Course:#Cca220 Course Title:Yoga: Philosophies and Practices

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Course:#Cca220 Course Title:Yoga: Philosophies and Practices 1 DePaul University | School of Continuing and Professional Studies Program Identifier: Undergraduate Program / Graduate Programs COURSE: # CCA220 COURSE TITLE: YOGA: PHILOSOPHIES AND PRACTICES SPRING, 2021 INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION Name: Nancy VanKanegan Office Location: NA My office hours are on Tuesdays 5:30-6:00p.m. and by appointment You can reach me [email protected] Course Dates: March 30th and ending June 8th. Required zoom meeting Tuesdays 6:00-8:30 pm Students are strongly urged to attend the zoom meetings. The meetings will be recorded for those unable to attend. A link to the recording will be published within the course on D2L. ONLINE COURSE: Required Materials for this course are The Heart of Yoga by TKV Desikacher, available through DePaul bookstore and online. Other readings/handouts/links can be found on D2L in the ‘content’ section. In addition each student must have the following • Yoga Mat • 2 yoga blocks • Yoga strap • Yoga blanket or a large bath sheet or beach towel. Yoga: Philosophies and Practices Spring 2021 1 COURSE DESCRIPTION This course combines an introduction to yoga and meditation techniques with an examination of the scientific and philosophical knowledge of yoga to improve health. Course is appropriate for beginners; no previous experience needed. : Learning Outcomes: After completing this course, you will be able to: 1. Understand basic yoga teachings: 8 limbs of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, philosophy of non- duality, Seva: compassion and social justice through yoga practices 2. Demonstrate body awareness and alignment in the yoga postures. 3. Understand basic human anatomical systems and functions 4. Perform proper yoga breathing and meditation techniques. 5. Understand the therapeutic benefits of yoga practices 6. Study the historic and contemporary cultural reach of yoga 7. Develop and practice a personal asana sequence LEARNING STRATEGIES & RESOURCES Required equipment- Yoga mat, yoga strap, 2 yoga blocks. A yoga blanket or a large towel/bath sheet. I recommend the following sources for purchase of these supplies to keep costs down. Much pricier when purchased separate • Basic beginner Yoga set https://www.theyogawarehouse.com/Basic-Beginner-Yoga-Set- 2 32.95 • Yoga Direct value yoga kit https://www.yogadirect.com/Yoga-Direct-Value-Yoga- Kit_p_1164.html 39.98 2 blocks plus yoga bag • Yoga for Beginners kit https://www.yogaoutlet.com/products/gaiam-yoga-for-beginners- kit-45955 29.98 only one block • YOU MUST HAVE YOGA EQUIPMENT BY WEEK ONE AS WE WILL USE THESE IN PRACTICE Required text The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice by TKV Desikachar ISBN: 089281764X. • Readings, videos, web links found on D2L • Weekly scheduled Zoom meeting-Each week students will meet on Zoom for a discussion of the assigned readings and other materials (videos, ppt, web links, etc) for approx. 60 minutes. Following a brief ‘bio-break’ the instructor will lead the class in a 75 minute yoga practice including pranayama (breath work), asana (postures), and meditation Yoga: Philosophies and Practices, Spring 2021 LEARNING DELIVERABLES (GRADED EVIDENCES OF LEARNING GENERAL FORUMS- STUDENT MUST POST ONE RESPONSES AND RESPOND TO A FELLOW STUDENTS; POST Introduction forum due week 1, respond to other students Veg Head forum week 9, respond to other students Asana Sequence Project- this includes weekly responses to the practice and fellow students. The reflections and notations will be used to create a personal asana sequence These posts will be considered proof of attendance Weekly forum posts of student practice of pranayama, meditation and asana with anatomical notes to culminate in a personal yoga practice will assess due: weekly posts, completed document week 11 Objectives 2, 4,5, 7 Reading responses forums due weeks 2, 6, 9 Refer to assigned readings to answer the questions and post in the discussion forum. Full points include response to a fellow student. Objectives 1,6 Quizlets: 3 quizlets week 3, 5, 8 2 self evaluations: Objectives 2,5 Due week 2 ,11 Students taking the course for 4 credits will also accomplish the following 2 exams will assess philosophy, history, anatomy due-week 7 and week 10 Objectives 1,3,5,6, Research presentation Objectives 5, 6 due week 8 PLEASE NOTE Students who take the course for 2 credits are excused from the research presentation