Yoga in Britain - Stretching Spirituality and Educating Yogis - Suzanne Newcombe

Yoga in Britain - Stretching Spirituality and Educating Yogis - Suzanne Newcombe

Acknowledgements

Yoga in Britain - Stretching Spirituality and Educating Yogis - Suzanne Newcombe

Suzanne Newcombe [+-]
Open University and Inform, King's College London
Suzanne Newcombe is a senior lecturer in religious studies at the Open University and honorary director of the charity Inform, based in theology and religious studies at King’s College London. From 2015 to 2020, she was part of the European Research Council– funded project “Ayuryog: Entangled Histories of Yoga, Ayurveda and Alchemy” in South Asia, which examined the histories of yoga, Ayurveda, and rasaśāstra (Indian alchemy and iatrochemistry) from the tenth century to the present, focusing on the disciplines’ health, rejuvenation, and longevity practices. She is the coeditor of The Routledge Handbook of Yoga and Meditation Studies (Routledge, 2021) and the author of Yoga in Britain: Stretching Spirituality and Educating Yogis (Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2019).

Description

YOGA IN BRITAIN reveals how yoga came to be an accepted, mainstream activity in the twentieth century. During this period, yoga transformed from an esoteric concept into a something that would be taught to thousands of middle-class women in adult education classes. For the post-war welfare state, yoga was understood as having potential public bene­fit in promoting physical health and wellbeing. The structure of yoga classes which developed in this context established certification structures and secular, replicable class forms. This setting is crucial for understanding the methods and expectations found in globally popular forms of yoga. Moreover, yoga has not developed in a linear manner. Old and new forms co-exist, adapting to suit the specific needs of particular populations. In twentieth-first century Britain, yoga cannot be collapsed into a form of neoliberal commercialism or cultural appropriation, although these influences on yoga in Britain are also evident. Using extensive archival evidence and oral history interviews, the book reveals the diversity of individuals involved with the popularisation of yoga. In Britain, as throughout the globe, yoga continues to be understood and practiced in very distinctive ways by different people.

Notify A Colleague

Citation

Newcombe, Suzanne. Acknowledgements. Yoga in Britain - Stretching Spirituality and Educating Yogis. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. xi-xiv Jun 2019. ISBN 9781781796603. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=38976. Date accessed: 20 Mar 2025 doi: 10.1558/equinox.38976. Jun 2019

Dublin Core Metadata