The Cultural Circuitry of Yoga in America: An Interview with Author Stefanie Syman
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| (Ruth St. Denis and Denishawn dancers in Yoga Meditation, 1915) |
“The group, Leary, Swain and the Vedanta devotees then sat cross-legged on Oriental rugs and chanted. When the acid hit, Leary saw shock and amazement on the “Holy folk”, despite their years of practicing Bhakti and Raja yoga. He himself imagined, briefly, that he was Shiva”. (from The Subtle Body, The Story of Yoga in America by Stefanie Syman)
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| (Ruth St. Denis) |
I f you’re American and you do yoga, you’ve probably wondered, at some point mid-way through a sonorous closing chant of “OM” how yoga even found its way to these shores. The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America is Stefanie Syman‘s folio of American yoga memories; a book dedicated to uncovering the cultural circuitry of American yoga practice. Each snapshot is a peek at the complicated love affair of Americans with yoga. A tango of a relationship that runs hot and cold by turns,
The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America, tracks the historical development of yoga in American popular consciousness, its momentum, and its surprising staying power.
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