Thinking in Āsana - Movement and Philosophy in Viniyoga, Iyengar Yoga, and Ashtanga Yoga - Matylda Ciołkosz
10. Yogins, their Yogas, and their Worlds: A Summary
Thinking in Āsana - Movement and Philosophy in Viniyoga, Iyengar Yoga, and Ashtanga Yoga - Matylda Ciołkosz
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.
Description
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.