Amrita 6: Asana through the ages - Magazine - Page 9
Interview
“I’m very grateful for having
travelled and lived in India
extensively, and for studying with
so many knowledgeable and
interesting Indologists and yoga
teachers throughout the world.”
lot of academic research that remains to be done on the material evidence. Temple sculpture can provide an early record
of postural practice, even if the broader context of the image
is not clear. Based on the current evidence, I think collections
of 84
sanasexisted in the early formative phase of Hathayoga,
but this type of yoga did not integrate complex
sanasin any
substantial way until after the 15th century.
MA Have you seen a change in the way academic research
is carried out and communicated over the last decade, and
how do you see it evolving in the future?
JB There’s been more institutional funding for research on yoga
over the past ten years, and that’s because of the worldwide
interest in yoga. Academics in yoga studies are lucky to have a
large community of practitioners who are generally interested
in the history of yoga. Their interest has motivated academics
to explore new ways of communicating philological research,
via social media, film, podcasts and online course. Personally, I
haven’t been so innovative in this regard, but my wife Jacqueline Hargreaves has worked relentlessly to bridge the gap between my research and the needs of practitioners. Her site The
Luminescent has been a great success, in my opinion, in communicating research on yoga in useful ways to a non-special-
www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org
AMRITA Issue 6 / Spring 2021 7
