(RNS) — Is yoga Indic physiotherapy, a wellness routine, spiritual practice or something else entirely?
Canadian religion scholar Paul Bramadat dives headstand first into that question as he analyzes the complex, evolving world of modern postural yoga in his forthcoming book, “Yogalands: In Search of Practice on the Mat and in the World.”
Straddling the sacred and the secular, Bramadat, a longtime Ashtanga yoga practitioner, draws from his own experience and interviews with teachers and students across North America to explore how yoga is political. The book, which will be released on April 8, explores yoga’s intersections with commodification, cultural appropriation, power hierarchies and sexual misconduct.
As yoga classes maintain popularity among the “spiritual, but not religious” crowd, Bramadat challenges readers to consider both yoga’s ancient roots and its modern societal impact. And, the half Indo-Trinidadian sociologist of religion asks, “Why are 80% of yoga practitioners in North America white women?”
His interview with RNS has been edited for length and clarity.
Was Ashtanga yoga at age 45 really your first experience?
Isn’t that strange? It’s like having your first experience of Christianity be a Russian Orthodox Church.
I entered the community largely in crisis and in panic because my knees were in such dire shape, and I was just willing to do anything. A colleague assured me this style of yoga would be very minimally woo woo, and I wouldn’t feel like …