Prologue: Rethinking Yoga

Abstract

The introduction considers the apparent ‘crisis of authenticity’ amongst contemporary yoga practitioners. It argues that in the course of the twentieth century, yoga was studied, popularized and practiced in ways that have fundamentally influenced the kaleidoscopic understandings of yoga present in the current environment. Those who investigated, interrogated and taught yoga traditions in the twentieth century were (in most cases) attempting to respectfully explore a tradition which might meet present needs. It argues that the popularization of yoga in the British context was highly influential in understanding the shape of contemporary global yoga.