What makes something “yoga?” Recent scholarship has shown that
modern yoga is neither a direct continuation nor, indeed, a corruption
of any single and unified pre-modern tradition. Instead, it is the
product of an ongoing process of reinterpretation, recombination,
and synthesis. This talk focuses on spiritual breath and movement
practices that preceded yoga’s 20th century popularization in the
West, and traces them back through a “harmonial” tradition that
extends all the way back to the ancient Mediterranean. Ultimately it
argues that, under the adopted label of “yoga,” these practices and the
spiritual logics behind them continue to inform how we understand
body, breath, and their connection to the cosmos.
Anya Foxen is a historian and comparativist scholar
of religion. She is currently an Associate Professor
of Religious Studies at California Polytechnic State
University, San Luis Obispo, as well as a Research
Associate at the Center for the Study of World
Religions at Harvard University. Her scholarly
research focuses on the intersection of South
Asian yogic and tantric traditions with Western
esotericism and metaphysical spiritualities. She is
the author of four books, including “Inhaling Spirit: Harmonialism,
Orientalism, and the Western Roots of Modern Yoga,” and, most
recently, “The Serpent’s Tale: Kundalinī, Yoga, and the History of an
Experience.” She is also a teacher and long-time practitioner of yoga.
What makes something "yoga?" Recent scholarship has shown that modern yoga is neither a direct continuation nor a corruption of any single and unified pre-modern tradition.
Instead, it is the product of an ongoing process of reinterpretation, recombination, and synthesis. This talk focuses on spiritual breath and movement practices that preceded yoga's 20th century popularization in the West, and traces them back through a "harmonial" tradition that extends all the way back to the ancient Mediterranean. Ultimately it argues that, under the adopted label of "yoga," these practices and the spiritual logics behind them continue to inform how we understand body, breath, and their connection to the cosmos.
Zoom Meeting Room ID: 558 403 3057
Password: Swedenborg
Dr. Anya Foxen is a historian and comparativist scholar of religion. She is currently an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, as well as a Research Associate at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University. Her scholarly research focuses on the intersection of South Asian yogic and tantric traditions with Western esotericism and metaphysical spiritualities. She is the author of four books, including "Inhaling Spirit: Harmonialism Orientalism, and the Western Roots of Modern Yoga," and most recently, "The Serpent's Tale: Kundalini, Yoga, and the History of an Experience." She is also a teacher and long-time practitioner of yoga.
What makes something “yoga?” Recent scholarship has shown that modern yoga is neither a direct continuation nor, indeed, a corruption of any single and unified pre-modern tradition. Instead, it is the product of an ongoing process of reinterpretation, recombination, and synthesis. This talk focuses on spiritual breath and movement practices that preceded yoga’s 20th century popularization in the West, and traces them back through a “harmonial” tradition that extends all the way back to the ancient Mediterranean. Ultimately it argues that, under the adopted label of “yoga,” these practices and the spiritual logics behind them continue to inform how we understand body, breath, and their connection to the cosmos.
Anya Foxen is a historian and comparativist scholar of religion. She is currently an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, as well as a Research Associate at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University. Her scholarly research focuses on the intersection of South Asian yogic and tantric traditions with Western esotericism and metaphysical spiritualities. She is the author of four books, including “Inhaling Spirit: Harmonialism, Orientalism, and the Western Roots of Modern Yoga,” and, most recently, “The Serpent’s Tale: Kundalinī, Yoga, and the History of an Experience.” She is also a teacher and long-time practitioner of yoga.
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What makes something “yoga?” Recent scholarship has shown that modern yoga is neither a direct continuation nor, indeed, a corruption of any single and unified pre-modern tradition. Instead, it is the product of an ongoing process of reinterpretation, recombination, and synthesis. This talk focuses on spiritual breath and movement practices that preceded yoga’s 20th century popularization in the West, and traces them back through a “harmonial” tradition that extends all the way back to the ancient Mediterranean. Ultimately it argues that, under the adopted label of “yoga,” these practices and the spiritual logics behind them continue to inform how we understand body, breath, and their connection to the cosmos.
Anya Foxen is a historian and comparativist scholar of religion. She is currently an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, as well as a Research Associate at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University. Her scholarly research focuses on the intersection of South Asian yogic and tantric traditions with Western esotericism and metaphysical spiritualities. She is the author of four books, including “Inhaling Spirit: Harmonialism, Orientalism, and the Western Roots of Modern Yoga,” and, most recently, “The Serpent’s Tale: Kundalinī, Yoga, and the History of an Experience.” She is also a teacher and long-time practitioner of yoga.
