Julia Napier
writer and yoga practitioner
JuliA
I spend my time writing, translating and practicing yoga. Sometimes I stand in the teacher’s spot in a Mysore class. I’m also dedicated to raising my children and the idea of sleeping just a little bit more.
Bio
I was born in the US in 1974, but I have lived in Argentina for the last two decades. I came to Buenos Aires with my (Argentine) husband when I was 23, in love with him and his country.
I have written since I was very young, and I studied literature and poetry at Haverford College (1996). I received Masters Degrees in French literature and Creative Writing from Bryn Mawr College and Goldsmiths College (University of London). My essays and stories have been published in anthologies and literary journals in the UK, South Africa, the US and Argentina. For the past decade, I have worked with the artist Leandro Erlich; I collaborated on his first book The Ordinary? (Kanazawa, 2014), in addition to published essays for the recent exhibitions The Construction of Reality (Shanghai, 2018) and Liminal (Buenos Aires, 2019). I have also written several children’s books, and I sometimes work as a photographer.
I discovered yoga through a sports-related injury and from that moment I have practiced with dedication and consistency. Within the tradition of Ashtanga Vinyasa, I have studied with Alejandro Chiarella, Juan Pablo Capdevila, Tim Miller, Guy Donahaye, Eddie Stern and Ty Landrum. In 2015 and 2017, I had the privilege of attending Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor’s Teachers Intensive at the Yoga Workshop. Richard and Mary are personal heroes and guides, and I have been honored to work as a translator and editor of their books. I also study Tibetan Buddhism with Dr. Jules Levinson and Dr. Robert Thurman. I have become increasingly interested in the confluence between asana and meditation. I currently offer seminars on foundational yoga texts and asana at different studios in and around Buenos Aires.
In 2016, I founded the Colección Ananta, a series of books on contemplative practice for the Argentine publisher El Hilo de Ariadna. In addition to my duties as editor, I also work on the translations for Ananta. My own book, En la práctica, is an exploration of the intersection of yoga practice, its philosophy and everyday life. En la práctica was published in Argentina and Spain in 2021. My new book, En casa, will be published in Argentina and Spain in 2024.
I currently live in Buenos Aires with my family.
Books
Translations, essays, anthologies and more
Yoga Mala
Spanish translation by Julia Napier and Zaira Valerin Mercanti
In April 2017, we presented La Colección Ananta’s first volume: Pattabhi Jois’s Yoga Mala. It has been an honor and adventure to translate this timeless text. Pattabhi Jois wrote this guide to the practice of Ashtanga Yoga in the 1960's, when it was published in India in Kannada. With the help of Eddie Stern and Vyaas Houston, the first English language edition was published in 1999. We are delighted to share this invaluable resource for Spanish-speaking practitioners. With new forewords by Sharath Jois and Eddie Stern!
The Ordinary?
The work of Leandro Erlich
Argentine conceptual artist Leandro Erlich creates work that triggers changes in our perception of reality through objects and actions commonly shared by everyone. Taking something ordinary and transforming it into the extraordinary, his pieces awaken surprise and delight in viewers, often through accessibility and innate humour. Simply put, his oeuvre encourages participation. Published on the occasion of Erlich's first solo exhibition in Japan, at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, this book documents the exhibited works through images, essays and an interview.
I have worked with Leandro for a decade and we have created catalogues together for major shows like Seeing and Believing at the MORI Museum in Japan, Liminal at MALBA and Confines of the Great Void at CAFAM in Beijing.
Mujeres Argentinas
Argentine women profiled by a diverse group of expatriate writers
The book explores the stories of a fascinating group of Argentine women: famous and anonymous, political and personal. I helped edit this anthology with my great friends Nicole Dunaway, Zhanna Macmillen and Annie-France Charbonneau. Women writers and photographers from thirteen different countries participated in this
book, which was critically acclaimed by the Argentine press and widely publicized (2012). In 2014, I further developed this project as the curator of a photography show that featured the work of Lucila Heinberg, Masako Kano, Paula Teller and Hanneke Vaanholdt.
