Courses

The History and Philosophy of Indian Yoga

 
 

This course is designed to give serious students of yoga a solid overview of yoga history and philosophy within the context of Indian religions. 

Throughout its long history, yoga has always been an integral part of India’s rich and multiple religious traditions—traditions that have largely shaped yoga’s forms, purposes, and meanings. In this course we will follow yoga’s changing expressions during each major phase of its historical development:

  • The first mention of yoga in the Upanishads
  • Reinterpretation in the theistic and devotional traditions of the epic period and beyond
  • Philosophical articulation in the Yoga Sutra during the classical period
  • Reformulations within the tantric movement in the medieval period
  • The rise of the more body-based practices of Hatha Yoga of the late medieval period
  • The radical transformations yoga underwent in India in the late 19th and early 20th centuries out of which modern forms of yoga emerged

Through slide-illustrated lectures and discussions we will explore the primary ideas, themes, visual imagery, and principle texts that have informed yoga theory and animated its practice—all of which is a source of inspiration today.   

 

Course Information

The format of the course is designed for advanced (500-hour) yoga teachers and to be given in four to five separate sessions.

However the course may also be adapted for less advanced (200-hour) students and be given in two or three separate sessions.

A course packet is included consisting of a course outline, recommended readings, timelines, maps, charts, excerpts from key texts, and a useful bibliography of both primary texts in translation and important secondary resources. 

 

 

 

Image credits (from top to bottom): Jain manuscript page of the Kalakacharyakatha Gujurat or Rajasthan, 1475-1500; The Sage Markandeya’s Ashram (detail) Attributed to the “Durga Master”, 18th century Mehrangarh Museum Trust; Rama Enters the Forest of Sages (detail), from the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas Jodhpur, ca. 1775, Mehrangarh Museum Trust