Yoga Body : The Origins Of Modern Posture Practice

The Origins of Modern Posture Practice

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Inspiration & Meditation, Spirituality, Bible & Bible Studies
Cover of the book Yoga Body : The Origins Of Modern Posture Practice by Mark Singleton, Oxford University Press, USA
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mark Singleton ISBN: 9780199745982
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Publication: December 15, 2009
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Mark Singleton
ISBN: 9780199745982
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication: December 15, 2009
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Yoga is so prevalent in the modern world--practiced by pop stars, taught in schools, and offered in yoga centers, health clubs, and even shopping malls--that we take its presence, and its meaning, for granted. But how did the current yoga boom happen? And is it really rooted in ancient Indian practices, as many of its adherents claim? In this groundbreaking book, Mark Singleton calls into question many commonly held beliefs about the nature and origins of postural yoga (?sana) and suggests a radically new way of understanding the meaning of yoga as it is practiced by millions of people across the world today. Singleton shows that, contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence in the Indian tradition for the kind of health and fitness-oriented ?sana practice that dominates the global yoga scene of the twenty-first century. Singleton's surprising--and surely controversial--thesis is that yoga as it is popularly practiced today owes a greater debt to modern Indian nationalism and, even more surprisingly, to the spiritual aspirations of European bodybuilding and early 20th-century women's gymnastic movements of Europe and America, than it does to any ancient Indian yoga tradition. This discovery enables Singleton to explain, as no one has done before, how the most prevalent forms of postural yoga, like Ashtanga, Bikram and "Hatha" yoga, came to be the hugely popular phenomena they are today. Drawing on a wealth of rare documents from archives in India, the UK and the USA, as well as interviews with the few remaining, now very elderly figures in the 1930s Mysore ?sana revival, Yoga Body turns the conventional wisdom about yoga on its head.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Yoga is so prevalent in the modern world--practiced by pop stars, taught in schools, and offered in yoga centers, health clubs, and even shopping malls--that we take its presence, and its meaning, for granted. But how did the current yoga boom happen? And is it really rooted in ancient Indian practices, as many of its adherents claim? In this groundbreaking book, Mark Singleton calls into question many commonly held beliefs about the nature and origins of postural yoga (?sana) and suggests a radically new way of understanding the meaning of yoga as it is practiced by millions of people across the world today. Singleton shows that, contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence in the Indian tradition for the kind of health and fitness-oriented ?sana practice that dominates the global yoga scene of the twenty-first century. Singleton's surprising--and surely controversial--thesis is that yoga as it is popularly practiced today owes a greater debt to modern Indian nationalism and, even more surprisingly, to the spiritual aspirations of European bodybuilding and early 20th-century women's gymnastic movements of Europe and America, than it does to any ancient Indian yoga tradition. This discovery enables Singleton to explain, as no one has done before, how the most prevalent forms of postural yoga, like Ashtanga, Bikram and "Hatha" yoga, came to be the hugely popular phenomena they are today. Drawing on a wealth of rare documents from archives in India, the UK and the USA, as well as interviews with the few remaining, now very elderly figures in the 1930s Mysore ?sana revival, Yoga Body turns the conventional wisdom about yoga on its head.

More books from Oxford University Press, USA

Cover of the book A Better Pencil : Readers, Writers, And The Digital Revolution by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book Justice Matters : Legacies of the Holocaust and World War II by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book The Pope's Daughter : The Extraordinary Life Of Felice Della Rovere by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book Flammable : Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book The Oxford History of Islam by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book Communism Unwrapped: Consumption in Cold War Eastern Europe by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book Cuba : What Everyone Needs To Know by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book Quantum Enigma : Physics Encounters Consciousness by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book The Quantum Ten : A Story Of Passion, Tragedy, Ambition, And Science by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book Man and Woman:An Inside Story by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book Beyond Talent : Creating a Successful Career in Music by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book Journey into the Heart of God: Living the Liturgical Year by Mark Singleton
Cover of the book The American Occupation of Japan : The Origins of the Cold War in Asia by Mark Singleton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy