Anglophone Yoga and Meditation Outside of India

Newcombe, Suzanne and Deslippe, Phillip (2021). Anglophone Yoga and Meditation Outside of India. In: Newcombe, Suzanne and O'Brien-Kop, Karen eds. Routledge Handbook of Yoga and Meditation Studies. Abingdon: Routledge.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351050753-28

Abstract

‘Modern Yoga’ as defined by Elizabeth de Michelis (2004) and as discussed in many academic works on yoga has been influenced by the English-speaking world and the medium of English. This chapter hopes to highlight some general trends that might characterise the history of modern yoga – and to some extent meditation – from the late nineteenth century to the present through global anglophone networks and the medium of the English language. We argue that modern yoga has been substantially influenced by the dominance of English-language presentations of yoga. However, English-language presentations of yoga and meditation have specific characteristics that should not necessarily be assumed to be dominant in other linguistic-cultural contexts. This chapter highlights an area in need of further research: the further delineating of characteristics of English-language presentations of yoga in particular times and places combined with an outline of what might distinguish these presentations from other linguistic and cultural contexts.

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