New Books Network Christopher Key Chapple, "Embodied Ecology: Yoga and the Environment" (Mandala Publishing, 2025)
Dec 11, 2025
Christopher Key Chapple, a renowned Hindu studies scholar and author, dives into the synergy between Yoga, Hindu philosophy, and environmental activism. He shares insights from ancient texts like the Vedas about earth-awareness and critiques modern issues like consumerism and climate change. Chapple recounts his impactful experiences in India, his meetings with eco-activists, and explores how Yoga practices can foster a deeper connection with nature. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the five elements through a yogic lens to combat environmental distress.
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Childhood Forests Sparked Environmental Love
- Christopher Key Chapple grew up near Lake Ontario and wandered forests, learning to read birds and trees from his father and local Indigenous knowledge.
- A childhood encounter with a honeycomb sparked a lifelong love for the earth that later shaped his environmental questions in India.
Promote Local Pollution Solutions
- Support policies and technologies that reduce local pollution, as India did by converting rickshaws to compressed natural gas.
- Promote scalable renewables like solar to eclipse coal and nuclear, following India's recent progress.
Yoga: Both Cause And Cure
- Chapple argues yoga both enabled human control of the earth and offers the practices to scale back that domination.
- He frames yoga as the problem (domination) and the solution (returning to steady wisdom and restraint).
