Claire Dederer wasn’t looking for enlightenment when she decided to try yoga; she just wanted to heal her aching back. As a time-crunched new mom, she didn’t even want a live instructor, opting for videotapes that made her back ache even more. Eventually, she found a class led by a man with a Vincent Price voice and a gentle, encouraging demeanor. That was more than a decade ago, and the transformation she has experienced as a yoga student continues to affect all aspects of her life. By turns wry and wise, Poser captures Claire’s unique journey to self-acceptance.

As she progresses through increasingly challenging poses, she taps a well of emotions, ranging from fear to exhilaration. She struggles to be patient in the face of constantly awkward turns, gradually dissolving the perfectionism that marks so many women in her Seattle community. A child of the 1960s and ’70s, she had watched her free-spirited mother navigate an unconventional marriage. Raising children of her own, Claire is determined to provide more stability, even as she and her husband eke out an unstable income as writers. But on the yoga mat, the reality of “stability” takes on new meaning, helping her gradually come to terms with uncertainty and simply savor the experience of life.

“The longer I do yoga, the worse I get at it. I can’t tell you what a relief it is,” Claire writes. A book that brims with truth --- from the tragicomic to the transcendent --- Poser is one that you will want to share. The questions and discussion topics that follow are designed to enrich your reading group’s experience of this illuminating memoir.