and the exams. No work accepted after June 8 Assessment of Student Learning Attendance will be assessed in through Yoga: Philosophies and Practices, Spring 2021 1. Attendance/viewing/practice to the zoom class (Zoom records views outside of the live event) 2. weeky asana posts- a reflection of the group asana practice that includes notation of poses. These posts will contribute to the creation of a personal asana sequence which will be completed at the end of the term. Rubrics will be provided for the reading responses, asana sequence final project, and research project. These will be found in the D2L content. GRADING CRITERIA & SCALE A = 95 to 100 A- = 91 to 94 B+ = 88 to 90 B = 85 to 87 B- = 81 to 84 C+ = 77 to 80 C = 73 to 76 C- = 69 to 72 D+ = 65 to 68 D = 61 to 64 F = 60 or below PASS/FAIL GRADE POLICY Students interested in taking a course on a Pass/Fail grade basis need to contact their academic advisor to request the option by the end of the second week of the course. SCPS students can email their requests to their advisors and include the course number, quarter, and student ID number. Non-SCPS students need to contact their home college for instructions on submitting these requests. Please review the P/F guidelines, course restrictions and GPA implications in the University catalog before making your request. A grade of Pass represents a D or better standard and therefore will not meet requirements that have a minimum standard of C- or better. For further clarification of the P/F option for SCPS students beyond the university guidelines, please refer to the SCPS catalog. Yoga: Philosophies and Practices, Spring 2021 MINIMUM SCPS GRADE POLICY SCPS degree programs with majors (BAPSBA, BAPSC, BAHA, BADA, BANM, and BALS) require a grade of C- or better in courses taken at DePaul or transfer work applied to course requirements in the Major and in the LL 261: Essay Writing course in the College Core. All other course requirements in these programs can be completed with a grade of D or better. SCPS degree completion major programs (BAABS and BALS) require a C- or better in all courses taken at DePaul applied to those programs. SCPS competence-based programs (BAIFA, BAC, BAGB and BAECE) require a D or better in courses taken at DePaul or transfer work applied to competence requirements. INCOMPLETE (IN) GRADE This process follows university policy. A student who encounters an unusual or unforeseeable circumstance that prevents her/him from completing the course requirements by the end of the term may request a time extension to complete the work. • The student must formally initiate the request by submitting the Contract for Issuance of Incomplete Grade form (via email, word doc), no later than week 10 (or prior to the final week of a shorter-term course). • The instructor has discretion to approve or not approve the student’s request for an IN grade. • The instructor has discretion to set the deadline for completion of the work, which may be earlier but no later than two quarters (not counting Summer term). • The instructor may not enter an IN grade on behalf of a student without a completed and agreed upon contract. • The student is alerted that IN grades are not considered by Financial Aid as evidence of satisfactory academic progress. COURSE SCHEDULE This course is subject to minor changes during the course. Students will be apprised of changes via D2L announcements, email, and D2L content posts. Weekly modules will open on Sundays, beginning March 21 for week 0. Week 1 opens March 28 Each zoom session will open with a discussion of the assigned readings. It is expected that students will Yoga: Philosophies and Practices, Spring 2021 have read the assigned readings and be prepared to discuss the ideas in small groups in the zoom classe. Each session will include an asana practice session. Video Conference Schedule -Weekly zoom session Tuesdays 6:00- 8:30 p.m. Week 0 Getting Started- opens March 21 – please review as preparation for class • Review D2L page and syllabus • Read -Eric Schiffmann Why Yoga? pdf on D2L and How to be a Nose Breather (pdf on D2L) • Videos: watch Welcome video • Read – Creating a Home Yoga Space • Submit to discussion forum Introduce Yourself- opens 3/21, respond to 2 or more student’s posts • Submit to assignment- Self evaluation 1, opens 3/21 Week 1 What is Yoga? March 30 View: The story of Yoga video, Yoga Philosophy ppt, Review Yoga sequence Project, Assignments: • Attend or view Zoom meeting discussion/asana practice Thursday 6:00-8:30 p.m. • Post 3 asana on Weekly Asana Notes, asana/pranayama MUST BE from the class practice . Include description/ sketch/muscles/joints • Read : Wind Through the Instrument- Schiffmann (D2L) • Desikacher Heart of Yoga chptr 1-3 (on D2L) Week 2 Asana and Pranayama- Physical Yoga April 6 Discuss Schiffmann and Desikacher Links- Diaphragmatic Breathing article/video, Interactive Anatomy Illustrations on D2L: Simple Skeleton, Muscle diagram, Breathing Diagram Assignments: Asana practice (Zoom) Assignments: • Desikacher pp25-71 • View video on Avidya • reading response 1 and 2 responses to posts of fellow students • Weekly asana Notes post 3 asana (from zoom practice) Week 3 Yoking
