free in exchange of an honest review. This did not influence my opinion in any way and all views and opinions expressed are 100% my own.