Breathing in Manhattan - Carola Speads - The German Jewish Gymnastics Instructor Who Brought Mindfulness to America

In 1938 gymnastics instructor Carola Spitz escaped from Nazi Germany. In New York she turned into Carola Speads, revered teacher of mindfulness. She breathed with clients in her Central Park West studio until she was 97 years old. Now Christoph Ribbat combines her gripping biography with the histories of modern bodywork and breathing experiments. He illuminates the tension between self-help fads and 20th century catastrophes. Accessible and quirky, Breathing in Manhattan speaks to experts and non-experts alike: to readers of Jewish history, students of New York City, and to anyone attracted by - or skeptical of - the promises of mindfulness.

About the author

Christoph Ribbat is a professor of American studies at Universität Paderborn (Germany). He was a Humboldt Fellow at MIT and Boston University and a Fulbright Scholar at The Cooper Union, New York. His work has been translated into fourteen languages.

Summary

In 1938 gymnastics instructor Carola Spitz escaped from Nazi Germany. In New York she turned into Carola Speads, revered teacher of mindfulness. She breathed with clients in her Central Park West studio until she was 97 years old. Now Christoph Ribbat combines her gripping biography with the histories of modern bodywork and breathing experiments. He illuminates the tension between self-help fads and 20th century catastrophes. Accessible and quirky, Breathing in Manhattan speaks to experts and non-experts alike: to readers of Jewish history, students of New York City, and to anyone attracted by – or skeptical of – the promises of mindfulness.

Product details

• Authors: Christoph Ribbat
• Publisher: Transcript
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 15.04.2023
• EAN: 9783837667097
• ISBN: 978-3-8376-6709-7
• No. of pages: 134
• Dimensions: 150 mm x 11 mm x 225 mm
• Weight: 218 g
• Illustrations: 8 SW-Abb., 3 Farbabb.
• Series: Edition Kulturwissenschaft; Edition Kulturwissenschaft 287
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Cultural history; Soziologie, LIFE, New York City, Mindfulness, Cultural History, Culture, History of the 20th Century, Society, Cultural Studies, Biography, Self-help, Breathing, Jewish Studies, auseinandersetzen, Culture and institutions