Recommended publications
  • University of California Riverside
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Choreographers and Yogis: Untwisting the Politics of Appropriation and Representation in U.S. Concert Dance A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Critical Dance Studies by Jennifer F Aubrecht September 2017 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Jacqueline Shea Murphy, Chairperson Dr. Anthea Kraut Dr. Amanda Lucia Copyright by Jennifer F Aubrecht 2017 The Dissertation of Jennifer F Aubrecht is approved: Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside Acknowledgements I extend my gratitude to many people and organizations for their support throughout this process. First of all, my thanks to my committee: Jacqueline Shea Murphy, Anthea Kraut, and Amanda Lucia. Without your guidance and support, this work would never have matured. I am also deeply indebted to the faculty of the Dance Department at UC Riverside, including Linda Tomko, Priya Srinivasan, Jens Richard Giersdorf, Wendy Rogers, Imani Kai Johnson, visiting professor Ann Carlson, Joel Smith, José Reynoso, Taisha Paggett, and Luis Lara Malvacías. Their teaching and research modeled for me what it means to be a scholar and human of rigorous integrity and generosity. I am also grateful to the professors at my undergraduate institution, who opened my eyes to the exciting world of critical dance studies: Ananya Chatterjea, Diyah Larasati, Carl Flink, Toni Pierce-Sands, Maija Brown, and rest of U of MN dance department, thank you. I thank the faculty (especially Susan Manning, Janice Ross, and Rebekah Kowal) and participants in the 2015 Mellon Summer Seminar Dance Studies in/and the Humanities, who helped me begin to feel at home in our academic community.
    [Show full text]
  • The Malleability of Yoga: a Response to Christian and Hindu Opponents of the Popularization of Yoga
    Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies Volume 25 Article 4 November 2012 The Malleability of Yoga: A Response to Christian and Hindu Opponents of the Popularization of Yoga Andrea R. Jain Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Jain, Andrea R. (2012) "The Malleability of Yoga: A Response to Christian and Hindu Opponents of the Popularization of Yoga," Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies: Vol. 25, Article 4. Available at: https://doi.org/10.7825/2164-6279.1510 The Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies is a publication of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies. The digital version is made available by Digital Commons @ Butler University. For questions about the Journal or the Society, please contact [email protected]. For more information about Digital Commons @ Butler University, please contact [email protected]. Jain: The Malleability of Yoga The Malleability of Yoga: A Response to Christian and Hindu Opponents of the Popularization of Yoga Andrea R. Jain Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis FOR over three thousand years, people have yoga is Hindu. This assumption reflects an attached divergent meanings and functions to understanding of yoga as a homogenous system yoga. Its history has been characterized by that remains unchanged by its shifting spatial moments of continuity, but also by divergence and temporal contexts. It also depends on and change. This applies as much to pre- notions of Hindu authenticity, origins, and colonial yoga systems as to modern ones. All of even ownership. Both Hindu and Christian this evidences yoga’s malleability (literally, the opponents add that the majority of capacity to be bent into new shapes without contemporary yogis fail to recognize that yoga breaking) in the hands of human beings.1 is Hindu.3 Yet, today, a movement that assumes a Suspicious of decontextualized vision of yoga as a static, homogenous system understandings of yoga and, consequently, the rapidly gains momentum.
