Yoga – Anticolonial Philosophy: An Action-Focused Guide to Practice

by Shyam Ranganathan

Providing a decolonial, action-focused account of Yoga philosophy, this practical work from Dr. Shyam Ranganathan, pioneering scholar in the field of Indian moral philosophy, focuses on the South Asian tradition to explore what Yoga was like prior to colonization. It challenges teachers and trainees to reflect on the impact of Western colonialism on Yoga as well as understand Yoga as the original decolonial practice in a way that is accessible.

This book is accessible but thought provoking in its approach, but it will also challenge the way you think. Each chapter takes the reader through a journey of sources and traditions, beginning with an investigation into the colonial -Platonic and Aristotelian- approaches to pedagogy in colonized yoga spaces, through contrary, ancient philosophies of South Asia, such as Jainism, Buddhism, Sankhya, and various forms of Vedanta, to sources of Yoga, including the Upanisads, Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita and Hatha Yoga Pradipika. With discussions of the precolonial philosophy of Yoga, its relationship to social justice, and modern postural yoga's relationship with colonial trauma, this is a comprehensive guide for any yoga teacher or trainee to activate and synergize their practice.

192 pages, Paperback

Published April 18, 2024

Reviews

[Randy Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. As an Ashtanga practitioner it was a well-deserved punch in the mouth, a reminder of just how far afield white westerners have gotten from classical Yoga. But fair warning, it’s not an easy read for anyone who doesn’t have a background in Philosophy. I learned some new ethical theories though, such as virtue ethics, consequentialism and deontology.

I disagree with the author’s critique of Mark Singleton’s book Yoga Body, however. The sequences in modern posture yoga are most definitely a product of colonialist physical culture of the 19th and early 20th centuries. How could they not be? Krishnamacharya and his students were all subjects of British colonialism. They were exposed to the gymnastics and calisthenics of western physical culture their entire lives. That they counted in Sanskrit and gave the postures Sanskrit names does not make the asana practices that came from their teachings any less a manifestation of western physical culture. Perhaps the reason 95 percent of Ashtanga practitioners who travel to Mysore are white and western is because the sequences are a satisfying projection of our culture. Almost no South Asians are doing these practices. It’s the great irony of modern day yoga I think. But for Dr. Ranganathan, cultural appropriation is a one way street.

Other than that minor annoyance I now have to rethink the entire yoga project as it is presented in the west. At its worst, “yogaland” as he terms it, has devolved into a narcissistic exercise of escapism (my words, not his). At its best, the Mysore room has become the PE class of yoga without the math, science and history that goes along with any well rounded academic curriculum. Practically no one reads the original texts explicitly. If they are read at all they are interpreted by westerners, for westerners. That’s the author’s main thesis.

One final thought, I absolutely love Ranganathan’s observation that the Yoga Sutras (book 1 and 2) are a blueprint for progressive political activism! I’ve never thought of it that way. But once you see it you can’t unsee it. Just look at the lives of Gandhi, MLK and Nelson Mandela for examples of modern day yogis. And they probably never set foot on a yoga mat.

[Kamakshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a profound book! Loved it!