The Yogic Studies Podcast

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Sunila Kale and Dr. Christian Novetzke from the University of Washington about their recent publication, The Yoga of Power: Yoga as Political Thought and Practice in India (Columbia 2025). We discuss the genesis of their book beginning with court cases in both the U.S. and India involving yoga and politics, an understanding of the term yoga not only as philosophy or mind-body disciplines but as a political idea and practice, yoga's varied meanings in the ancient Rg Veda, Mahābhārata, and Bhagavadgītā, the mandala theory, yoga spies in the Arthaśāstra, yoga's political role within modern Indian independence movements including the writings of Tilak, Aurobindo, and Gandhi's famous Karma Yoga, and how the authors discovered what is potentially the earliest video footage of sūryanamaskār! We close by discussing the upcoming course, YS 134 | Yoga, Power, and Politics. Speaker BioDr. Sunila S. Kalé is a Professor in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Kalé has a BA from the University of Chicago and PhD from the University of Texas, Austin. Her teaching and research are in the fields of politics, development, political economy, energy studies, and yoga studies. She is author of many essays and articles and the books Electrifying India (Stanford 2014) and Mapping Power (Oxford 2018). Her first book was awarded a prize from the American Institute of Indian Studies, and her research has been supported by fellowships from AIIS and Fulbright.Dr. Christian Lee Novetzke is a Professor in the Jackson School of International Studies and the Comparative History of Ideas Department at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Novetzke teaches and researches in the fields of religion, cultural history, and yoga studies. He has a BA from Macalester College and graduate degrees from Harvard University (MTS) and Columbia University (PhD). His books include Religion and Public Memory (Columbia 2008), The Quotidian Revolution (Columbia 2016), and Amar, Akbar, Anthony (Harvard 2016). His first book won a prize from the American Academy of Religion and his research has been supported by grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, AIIS, Fulbright, and the Guggenheim Foundation.Linkshttps://www.yogicstudies.com/ys-134https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-yoga-of-power/9780231220019"Surya Namaskar 1928 by Raja of Aundh" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYcwS2ePkMw

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Anya Golovkova about the world of Śrīvidyā and the Hindu tantric traditions. We learn about her background growing up in Russia and then discovering South Asian studies later in life in New York City, eventually going on to pursue a PhD on Śrīvidyā texts and traditions. We discuss the category of "tantra," the role of the Goddess within tantric traditions, the history of Śrīvidyā, the major texts of the tradition, the nature of the Śrī Cakra, contemporary Śrīvidyā traditions, and much more. We close by previewing her upcoming course, YS 133 | Śrīvidyā: Tantric Wisdom of the Goddess. Speaker BioAnya Golovkova is a historian of Asian Religions and a Sanskritist. Prior to joining Lake Forest College as Assistant Professor of Religion, she was an A. W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Religion at Bowdoin College and a Visiting Scholar at Cornell University’s South Asia Program. Dr. Golovkova completed her Ph.D. in Asian Studies at Cornell University and holds a B.A. (with distinction) in Linguistics and Intercultural Communication from Moscow State Linguistics University, an M.A. in the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University, and a Master of Studies (with distinction) in Oriental Studies from Oxford University. Dr. Golovkova has published articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited book chapters. She is the co-editor (with Hugh Urban and Hillary Langberg) of The Tantric World, forthcoming from Routledge. Her forthcoming monograph, A Goddess for the Second Millennium: The Making of Śrīvidyā, is the first comprehensive study of a Hindu Tantric (esoteric) tradition called Śrīvidyā. Dr. Golovkova serves as the Co-Chair of the Tantric Studies Unit of the American Academy of Religion, the largest scholarly society dedicated to the academic study of religion, with more than 8,000 members around the world.LinksYS 133 | Śrīvidyā: Tantric Wisdom of the GoddessGolovkova, Anna A. “Śrīvidyā.” Edited by Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, and Angelika Malinar, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Vol. 4. 815–22. Leiden [etc.]: Brill, 2012.https://lakeforest.academia.edu/AnnaAAnyaGolovkova 