    [Show full text]
  • SEEING INDIA: a Hyperreal Yoga Fantasy by Rebecca Elizabeth Long
    SEEING INDIA: A Hyperreal Yoga Fantasy by Rebecca Elizabeth Long Honors Thesis Appalachian State University Submitted to the Department of Anthropology, the Department of Art, and The Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts December, 2016 Dana E. Powell, Ph.D., Thesis Director Heather Waldroup, Ph.D., Second Reader Christina Sornito, Ph.D., Third Reader Sushmita Chatterjee, Ph.D., Fourth Reader Timothy Smith, Ph.D., Honors Director, Department of Anthropology James Toub, Ph.D., Honors Director, Department of Art Ted Zerucha, Ph.D., Interim Director, The Honors College ABSTRACT How does the yoga studio present India for viewing? As a yoga scholar-practitioner, I examine visual, linguistic, and embodied representations of India at a local yoga studio to address this question. The fieldwork for this ethnographic thesis spans yoga classes, yoga teacher training, and a two-week pilgrimage to India with members of this yoga studio. I pay special attention to bhakti yoga, a devotional form of yoga taught by the yoga studio as a way to offer a more spiritual and therefore more authentic yoga. Placing my experiences within a critical understanding of postcolonial yoga history, I show that yoga has been constructed to meet various ideologies and political projects, challenging the production of yoga as India’s pristine and unchanging cultural icon. I find that India is exhibited as an ultra-spiritual, pre- colonial, anti-modern location both at the yoga studio and when traveling as a yoga tourist. Using Jean Baudrillard’s theory of the hyperreal, along with postcolonial theories, I argue that the yoga studio creates a particular India for consumption that is not based in reality but is instead the product of oriental fantasies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Subtle Body: Religious, Spiritual, Health-Related, Or All Three?
    University of Mary Washington Eagle Scholar Student Research Submissions Spring 4-20-2020 The Subtle Body: Religious, Spiritual, Health-Related, or All Three? Kathryn Heislup Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Heislup, Kathryn, "The Subtle Body: Religious, Spiritual, Health-Related, or All Three?" (2020). Student Research Submissions. 325. https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/325 This Honors Project is brought to you for free and open access by Eagle Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Research Submissions by an authorized administrator of Eagle Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Subtle Body: Religious, Spiritual, Health-Related, or All Three? A Look Into the Subtle Physiology of Traditional and Modern Forms of Yoga Kathryn E. Heislup RELG 401: Senior Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Major in Religion University of Mary Washington April 20, 2020 2 Notions of subtle body systems have migrated and changed throughout India and Tibet over many years with much controversy; the movement of these ideas to the West follows a similar controversial path, and these developments in both Asia and the West exemplify how one cannot identify a singular, legitimate, “subtle body”. Asserting that there is only one legitimate teaching, practice, and system of the subtle body is problematic and inappropriate. The subtle body refers to assumed energy points within the human body that cannot be viewed by the naked eye, but is believed by several traditions to be part of our physical existence. Indo-Tibetan notions of a subtle body do include many references to similar ideas when it comes to this type of physiology, but there has never been one sole agreement on a legitimate identification or intended use.
