Thinking in Āsana; Ciolkosz - Equinox Publishing

Matylda Ciołkosz [+–]

Jagiellonian University, Kraków

Matylda Ciołkosz is scholar of religions and an Assistant Professor at the Institute for the Study of Religions, Jagiellonian University in Kraków. In her research, she explores how religious concepts and doctrines are formed under the influence of different biological and sociocultural factors. As a longtime yoga practitioner, rock climber, and musician, she is especially interested in the significance of movement practices as one of these factors. In her studies- so far focused mainly on modern yoga- she applies the methodologies of cognitive science and lingustics.

Thinking in Āsana is an exploration of three popular lineages of modern postural yoga – Viniyoga, Iyengar Yoga, and Ashtanga Yoga. The book describes in detail the different styles of yoga practice advocated within the three lineages, and traces the influence of this practice on the corresponding “yoga philosophies”.

While Viniyoga, Iyengar Yoga, and Ashtanga Yoga name the yoga of Patañjali as the source of their teachings, the interpretations of Patañjali’s system differ significantly between the three lineages. A careful examination suggests that these differences can be accounted for by referring to the differences in the kinds of movement experienced during yoga practice. Linguistic theories of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson provide methodological groundwork for such examination.

By deconstructing the experience of movement specific to modern postural yoga practice, and by juxtaposing it to a linguistic analysis of a textual corpus, Thinking in Āsana argues that there is a systematic relation between how yoga is practiced and how yoga philosophy is understood. In doing so, the book not only gives a detailed, insightful look at modern postural yoga in practice and theory, but it also emphasises the role of movement in human meaning-making activity.

Prelims

List of Abbreviations [+–] vi

Thinking in Āsana is an exploration of three popular lineages of modern postural yoga – Viniyoga, Iyengar Yoga, and Ashtanga Yoga. The book describes in detail the different styles of yoga practice advocated within the three lineages, and traces the influence of this practice on the corresponding “yoga philosophies”. While Viniyoga, Iyengar Yoga, and Ashtanga Yoga name the yoga of Patañjali as the source of their teachings, the interpretations of Patañjali’s system differ significantly between the three lineages. A careful examination suggests that these differences can be accounted for by referring to the differences in the kinds of movement experienced during yoga practice. Linguistic theories of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson provide methodological groundwork for such examination. By deconstructing the experience of movement specific to modern postural yoga practice, and by juxtaposing it to a linguistic analysis of a textual corpus, Thinking in Āsana argues that there is a systematic relation between how yoga is practiced and how yoga philosophy is understood. In doing so, the book not only gives a detailed, insightful look at modern postural yoga in practice and theory, but it also emphasises the role of movement in human meaning-making activity.

Prologue [+–] vii-xiii

This part of the monograph introduces the theme of the study as well as its basic methodological assumptions. It gives an overview of my aims related to pursuing this study and discusses briefly my position as a researcher and an author. It provides the general information about the yoga systems I discuss and summarises the basic tenets of enactivism. It elucidates some technical issues regarding methodology and terminology, and clarifies some reservations pertaining to the scope of the study and its claims. It also summarises the contents of the rest of the book, providing the reader with its outline.

Acknowledgements xiv

Part I: Enactivism as a Framework for Yoga Studies

1. Introduction: The Legacy of Descartes and the Mind-machine [+–] 3-6

The history of modern thought produced a model of the mind as a thinking machine, and of cognition as the process the mind-machine performs. The mind is a system of interconnected virtual halls superimposed onto the neural structure of the brain. These halls take in information coming in from different sources. They also contain some information at the outset, and this default information can be supplemented and modified based on further learning. Cognition involves transforming the incoming information to produce statements of belief. Although the thinker may not always be aware of it, it is a thinking process, a rational endeavour based on the analysis of inner copies of the external world.

2. Towards Enactivism: Redefining the Mind and Cognition [+–] 7-17

I begin the discussion of cognition as enaction with remarks on the significance of motion and interaction with the environment for the development of what may be deemed “intelligent behaviour”. Using arguments stemming from disciplines ranging from biology to robotics, I explore the relation between cognition and life itself (drawing mainly on the arguments of Humberto Maturana).

3. Enaction and Language [+–] 18-29

The chapter focuses on the notion of meaning and the emergence of language. I discuss the social origins of language and its role as a means to regulate and modulate social interactions. I elaborate on the post-kinetic nature of language (described so by Maxine Sheets-Johnstone), i.e. the significance of early-life kinaesthetic experience for the development of abstract thinking and linguistic expression. Finally, I explain the basic concepts from cognitive linguistics (drawing from the work of George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, and Ronald Langacker) that I later apply in the analytical part of the study.

4. About this Study [+–] 30-33

A detailed summary of my research project and of how the methodological assumptions I chose to follow shape its structure.

Part II: Thinking in Āsana: Movement and Philosophy in Modern Postural Yoga

5. Construing Yoga: A Sketch from a Few Perspectives [+–] 37-56

The second chapter provides the reader with a broad, multidimensional look at the phenomenon of yoga. Basing my arguments on existing academic scholarship on yoga (represented by authors such as Joseph Alter, Jason Birch, Elizabeth De Michelis, James Mallinson, Philipp A. Maas, Mark Singleton, and David G. White, among others), I describe the transformations that the concept of yoga underwent from its nascence up to modernity, thus providing a background for the discussion of the three lineages of modern yoga presented in the third chapter. I discuss the trans-sectarian nature of yogic practices and philosophies. I describe– from a historical perspective– yoga’s role as a factor allowing to negotiate an individual’s involvement with the society and its norms. I summarise yoga-related cosmo-, soterio- and anthropologies, including yogic models of the human body. I describe the variety of yoga practices, including posture (āsana), breath retention (prāṇāyāma), and techniques of cognitive constraint. Throughout the chapter, I explain the tenets of the yoga of Patañjali, with its underlying ontology, assumptions regarding human consciousness, and its system of practice. I define the key concepts known from the Pātañjalayogaśāstra that made their way into modern yoga.