El arte de vinyasa
Translation by Julia Napier and Zaira Valerin Mercanti
It is our great privilege to present Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor's inspired book on the practice and spirit of yoga. In bookstores throughout Latin America and Spain by May, 2018! Beautiful photography and inspired writing will help guide you through the practice and philosophy of the Ashtanga Vinyasa practice.
Yoga, salud y la sanación
La tradición viva de T. Krishnamacharya
We are thrilled to announce the new publication in Spanish of Health, Healing and Beyond, TKV Desikachar's wonderful biography of his father, the legendary T. Krishnamacharya. Considered the "father" of modern yoga, this book is an indispensable guide for those who wish to investigate the tradition in which they practice. In bookstores throughout Latin America from April, 2018.
El espejo del yoga
Translation by Julia Napier and Zaira Valerín Mercanti
We are pleased to announce the publication in Spanish of El espejo del yoga, Richard Freeman's wonderful discussion of the yoga tradition and its philosophical depth. Available in Latin America and Spain as of September, 2018! This is an indispensable companion for any practitioner who wants to understand more about the philosophy and mysteries of yoga.
La cocina ayurvédica
Foreword by Dr. Robert Svoboda
It's an honor to present this in-depth exploration of the fundamentals of Ayurveda, India's time-honored tradition of health and wellbeing. The eminent Dr. Carmen Frigerio and her longtime disciple Ana María Lewandowski offer delicious recipes that are easy to prepare and wonderful to eat. With an original foreword by Dr. Robert Svoboda and illustrations by Luciana Garabello.
Bodyfulness
Translation by Julia Napier and Zaira Valerin Mercanti
Christine Caldwell's remarkable new book explores the dynamic relationship between muscle, mind and soul. We are so pleased to include this title in Ananta's growing list and add somatic counseling to the body-centered practices that engage the core of human experience. Christine is the author of the landmark book on somatic therapy and addiction, Getting our Bodies Back. In Bodyfulness she brings together thirty years of practice, research and experience in a highly-readable edition. Every chapter includes practices to try at home.
Recent publications
One Simple Thing in Spanish!
Our most recent titles include Eddie Stern's wonderful book Una cosa sencilla (One Simple Thing) and Michael Stone's La Tradición profunda del yoga (The Inner Tradition of Yoga). They are currently in book stores in Spain and Argentina. They are also available as ebooks on a wide variety of platforms.
What's next?
Mindfulness, neuroscience, Zen and Buddhist wisdom
We are honored to publish Julie Yip-William's astonishing memoir The Unwinding of the Miracle, an exploration of life, death and everything that comes after. Fe, Calma and En la práctica have recently been published in Spain. We are thrilled to have acquired the rights for Sharon Salzberg's most recent book Real Change and three titles by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Dr. Mark Epstein's The Zen of Therapy and Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor's When Love Comes to Light are currently in the translation process.
Ebooks!
Ananta online anywhere
Una cosa sencilla, La cocina ayurvédica and La tradición profunda del yoga are now available as ebooks from Amazon, Kobo, Casa del Libro, BajaLibros, Ghandi and many more online platforms.
Sin Receta
Cooking as a spiritual practice
We are so pleased to release Sin Receta, Ed Brown's wonderful exploration of cooking as a spiritual practice. Both Zen monk and experienced chef, Brown reflects on his life in the kitchen and on the cushion: a celebration of sustenance, service, joy and the true spirit of Zen practice. In the words of Norman Fischer, "This is the only cookbook you will ever need."
En la práctica
Essays on the practice of yoga and of life
I'm very excited to present very own book this time, a collection of essays about the intersection of daily life, yoga and everything in-between. I'm very honored by Mary Taylor's prologue and the words of Dr. Edwin Bryant:
"Julia Napier is a very gifted writer, and offers us a collection of autobiographical anecdotes and ruminations on life blended with insights from Yoga philosophy and practice. She deftly and eloquently manages to combine the insights of real yoga – Napier is well schooled in the classical Sanskrit philosophical texts - with their application in the real world – the nitty-gritty world of struggles, insecurities and confusions. Napier’s honesty and poignant reflections on highlights of her own history and story, and her sincere dedication to yoga practice and teachings, afford us both an endearing, and an enlightening glimpse at how yoga can completely transform a life."