In this episode, we speak with return guest and teacher Dr. Daniela Bevilacqua to discuss the publication of her latest work, From Tapas to Modern Yoga: Sādhus’ Understanding of Embodied Practices (2024). We discuss the origins of the book as part of the research and output of the infamous SOAS Hatha Yoga Project (2015-2020), her methodology as an ethnographer working in India, the various sampradāyas, the role of yoga and the question of who are the yogis amongst sādhus today, and many stories and details from her years of conducting research in India.  Speaker BioDaniela Bevilacqua is an Indianist specialized in Hindu asceticism, investigated through an ethnographic and historical perspective. She received her PhD in Civilizations of Africa and Asia from Sapienza University of Rome and in Anthropology from the University of Paris Nanterre. She worked as a post-doc research fellow at SOAS, for the ERC- funded Haṭha Yoga Project (2015–2020). She is currently a researcher at CRIA (ISCTE-IUL) in Lisbon as PI of the project “Performing the Sacred: Ethnographies of Transgender Activism in the Kinnar Akhara”. She authored Modern Hindu Traditionalism in Contemporary India (Routledge 2018), From Tapas to Modern Yoga. Sādhus’ Understanding of Embodied Practices (Equinox 2024), edited volumes, and written several articles and book chapters on topics related to Hindu religious tradition, gender, and embodied practices.LinksFrom Tapas to Modern Yoga: Sādhus’ Understanding of Embodied Practices (2024)YS 103 | Yoga and Hindu Asceticsm, Past and PresentYSP 2. Daniela Bevilacqua | Hindu Asceticism and Haṭha Yoga

In this episode we speak with Briana Dana Akers, who is a publisher, editor, and translator, best known for his translation of the Haṭhapradīpikā. We discuss his background discovering yoga at a young age, learning Sanskrit in Michigan and in India, and how he first began publishing Sanskrit works on yoga when he founded YogaVidya at just 23 years old. Brian shares with us insights into the world of independent publishing, Sanskrit translation, working with scholars like Dr. James Mallinson, and why the Kāmasūtra may not have sold as many copies as the Śivasaṃhitā. We conclude by discussing Brian's latest book, The Yoga Manifesto, a short 60-page tract that traces some of yoga's history and looks critically though optimistically at yoga's present and future in modern society. Speaker BioBrian Dana Akers is a publisher, editor and translator (Sanskrit-English bilingual editions of the yoga classics), and also an author (science fiction and fantasy). He began practicing yoga at age twelve, learning Sanskrit at seventeen, and working in publishing at twenty-three. Brian grew up in Kalamazoo and spent his teenage years building telescopes, reading science fiction, and practicing Yoga. He started six years at the University of Michigan in 1975, with his senior year abroad in India. His studies included Sanskrit and Indian history. After graduate school, he left for the Bay Area and worked as a typographer and network manager. In 1991, he met his wife Loretta, moved to New York, wrote a little science fiction, and founded YogaVidya.com. LinksYogaVidya.comBrianDanaAkers.com

In this episode we speak with Zoë Slatoff about her background as an Ashtanga Yoga practitioner and teacher turned academic and Sanskrit professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. We discuss how her experiences within the Ashtanga Yoga community led her to the study of Sanskrit, and the eventual writing of her textbook called Yogāvatāraṇam. She details how her love for the study of yoga, Sanskrit, and philosophy led to her pursuing a PhD on the Aparokṣānubhūti, or "Direct Awareness of the Self." We discuss the history of the Aparokṣānubhūti, whether or not it is actually written by the great Advaita Vedānta philosopher Śaṅkara, the differences between the dualism of Sāṅkhya-Yoga and the non-dualism of Advaita Vedānta, how Vedānta views yoga philosophy and practice, and more. We conclude by previewing Zoë's upcoming online course, YS 215 | Yoga and Vedānta: The Aparokṣānubhūti.Speaker BioZoë Slatoff has a Ph.D. in Religion and Philosophy from Lancaster University in the U.K. and an M.A. and B.A. in Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University. She is the Clinical Professor of Sanskrit at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where she teaches Sanskrit and Yoga Philosophy courses in the Yoga Studies M.A. program, as well as undergraduate courses through the Theology department. Her Ph.D. dissertation—which she is working on turning into a  book—was an exploration of the intersection of Yoga and Advaita over time, centering around a  translation of the Aparokṣānubhūti and its commentaries. Zoë is also the author of Yogāvatāraṇam: The Translation of Yoga, a Sanskrit textbook based on classic yoga texts, which integrates  traditional and academic methods of learning, from which she teaches.Linkshttps://www.yogicstudies.com/ys-215Yogāvatāraṇam: The Translation of Yoga, (North Point Press, 2015)