6. The Legend and Legacy of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya [+–] 57-63

Presents the specifics of movement characteristic of the yoga of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, the interpretation of the religiophilosophical model that corresponds to this practice, and, ultimately, the relation between the two. When discussing āsana and prāṇāyāma performance, I describe not only its objective characteristics, but also its subjective experience. By explaining how different postural and breathing techniques feel to the practitioner, I point to the kinds of recurrent kinaesthetic patterns they allow the practitioner to experience.

7. Viniyoga, or the Yoga of T.K.V. Desikachar [+–] 64-101

Presents the specifics of movement characteristic of Viniyoga, the interpretation of the religiophilosophical model that corresponds to this practice, and, ultimately, the relation between the two. When discussing āsana and prāṇāyāma performance, I describe not only its objective characteristics, but also its subjective experience. By explaining how different postural and breathing techniques feel to the practitioner, I point to the kinds of recurrent kinaesthetic patterns they allow the practitioner to experience.

8. Iyengar Yoga [+–] 102-146

Presents the specifics of movement characteristic of Iyengar yoga, the interpretation of the religiophilosophical model that corresponds to this practice, and, ultimately, the relation between the two. When discussing āsana and prāṇāyāma performance, I describe not only its objective characteristics, but also its subjective experience. By explaining how different postural and breathing techniques feel to the practitioner, I point to the kinds of recurrent kinaesthetic patterns they allow the practitioner to experience.

9. Ashtanga Yoga of K. Pattabhi Jois [+–] 147-200

Presents the specifics of movement characteristic of Ashtanga yoga, the interpretation of the religiophilosophical model that corresponds to this practice, and, ultimately, the relation between the two. When discussing āsana and prāṇāyāma performance, I describe not only its objective characteristics, but also its subjective experience. By explaining how different postural and breathing techniques feel to the practitioner, I point to the kinds of recurrent kinaesthetic patterns they allow the practitioner to experience.

10. Yogins, their Yogas, and their Worlds: A Summary [+–] 201-207

By treating “yoga philosophy” as a counterpart of “yoga practice”, I attempt to show how these two aspect of yoga complement each other. By showing a systematic relation between the way yoga techniques are practiced and the way yoga philosophy is understood, I point to the internal coherence of the three studied systems. I argue that the yoga philosophies proposed by Desikachar, Iyengar, and Jois provide a rationale for yoga practice, and explain its efficacy. At the same time, yoga practice provides the experiential basis to interpret the yoga philosophy.

Epilogue

Epilogue: Yoga, Autopoiesis, and Change [+–] 209-213

The final section of the book is a summary of its argument. It recapitulates the findings of the third chapter and rephrases them in terms of the enactive approach to life and cognition. It redefines yoga practice as a cognitive activity that gives the practitioner the embodied tools to construe their identity, their position in the world, and their capacity to adapt to this world through continuous transformation.

End Matter

Bibliography 215-221

Index 223-235

Reviews

Matylda's book presents her thought-provoking research on three of Kṛṣṇamācārya's disciples whose teachings have been at the forefront of transnational yoga. Her comparative discussion applies hermeneutical theories on cognition, language and kinaesthesia to reveal new perspectives and insights into modern yoga. This book should interest both scholars and practitioners of yoga alike.
Jason Birch, Senior Research Fellow, SOAS University of London

Thinking in Āsana is a remarkable achievement. In clear, illustrative language, Ciołkosz articulates how different yoga traditions construct different ways of being in the world through a combination of embodied practices and conceptual framings. This book’s phenomenological analysis of contemporary yoga practices articulates a much needed advancement to our understanding of modern yoga.
Through a close examination of the embodied practice and published literature of the three most globally influential yoga students of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (i.e. T.K.V. Desikachar, B.K.S. Iyengar and K. Pattabhi Jois) Ciołkosz unpacks the distinctions between each tradition, exploring in detail how and why these practices are physically and psychologically transformative.
Thinking in Āsana should be required reading for all those interested in yoga as a transformative or health-promoting practice.
Suzanne Newcombe, Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, The Open University

In this compelling book, Matylda Ciołkosz deploys cognitive science and phenomenological theory to offer a fascinating perspective on embodiment and meaning-making in postural yoga. It should be essential reading for anyone interested in thinking more deeply about the meaning of practice in contemporary yoga.
Mark Singleton, Research Associate, Centre of Yoga Studies, SOAS University of London, and author of Yoga Body and Roots of Yoga

Thinking in Āsana is a sophisticated and coherent account of how yoga practice and philosophy interconnect, which will be an invigorating read for both scholars and practitioners alike. Beyond the academy, it will be a valuable addition to teacher training programmes on yoga, inviting dialogue on how philosophical metaphors are deconstructed in praxis. The productive combination of linguistics and kinaesthetics is a novel addition to current scholarship on yoga in the humanities and will likely become an influential text in shaping future interdisciplinary studies, particularly in the context of bridging the gap between biology and sociology, science and philosophy, scholars and practitioners.
Religion

Religious Studies

Books and Journals in Humanities, Social Science and Performing Arts

Thinking in Āsana

Movement and Philosophy in Viniyoga, Iyengar Yoga, and Ashtanga Yoga

Matylda Ciołkosz [+–]

Jagiellonian University, Kraków

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