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The co-op bookstore for avid readers
The Story of Yoga: From Ancient India to the Modern West
How did an ancient Indian spiritual discipline turn into a $20+ billion-a-year mainstay of the global wellness industry? What happened along yoga's winding path from the caves and forests of the sages to the gyms, hospitals and village halls of the modern West? This comprehensive history sets yoga in its global cultural context for the first time. It leads us on a fascinating journey across the world, from arcane religious rituals and medieval body-magic, through muscular Christianity and the British Raj, to the Indian nationalist movement and the arrival of yoga in the twentieth-century West. We discover how the practice reached its present-day ubiquity and how it became embedded in powerful social currents shaping the world's future, such as feminism, digital media, celebrity culture, the stress pandemic and the quest for an authentic identity in the face of unprecedented change. Shearer's revealing history boasts a colorful cast of characters past and present, who tell an engaging tale of scholars and scandal, science and spirit, wisdom and waywardness. This is the untold story of yoga, warts and all.
Book Details
- Publisher: Hurst & Co.
- Publish Date: Oct 1st, 2022
- Pages: NA
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 8.36in - 5.57in - 1.34in - 1.21lb
- EAN: 9781787387188
- Categories: • Yoga• History• World - General
About the Author
Alistair Shearer is a cultural historian specialising in the art and architecture of the Indian subcontinent, a former lecturer at SOAS University of London, and a teacher of meditation and the psychology of yoga. He has translated the Yoga Sutras and co-created an award-winning retreat hotel in Kerala (www.neeleshwarhermitage.com)
Praise for this book
"A quick-witted and erudite chronicle of the Hindu practice that is now a lucrative staple of 'wellness' in the West."-- The Wall Street Journal
"Amid a sea of guidebooks, historian Alistair Shearer has provided a worthwhile counterpoint, [offering] advice as important as any guru's techniques."--Financial Times
"This is a tale of what happens when East and West meet, and about a shift from the sacred to the secular. [Yoga's] journey west gives Shearer a compelling cast of characters." -- The Sunday Times"Erudite, scholarly and engrossing." -- The Sunday Telegraph"Frequently amusing, but always scholarly and engaging, Shearer's study deftly works it way through the history of yoga, from the purity of Patanjali's Sutras to the mix'n'match brands endorsed by modern celebrities."--John Zubrzycki, author of Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic"The history of East meeting West through Yoga is as complex and enigmatic as it is important. Alistair Shearer unfolds the narrative with just the right combination of scholarly rigour and compelling prose."--Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda and The Life of Yogananda"A clear-eyed, elegantly written and wonderfully informative history of yoga . . . Shearer's remarkable book is a wide-ranging and rather sobering discussion on the nature of authenticity."--Spectator"The Story of Yoga offers an absorbing chronicle of the rise of yoga, tracing its evolution through history to its rapid global proliferation today, with insights into the challenges on the way ahead. Exceedingly accessible and engaging, this is the definitive account of the remarkable growth of one of the world's most popular and beneficial human activities.' -- Shashi Tharoor, author of Inglorious Empire"This is a compelling history of how an amazing ancient art became an integral part of western life."-- The Irish Times
"Shearer . . . writes with exquisite sensitivity about the teacher-student relationship."-- Hindustan Times
"Amid a sea of guidebooks, historian Alistair Shearer has provided a worthwhile counterpoint, [offering] advice as important as any guru's techniques."--Financial Times
"This is a tale of what happens when East and West meet, and about a shift from the sacred to the secular. [Yoga's] journey west gives Shearer a compelling cast of characters." -- The Sunday Times"Erudite, scholarly and engrossing." -- The Sunday Telegraph"Frequently amusing, but always scholarly and engaging, Shearer's study deftly works it way through the history of yoga, from the purity of Patanjali's Sutras to the mix'n'match brands endorsed by modern celebrities."--John Zubrzycki, author of Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic"The history of East meeting West through Yoga is as complex and enigmatic as it is important. Alistair Shearer unfolds the narrative with just the right combination of scholarly rigour and compelling prose."--Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda and The Life of Yogananda"A clear-eyed, elegantly written and wonderfully informative history of yoga . . . Shearer's remarkable book is a wide-ranging and rather sobering discussion on the nature of authenticity."--Spectator"The Story of Yoga offers an absorbing chronicle of the rise of yoga, tracing its evolution through history to its rapid global proliferation today, with insights into the challenges on the way ahead. Exceedingly accessible and engaging, this is the definitive account of the remarkable growth of one of the world's most popular and beneficial human activities.' -- Shashi Tharoor, author of Inglorious Empire"This is a compelling history of how an amazing ancient art became an integral part of western life."-- The Irish Times
"Shearer . . . writes with exquisite sensitivity about the teacher-student relationship."-- Hindustan Times