    [Show full text]
  • Medizinische Fakultät Der Universität Duisburg-Essen
    Medizinische Fakultät der Universität Duisburg-Essen aus der Klinik für Naturheilkunde und Integrative Medizin Einfluss von Übungshäufigkeit und Yogastil auf die Gesundheit, den Lebensstil und die Sicherheit von Yogaübenden eine Onlineumfrage I n a u g u r a l - D i s s e r t a t i o n zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Medizin durch die Medizinische Fakultät der Universität Duisburg-Essen Vorgelegt von Daniela Quinker aus Olpe 2020 Diese Dissertation wird via DuEPublico, dem Dokumenten- und Publikationsserver der Universität Duisburg-Essen, zur Verfügung gestellt und liegt auch als Print-Version vor. DOI: 10.17185/duepublico/74549 URN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:464-20210728-081112-0 Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Dekan: Herr Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. J. Buer 1. Gutachter: Herr Priv.-Doz. Dr. rer. medic. Dipl.-Psych. H. Cramer 2. Gutachter: Frau Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. S. Moebus Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 16. Juni 2021 2 Publikationen: Aus dieser Dissertation entstanden drei Publikationen: Cramer, H., Quinker, D., Pilkington, K., Mason, H., Adams, J., Dobos, G. (2019): Associations of yoga practice, health status, and health behavior among yoga practitioners in Germany - Results of a national cross-sectional survey. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 42: 19-26. Cramer, H., Quinker, D., Schumann, D., Dobos, G., Lauche, R. (2019): Adverse effects of yoga: a national cross-sectional survey. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 19:190. Park, C., Quinker, D., Dobos, G., Cramer, H. (2019): Motivations for adopting and maintaining a yoga practice: a national cross-sectional survey. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 25:1009-1014. 3 Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Einleitung ................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Haṭha Yoga – in History and Practice
    Haṭha yoga – in history and practice. Haṭha yoga as tantric yoga Haṭha yoga – in history and practice. Haṭha yoga as tantric yoga Gitte Poulsen Faculty Humaniora och samhällsvetenskap. Subject Points 30 ECTS Supervisor Kerstin von Brömssen Examiner Sören Dalevi Date 1/10-2014 Serial number Abstract: The study investigates the field of haṭha yoga as it is described in the medieval Haṭhayogapradīpikā, a work on yoga composed in Sanskrit from the Nāth tradition. The study have then compared these practices, practitioners and the attitudes towards them, with interviews conducted in modern Varanasi, India. The focus in the assignment is the connection between haṭha yoga and tantric practices since tantra has been crucial in the forming of the early haṭha yoga and classical haṭha yoga, but slowly has been removed through different reformations such as under the Kashmir Śaivism. The tantric practices, especially those associated with left hand tantra, became less progressive and were slowly absorbed in mainstream Hinduism under several reformations during the 9th-15th century. Ideas about topics like austerities and alchemy were more and more replaced by conceptions of the subtle body and kuṇḍalinī and the practices became more symbolized and viewed as happening inside the practitioner’s body. Tantra was important in the framework of haṭha yoga but the philosophy and practitioners of haṭha yoga has like tantra been absorbed and mixed into different philosophies and forms of yoga practice. The practitioners has gone from alchemists, ascetics and left hand tantrics to be absorbed into the wider community which is evident in modern Varanasi. None of the haṭha yoga practitioners interviewed were Nāths, ascetics or alchemists and combined their haṭha practice with not only tantric philosophy but many different philosophies from India.
    [Show full text]
  • Research Thesis
    Indian Religious Innovators and their Influence as an Evolutionary Stage in Modern American Concepts of Religion: 1880’s- 1960’s Research Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for graduation “with Research Distinction in Comparative Studies” in the undergraduate colleges of The Ohio State University by Robert A. Jones The Ohio State University November 2011 Project Advisor: Professor Hugh B. Urban, Department of Comparative Studies Introduction Romanticism is often discouraged when seeking to gain an understanding of the ways of another culture. Just as an ethnocentric view will keep the observer on a pedestal, romanticism will keep that which is being observed on a pedestal. One must maintain a certain degree of self-reflexiveness to insure that one is not operating from either extreme. But, I would argue that romanticism is a valid starting point. It may be compared to falling in love. At the onset, we are completely enthralled every time we look at that person. Then, as an intimate relationship progresses, we lose some of the idealism that we were experiencing in the early stages. But, if the feelings begin to wane, we are able to recall the times when the mere sight of that person sent us into ineffable bliss. So, while I would caution one to avoid being blinded by romanticism, a little infatuation can get you through a rough spell. Certain elements of Hindu religious imagery can be fascinating to the curious westerner. It seems so different, so ‘other’, that it may be very easy to use the images and concepts as a form of escape.
