Yoga & Western Esotericism with Anya Foxen

Anya Foxen is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on the intersection of South Asian yogic and tantric traditions and Western esotericism and metaphysical spiritualities. Her current writing examines the transnational evolution and popularization of yoga in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She is also a yoga teacher and long-time practitioner. In this episode, we discuss:

1. Western roots of modern yoga.
2. Connecting the dots between modern western postural yoga and it’s Indian roots.
3. Defining harmonialism.
4. Key concepts in the Hellenic tradition as precursors to the harmonial ideas that we find in modern postural spiritualities.
5. Theurgy, a powerful parallel to the Indian Traditions.
6. Confronting issues of cultural appropriation.
7. Viewing the fundamental narrative of Western yoga as a historical conversation.

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