Yoga, Disability, and Animism, with Theo Wildcroft

In this episode, Dr Pierce Salguero sits down with Dr Theodora Wildcroft, a researcher, anthropologist, and long-time teacher of what she calls “post-lineage yoga.” We discuss Theo's ethnographic research on yoga in the UK, focusing on its connections with animism, paganism, and other somatic practices. We also dive into Theo’s personal approach to yoga as a liberatory practice that allows diverse bodies and minds to thrive. Along the way, we touch on disability, neuro-divergence, cultural appropriation, and the inescapable influence of colonialism for contemporary yogis.

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Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Theodora Wildcroft, Post Lineage Yoga: From Guru to #MeToo (2020)
• Theo Wildcroft & Harriet Mcatee, The Yoga Teacher's Survival Guide: Social Justice, Science, Politics, and Power (2024)
• Barbora Sojkova & Theodora Wildcroft, Yoga Studies in 5 Minutes (2025)
• Theo’s website: https://theowildcroft.com

Pierce Salguero is a transdisciplinary scholar of health humanities who is fascinated by historical and contemporary intersections between Buddhism, medicine, and crosscultural exchange. He has a Ph.D. in History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (2010), and teaches Asian history, medicine, and religion at Penn State University’s Abington College, located near Philadelphia. www.piercesalguero.com.

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