Yoga, the Body, and Embodied Social Change is the first collection to gather together prominent scholars on yoga and the body. Using an intersectional lens, the essays examine yoga in the United States as a complex cultural phenomenon that reveals racial, economic, gendered, and sexual politics of the body. From discussions of the stereotypical yoga body to analyses of pivotal court cases, Yoga, the Body, and Embodied Social Change examines the sociopolitical tensions of contemporary yoga. Because so many yogic spaces reflect the oppressive nature of many other public spheres, the essays in this collection also examine what needs to change in order for yoga to truly live up to its liberatory potential, from the blogosphere around Black women’s health to the creation of queer and trans yoga classes to the healing potential of yoga for people living with chronic illness or trauma. While many of these conversations are emerging in the broader public sphere, few have made their way into academic scholarship. This book changes all that. The essays in this anthology interrogate yoga as it is portrayed in the media, yoga spaces, and yoga as it is integrated in education, the law, and concepts of health to examine who is included and who is excluded from yoga in the West. The result is a thoughtful analysis of the possibilities and the limitations of yoga for feminist social transformation.

Queering and Cripping the “Yoga Body” deconstructs the power relations and dominant discourses that shape the image of a healthy, natural, gendered body performing a postural yoga practice. This book examines empirical yoga research, yoga-related media, and yoga teacher training materials to critique how yoga becomes a manageable, predictable intervention that individuals can and should undertake in order to create healthy, manageable, non-burdensome bodies. It argues that when yoga is positioned as a natural intervention, discourses of morality and purity become intertwined with those of measurability, responsibility, control, health, and gender. It also considers the author’s own embodied experience, as well as those of other queer and disabled yoga teachers and practitioners, and how such experiences can open up possibilities for the teaching and practice of yoga. Queering and Cripping the “Yoga Body” will be of interest to graduate students and researchers studying embodiment, health and mindfulness practices, poststructuralism, queer theory, or disability studies, as well as researchers, teachers, and practitioners of yoga.

Drawing from mindfulness education and social justice teaching, this book explores an anti-oppressive pedagogy for university and college classrooms. Authentic classroom discussions about oppression and diversity can be difficult; a mindful approach allows students to explore their experiences with compassion and to engage in critical inquiry to confront their deeply held beliefs and value systems. This engaging book is full of practical tips for deepening learning, addressing challenging situations, and providing mindfulness practices in anti-oppression classrooms. Integrating Mindfulness into Anti-Oppression Pedagogy is for all higher education professionals interested in pedagogy that empowers and engages students in the complex unlearning of oppression.

In this remarkable, first-of-its-kind book, twenty-five contributors—including musician Alanis Morissette, celebrity yoga instructor Seane Corn, and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Sara Gottfried—discuss how yoga and body image intersect. Through inspiring personal stories you'll discover how yoga not only affects your physical health, but also how you feel about your body. Offering unique perspectives on yoga and how it has shaped their lives, the writers provide tips for using yoga to find self-empowerment and improved body image. This anthology unites a diverse collection of voices that address topics across the spectrum of human experience, from culture and media to gender and sexuality. Yoga and Body Image will help you learn to connect with and love your beautiful body. 2015 IPPY Award Bonze Medal Winner in Inspirational/Spiritual 2014 ForeWord IndieFab Bronze Winner for Body, Mind & Spirit

There is a growing body of research exploring the effectiveness of yoga as a pathway to positive embodiment for those at-risk for and struggling with eating disorders. This book provides a comprehensive look at the state of the field. This book begins with an introduction to positive embodiment, eating disorders, and yoga. It also offers insights into the personal journey of each of the editors as they share what brought them to this work. The first section of this book explores the empirical and conceptual rationale for approaching eating disorder prevention and treatment through the lens of embodiment and yoga. The next section of the text integrates the history of embodiment theory as related to yoga and eating disorders, provides the logic model for change and guidance for researchers, and offers a critical social justice perceptive of the work to date. The third section addresses the efficacy of yoga in the prevention and treatment of eating disorders including a comprehensive review and meta-analysis as well as five research studies demonstrating the various approaches to exploring the preventative and therapeutic effects of yoga for disordered eating. The final section of this book closes with a chapter on future directions and offers guidance for what is next in both practice and research. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special edition of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention.

Bringing together a diverse chorus of voices and experiences in the pursuit of collective bodily, emotional, and spiritual liberation, Practicing Yoga as Resistance examines yoga as it is experienced across the Western cultural landscape through an intersectional, feminist lens. Naming the systems of oppression that permeate our lived experiences, this collection and its contributors shine a light on the ways yoga practice is intertwined with these systems while offering insight into how people challenge and creatively subvert, mitigate, and reframe them through their efforts. From the disciplines of yoga studies, embodiment studies, women’s and gender studies, performance studies, educational studies, social sciences, and social justice, the self-identified women, queer, BIPOC, and White allies represented in this book present an interdisciplinary tapestry of scholarship that serves to add depth to a growing assemblage of yoga literature for the 21st century.

This book was written for diasporic South Asian women who have experienced microaggression or discrimination in modern yoga spaces in Canada or abroad. Punam Mehta, Ph.D. reveals how the yoga movement in Canada has been harmful to yoga’s grounding in Jain history, to South Asian social and cultural development, and to Jain diasporic women born and raised in Canada. She argues that marginalized women could recenter themselves by practicing yoga to overcome discrimination based on their race, gender, sexuality, class, and/or abilities within the context of today’s culture. The author seeks to answer questions such as: • What is the theoretical foundation of feminist-informed yoga in contemporary culture? • How can a feminist-informed yoga be applied as a healing approach to marginalized women? • How can contemporary yoga offer simple ways for marginalized women to feel good about themselves? The author highlights the removal of Canadian-born Jain mothers and more generally, South Asian mothers who face systemic racism in yoga studios. She also reveals how yoga, practiced in the Jain way of life, offers a holistic approach to well-being and spiritual health.