Yoga students are trained in developing moment-to-moment awareness of body, breath and mind. Studying history and philosophy can appear at odds with, even irrelevant to embodied practice. In this lecture Ruth will put the case for the history of yoga as a practice of yoga. She will suggest there are illuminating links between contemporary critical theory and Indian philosophy. Finally, she will suggest the practice of history illuminates our practices as tapestry or bricolage, indicating the enmeshment of tradition and modernity.
Studying the history of yoga is a practice of yoga because it enables us to see the present afresh. Looking at practices of yoga and the intentions of practitioners in different historical and cultural contexts turns the spotlight on the present. It requires us to be self-reflective, to notice afresh our own viewpoints and ideologies, and explore the worldviews underpinning our practices.
The eleventh century Amṛtasiddhi teaches, for the first time, bodily practices that become central to haṭha yoga. The startling teachings are explained systematically, in terms of the nature of the body, the practices, and the results of the practice in this tantric Buddhist source text. In this course we will read the Sanskrit and discuss in English the section on ‘the body’ as set out in the first four chapters of the Amṛtasiddhi. The course comprises four online sessions and one in-person workshop in London.