Fe
Trusting your own deepest experience
We are so pleased to add Sharon Salzberg's landmark work, Faith, to Ananta's growing collection. A leading voice in the international mindfulness community and a celebrated of Buddhist teacher, Sharon Salzberg describes her personal journey of faith and offers brilliant guidance for readers and contemplative practitioners. With a new prologue from the author.
"Tender, touching and tough, Sharon Salzberg's Faith is also achingly beautiful. It is a work of effortless grace and faultless intelligence."
Dr. Mark Epstein, M.D. author of Thoughts Without a Thinker and The Trauma of Everyday
Calma
Award-winning author Tim Parks writes with keen humor and moving insight about his experience with mediatation. Calma is an excerpt from his bestselling book Teach Us to Sit Still and asks vital questions about how to survive modern life with a measure of calm.
"Tim Parks long ago established his credentials as a cool, sceptical observer of the human condition. Teach us to Sit Still - a record of his own illness and of a quest for relief from chronic pain that begins with relearning how to breathe and ends in something close to spiritual transformation - deserves to be taken with the utmost seriousness."
--Nobel Prize laureate JM Coetzee
The Extraordinary Life of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama: an illuminated journey
We are so honored to present this beautiful and inspiring tribute to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Rima Fujita's vibrant and moving illustrations shine new light on this extraordinary life.
Develando el milagro
Julie Yip-Williams tells the story of her extraordinary life and the unwinding of her miracle in this bracing and inspiring memoir. Much more than an "end of life" narrative, Julie weaves together past and present, illness and healing, tragedy and grace, as she unwinds her own miraculous experience. This book is an invitation to embrace life with joy and sincerity, to look closer without looking away.
Cuando el amor se revela
Sabiduría de la Bhagavad Gita para iluminar la vida moderna
In this extraordinary book, Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor offer modern-day wisdom gleaned from this timeless story of love and crisis. In addition to their original commentary, Cuando el amor se revela includes a faithful and informed translation of this classic text.
El zen de la terapia
Revelar la bondad oculta de la vida
Ananta is thrilled to add Dr. Mark Epstein's new book El zen de la terapia to our growing collection. This poetic reflection on a year of therapy offers Epstein's trademark confluence of Buddhist wisdom and contemplative insight. Mark is the author of many books on the conversation between Buddhist practice and Western psychology. We are currently at work on Open to Desire, coming soon in Spanish!
“A warm, profound and cleareyed memoir. . . this wise and sympathetic book’s lingering effect is as a reminder that a deeper and more companionable way of life lurks behind our self-serious stories."
—Oliver Burkeman, New York Times Book Review
“Epstein draws on a lifetime of personal and professional experience to deliver a profound and optimistic examination of the links between psychotherapy and meditation . . . A warm and accessible explanation of topics that defy easy explanation . . . Epstein makes abstract concepts understandable, and his accounts of his patients’ struggles and progress are laced with humor and hope . . . It’s a message receptive readers will embrace in these dark and difficult times. Empathetic and persuasive—one of the better books on psychotherapy and meditation in recent years.”
—Kirkus (starred review)
En casa
Acerca de habitarnos
In this deeply felt collection of personal essays, Julia Napier, author of En la práctica, explores the experience of being at home in the life we lead. Informed by contemplative practice, this book plumbs the depths of relationships, the body, the family and motherhood. With humor and honesty, En casa invites us to live fully and wake up the reality of this changing world.
"With a bold transparency and a generous heart, Julia Napier gifts us with a book that reveals her bodily life in ways that invite us to reflect on our own embodied experience. Lyrical and lovely, her writing hits home, shining a light on how our bodies are gazed upon and how these gazes take up residence within us and imbue our thoughts, beliefs, and actions. Told through a series of personal stories, we come to see that the mirrors we look into reflect back relational bonds, physical histories, cultural forces, and inherited ideals. Julia’s book poetically transports us into our own felt experiences of bodily life."
--Dr. Christine Caldwell, author of Getting our Bodies Back and Bodyfulness.
"From word one En casa is compelling. Written with honesty and tenderness, humor, and humility, Napier reveals the vulnerability and inner wisdom that women worldwide endure and benefit from. Through reflections on her life as a yoga practitioner, mother, daughter, and wife—someone who is in search of meaning—she demonstrates how finding stability by coming home to the truth of who you are is an anchor of strength, insight, and freedom. This is a must-read for all women and men who care about and want to understand women and their own deeper selves."
--Richard Freeman y Mary Taylor, autores de El arte de Vinyasa y Cuando el amor se revela
Workshops and events
Activities past, present and future!
Workshop with Edwin Bryant, 2017
November 24-26, 2017, Buenos Aires.
It was such a privilege to host Edwin Bryant twice in the past year to discuss the Bhagavad Gita, along with the Yoga Sutra. Thanks to Laura Basile, Gabriel Martino and Ceci Carrano for their wonderful collaborative work that made this workshop possible.
Book Launch of Yoga Mala in Spanish, 2017
On April 30th, Eddie Stern (director of the Broome Street Temple and the Brooklyn Yoga Club) and Leandro Pinkler (co-director de El hilo de Ariadna) presented Yoga Mala in Buenos Aires. Yoga Mala has sold widely in Argentina and is now available in Spain!
Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor in Buenos Aires! May, 2018
It was a great honor to host Richard and Mary in their first visit to Latin America. We can only hope they will come back soon! Special thanks to Andrea de Palma and Raphael Melo for letting me in on the fun in Brazil.
Join the Facebook page: Richard Freeman & Mary Taylor en Argentina if you want to stay in touch.
Presentation of Yoga, salud y sanación by TKV Desikachar, 2018
We were so pleased to host Radha Sundararajan, a Senior teacher at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram and longtime student of Desikachar, for the presentation of Yoga, salud y sanación, the Spanish language translation of Health, Healing and Beyond. This book offers precious insight into the life and learning of Krishnamacharya and the genesis of the modern yoga tradition. .
Presentation of El arte de Vinyasa, 2018
It was an honor to be conversation with Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor for the presentation in Buenos Aires of their superb book El arte de Vinyasa. Here you can listen to the whole interview:
Presentation of El espejo del yoga, 2018
This November we celebrated Richard Freeman's landmark text at Fundación Vocación Humana. It was an honor to participate in a dialogue with Leandro Pinkler, co-editor-in-chief at El hilo de Ariadna, and Gabriel Martino, a yoga academic and Sanskritist. We enjoyed this unusual opportunity to discuss the philosophy of the yoga tradition in a broader context, in the same spirit that Richard Freeman displays in his wonderful book.
Presentation of La cocina ayurvédica, 2019
On June 29th, we presented La cocina ayurvédica with the help of co-author Ana María Lewandowski, Dr. Sol Sananes, Sumati Deshmukh and Sisi Adam. These extraordinary women shared their knowledge of Ayurveda and celebrated the life and work of Carmen Frigerio. We are honored to include this wonderful book in our collection.
Presentation of Bodyfulness, 2019
On Tuesday, November 5th, Dr. Christine Caldwell and I discussed her revelatory new book Bodyfulness at Faena Libros in Buenos Aires. It was an honor to welcome Dr. Caldwell to Argentina, and we hope that she will return soon!
Bodyfulness Workshop
During her visit to Argentina, Dr. Caldwell taught a workshop on Bodyfulness and how to cultivate a contemplative somatic practice. Thanks to everyone who participated!
Presentation of Una cosa sencilla
In light of the current challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have published Eddie Stern's wonderful book in print and online. We are so happy to be able to share Una cosa sencilla with readers all over the world! Look out on IG and FB for an interview with Eddie about yoga, science and life's greater mysteries!
Where to Find Me
Activities, affinities
Colección Ananta
www.editorialelhilodeariadna.com.ar
As editor of the Colección Ananta, I help select texts from the yoga tradition for the renowned publishing house El Hilo de Ariadna.
Friends and Mentors
Gallery
Contact me