    [Show full text]
  • Bikram Yoga Sequence Is Not a Proper Subject of Copyright Protection
    FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT BIKRAM’S YOGA COLLEGE OF INDIA, No. 13-55763 L.P., a California limited partnership; BIKRAM CHOUDHURY, D.C. No. an Individual, 2:11-cv-05506- Plaintiffs-Appellants, ODW-SS v. OPINION EVOLATION YOGA, LLC, a New York limited liability company; MARK DROST, an Individual; ZEFEA SAMSON, an Individual, Defendants-Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Otis D. Wright II, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted May 8, 2015—Pasadena, California Filed October 8, 2015 Before: John T. Noonan, Kim McLane Wardlaw, and Mary H. Murguia, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge Wardlaw 2 BIKRAM’S YOGA COLLEGE V. EVOLATION YOGA SUMMARY* Copyright Affirming the district court’s grant of partial summary judgment, the panel held that a sequence of yoga poses and breathing exercises was not entitled to copyright protection. The panel held that under 17 U.S.C. § 102(b), the “Sequence,” developed by Bikram Choudhury and described in his 1979 book, Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class, was not a proper subject of copyright protection because it was an idea, process, or system designed to improve health, rather than an expression of an idea. Because the Sequence was an unprotectible idea, it was also ineligible for copyright protection as a compilation or choreographic work. COUNSEL Ivana Cingel (argued), Carla Christofferson and Daniel Petrocelli, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Defendants-Appellants. Eric R. Maier (argued) and Louis Shoch, Maier Shoch LLP, Hermosa Beach, California, for Plaintiffs-Appellees. Kevin M.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Berkeley Race and Yoga
    UC Berkeley Race and Yoga Title Travelers, Translators, and Spiritual Mothers: Yoga, Gender, and Colonial Histories Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/93n9s2xg Journal Race and Yoga, 5(1) ISSN 2576-1307 Author Hassan, Narin Publication Date 2020 DOI 10.5070/R351046982 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ 4.0 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Travelers, Translators, and Spiritual Mothers: Yoga, Gender, and Colonial Histories Narin Hassan Georgia Institute of Technology Abstract Analyzing the work of women traveling to India in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this essay explores the intersections of gender, race, and colonial history and connects them to contemporary cultures of yoga. It suggests that analyzing gender in colonial contexts provides a way to understand the dynamics of yoga cultures more fully, and to place them within a historical and cultural frame. As a mind-body practice that was initially becoming consumed by Western audiences and by women in the late nineteenth century and that continues to be a potent and popular practice globally, yoga in its various forms and representations can reflect how the dynamics of colonialism endure and are culturally sustained. Keywords: Colonialism; Culture; Gender; India; Travel; Yoga In her memoir, The Garden of Fidelity (1930), the British writer, Flora Annie Steel describes her encounter with a group of yogis: They were a queer-looking lot of men, naked and ash-smeared, their lime bleached hair done up in chignon fashion. I took care not to go within defilement range of them, and as I walked, I wrapped my skirts close round me, and once when a man brushed past me carelessly, I gave the pollution cry: ‘Don’t touch me …’ A yogi … said instantly: ‘Sit down, Mem-sahiba, and talk.
