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.