In this episode we speak with Kunsang about her upcoming series of courses in Classical Tibetan. We learn about her fascinating journey growing up in Venezuela and Italy and first encountering Tibetan Buddhism in her youth, studying Buddhist philosophy in Italy, becoming ordained as a Buddhist nun, studying Tibetan language and joining a nunnery in Dharamsala, India. We discuss some of the details and curriculum of her life as a monastic studying and training in India, eventually becoming a translator for HH the Dalai Lama, among others. We then discuss the differences between classical and modern Tibetan, the relationship between Tibetan and Sanskrit, and pedagogies for teaching Tibetan. We conclude by previewing Kunsang's upcoming online course, TIBET 101 | Elementary Tibetan I.Speaker BioKunsang studied Letters and Philosophy at the Central University of Venezuela and attended a two-year residential Buddhist Philosophy program in Italy, where she became ordained in the Tibetan Tradition in 2006. After this, she moved to India and joined Thosamling Nunnery and Institute in Dharamsala. There she completed both Basic and Advanced Tibetan Language programs. She also completed the Traditional Buddhist Philosophy Studies in Tibetan, which correspond to a Lobön (slob dpon) degree in Buddhist Studies in the Tibetan Tradition.She has been teaching Tibetan language, translating Buddhist texts and interpreting for numerous masters for over 16 years. Currently, as a lay teacher, she offers various courses online aiming to transmit and preserve the study method of philosophical debate derived from the ancient Nalanda University. She believes that a direct, accurate translation from Tibetan into Western languages is essential to better understand the Dharma through the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism.Linkshttps://www.yogicstudies.com/tibet-101https://pdkunsang.wixsite.com/proyectodespertar 

Lucy May Constantini, a researcher of the south-Indian martial art tradition of kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘, discusses the history of kaḷari, Śākta Tantra influence, gender dynamics, training with weapons, parallels with yogāsana, and the renaissance of modern postural yoga. She also previews her upcoming online course on Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘. The podcast explores Kalari's origins, religious aspects, gender dynamics, and the shift in deity representations in South Indian traditions.

Kate Hartmann, former director of Buddhist Studies Online, discusses pilgrimage and Buddhism. Topics include the universal concept of pilgrimage, early history of Buddhist pilgrimage in India, Tibetan pilgrimage tradition, and the distinction between a pilgrim and a tourist. The conversation also covers major pilgrimage sites in Asia, the significance of pilgrim diaries, and the upcoming online course 'Buddhism and Pilgrimage'.

Christopher Jain Miller, co-founder and an expert in Jain and Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute, dives into his new book, exploring the rich tapestry of transnational yoga beyond just asanas. He discusses the intertwining of eating, singing, and breathing practices in yoga, urging a broader cultural understanding. Miller highlights the significance of the harmonium in yoga traditions and tackles the challenges of practicing pranayama in polluted environments, proposing innovative educational courses for a deeper engagement with these topics.

In this episode we speak with Samuel Grimes about his research and experience with the tradition of Newar Buddhism in Nepal. We discuss the unique history of Buddhism in Nepal, the decline of Buddhism in India, and what it means to be the only living "Sanskritic Buddhist" tradition in South Asia. We then discuss the meaning and role of yoga within Buddhist traditions, previewing Grimes' upcoming online course, BS 112 | Yoga in Buddhism.Speaker BioDr. Samuel M. Grimes is the Shinjo Ito Postdoctoral Fellow in Buddhist Studies, at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a scholar of South Asian Buddhism and Hinduism in the medieval and modern periods, with a specialization in the tantric traditions of Nepal, and with broader interest in historiography and ritual studies. Nepal is host to the only place in Asia with unbroken traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism existing side-by-side, and as a result the two religions there exhibit a high degree of exchange. A scholar must be expert in both to study either. Grimes works with the primary texts of these traditions directly, reading in Sanskrit, Newar, and Tibetan, frequently consulting sources that are only preserved in handwritten manuscripts.Dr. Grimes’ research into yoga primarily involves an investigation of Vajrayāna, tantric Buddhism. This research ranges from purely textual studies of premodern texts to on-the-ground ritual training in Nepal. He is especially interested in the dynamic interactions between the visualized objects and somatic activity in ritual practice. He has conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork with the Newar Buddhists of Kathmandu, who practice the only living Buddhist tradition that still conducts all ritual and preserves all liturgy in Sanskrit.LinksBS 112 | Yoga in Buddhismhttps://virginia.academia.edu/SamuelGrimes "Amṛtasiddhi A Posteriori: An Exploratory Study on the Possible Impact of the Amṛtasiddhi on the Subsequent Sanskritic Vajrayāna Tradition" (2020).