    [Show full text]
  • Yoga, Brief History of an Idea
    Copyrighted Material Yoga, Brief History of an Idea David Gordon White Over the past decades, yoga has become part of the Zeitgeist of affluent west- ern societies, drawing housewives and hipsters, New Agers and the old-aged, and body culture and corporate culture into a multibillion-dollar synergy. Like every Indian cultural artifact that it has embraced, the West views Indian yoga as an ancient, unchanging tradition, based on revelations received by the Vedic sages who, seated in the lotus pose, were the Indian forerunners of the flat- tummied yoga babes who grace the covers of such glossy periodicals as the Yoga Journal and Yoga International.1 In the United States in particular, yoga has become a commodity. Statistics show that about 16 million Americans practice yoga every year. For most peo- ple, this means going to a yoga center with yoga mats, yoga clothes, and yoga accessories, and practicing in groups under the guidance of a yoga teacher or trainer. Here, yoga practice comprises a regimen of postures (āsanas)—some- times held for long periods of time, sometimes executed in rapid sequence— often together with techniques of breath control (prānāyāma). Yoga entrepre- neurs have branded their own styles of practice, from Bikram’s superheated workout rooms to studios that have begun offering “doga,” practicing yoga together with one’s dog. They have opened franchises, invented logos, pack- aged their practice regimens under Sanskrit names, and marketed a lifestyle that fuses yoga with leisure travel, healing spas, and seminars on eastern spiri- tuality. “Yoga celebrities” have become a part of our vocabulary, and with ce- lebrity has come the usual entourage of publicists, business managers, and 1 In this introduction, names in [square brackets] refer to contributions found in this volume, while references in (parentheses) refer to works found in Works Cited at the end of this chapter.
    [Show full text]
  • Tales of Enlightenment and (Super)Power with Particular
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Here Comes The Yogiman: Tales of Enlightenment and (Super)power with Particular Reference to the Life and Work of Paramahansa Yogananda A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies by Anna Pokazanyeva Committee in charge: Professor Barbara A. Holdrege, Chair Professor David Gordon White Professor Rudy V. Busto December 2015 The dissertation of Anna Pokazanyeva is approved. ____________________________________________ David Gordon White ____________________________________________ Rudy V. Busto ____________________________________________ Barbara A. Holdrege, Committee Chair September 2015 Here Comes The Yogiman: Tales of Enlightenment and (Super)power with Particular Reference to the Life and Work of Paramahansa Yogananda Copyright © 2015 by Anna Pokazanyeva iii VITA OF ANNA POKAZANYEVA September 2015 EDUCATION Ph.D., University of California at Santa Barbara, Religious Studies, expected 2015 M.A., University of California at Santa Barbara, Religious Studies, 2011 B.A., Rutgers University, English, French, minors in Religion and South Asian Studies, 2008 PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT 2015 Lecturer, Religious Studies Program, California Polytechnic State University 2013-4 Teaching Associate (Summer Session), Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara 2010-13 Teaching Assistant, Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: South Asian and
    [Show full text]
  • American Yoga 169
    American Yoga 169 Review Essay American Yoga: The Shaping of Modern Body Culture in the United States Sarah Schrank AMERICAN VEDA: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation—How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. By Philip Goldberg. New York: Harmony Books. 2010. THE GREAT OOM: The Improbable Birth of Yoga in America. By Robert Love. New York: Viking. 2010. HELL-BENT: Obsession, Pain, and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga. By Benjamin Lorr. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 2012. 0026-3079/2014/5301-169$2.50/0 American Studies, 53:1 (2014): 169-181 169 170 Sarah Schrank THE SCIENCE OF YOGA: The Risks and the Rewards. By William J. Broad. New York: Simon and Schuster. 2012. THE SUBTLE BODY: The Story of Yoga in America. By Stefanie Syman. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2010. THEOS BERNARD, THE WHITE LAMA: Tibet, Yoga, and American Religious Life. By Paul G. Hackett. New York: Columbia University Press. 2012. YOGA BODY: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice. By Mark Singleton. New York: Oxford University Press. 2010. In a recent issue of The Baffler, cultural critic Jorian Polis Schutz points out the unfortunate truth that “yoga,” translated from Sanskrit to mean the “union” of body and spirit, has taken hold on a mass scale in America just as labor unions are newly beleaguered politically and economically. While the public idea of uniting the laboring body and spirit to a social warrant of corporate responsibility has weakened, the private investment in an individual union of body and psychic
    [Show full text]