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A New History of Yoga: from Ancient India to the Modern West

(uk) Alisdair Shearer

308K0

How did an ancient Indian spiritual discipline become the backbone of a £20bn-a-year health industry? From the caves and forests of sages to modern Western gyms, hospitals and village halls, what has yoga experienced in its tortuous development? This book places yoga in a global cultural context, from mystical rituals and medieval body magicians, to Christianity and the British Empire, to Indian nationalists and the twentieth-century West. Yoga is now integrated into powerful social trends, including women's rights, digital media, celebrity culture, stress culture and the pursuit of authentic identity. The author mainly focuses on "body yoga" and "spiritual yoga", and conducts an in-depth discussion of the origin, birth environment, evolution of "yoga", and its status in modern society.