ASIA 109
The Art of Yoga: Practice, Philosophy, Politics, Possibilities Spring 2025
Division I D Difference, Power, and Equity
Cross-listed THEA 109

This course offers an immersive, interdisciplinary approach to hatha yoga, the branch of yoga that emphasizes bodily techniques for channeling energy, and achieving balance and quietude. It has been practiced and theorized variously in South Asia since ancient times. More recently, beginning in the late 19th century, it has been popularized throughout the globe, and has served as a source of inspiration for artists in various disciplines, including the theatre. Our work will follow four interrelated paths that will provide a broad context for our own experience and offer us tools for developing creativity: 1) We will dedicate ourselves to the careful study of the physical practice of yoga asanas, giving emphasis to biomechanical principles of alignment. Our study will include some basics of yoga anatomy; 2) We will study some allied philosophical principles, as they emerge from the Sanskrit text, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and some current commentaries on that text, by means of expanding the significance of our practice to all areas of our lives; 3) We will attend to the cultural politics of yoga by discussing new scholarship on its ancient origins as well as critical inquiry about how issues of appropriation, Orientalism, and racism shape its current manifestations; 4) We will examine how artists have incorporated elements of yoga into their practice. To explore how yoga might support our own artistic and innovative thinking, we will pair our practice with creative exercises. In this way, the course aims to explore the relationship of theory and practice. It will be of interest to students in the arts and anyone interested in fostering artistry and the imagination. Students must be prepared to engage in a physical practice of asana, as well as commit to reading, writing, and discussion. No previous experience with yoga is required.