3. The Search for Rigour in Ethnographies of Bodily Practice

Embodied Reception - South Asian Spiritualities in Contemporary Contexts - Henriette Hanky

Theodora Wildcroft [+-]
The Open University
Theodora Wildcroft, PhD, is a researcher investigating the democratization and evolution of physical practice as it moves beyond both traditional and early modern frameworks of relationship. Her PhD was a significant advance in the analysis of contemporary yoga pedagogies. Her research continues to consider the democratization of yoga post- lineage and meaning making in grassroots communities of practice. She is an associate lecturer at the Open University, UK; a former coordinator of the SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies; an editor of the BASR Bulletin; an honorary member of the British Wheel of Yoga; a member of the IAYT; and a continuing professional development trainer and consultant for Yoga Alliance (US). Her monograph Post- Lineage Yoga: From Guru to #MeToo is available from Equinox Publishing Ltd. (2020).

Description

The status of researcher as insider or outsider to the communities they study has long been of debate. Within long-term ethnographic research into cultural practices, a world of nuance arises in the possible relationships between researcher and researched. We are engaged in complex processes of reconciliation between the under-represented communities whose stories we aim to tell, and the power an academic position confers to “define reality for others.” Besides the issue of positionality, the study of practices of movement and interoception confer distinct embodied skillsets. As a long-term practitioner of yoga who researches contemporary practice, my experience and analysis will be different from non-practicing scholars in the field. In this chapter I will build on insights from dance studies and yoga studies to discuss the methodological frameworks it was necessary to develop for my own doctoral research. I will describe co-practice as a method, notation as an analytic tool, and the concept of methodology as an experimental process, guided by the ideal of research as seva: research as a service freely dedicated to both academic rigor and the untold stories of our communities of practice. From this, I hope to offer space for an open and intellectually invigorating conversation about new methods and frameworks, so that we may break new ground together, in the ethnographic study of bodily practices.

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Citation

Wildcroft, Theodora. 3. The Search for Rigour in Ethnographies of Bodily Practice. Embodied Reception - South Asian Spiritualities in Contemporary Contexts. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 48-67 Nov 2024. ISBN 9781800503540. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=44422. Date accessed: 10 Feb 2025 doi: 10.1558/equinox.44422. Nov 2024

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