a history of modern yoga

After long thought what type of book I should take a photo with, I reflected back upon what stood out to me the most during our study of World Religions thus far.  I thought about broad topics, such as Buddhism or Jainsim, then narrowed down to practices, such as puja and worship.  I narrowed it down to types of worship, such as yoga.  I thought that it was interesting how yoga is so popular today, yet before taking this class I never knew/thought that it is such an ancient practice.  Although adapted to modern times and marketing tactics, yoga has its roots in ancient religion that played a role in connecting and worshiping both the self and deities.

After skimming through the pages, I felt that this book has relevance to what we’ve learned in class thus far.  It discusses the roots of modern yoga, especially the emergence of modern Neo-Hinduism, and the religious foundations of modern yoga.   It goes on to discuss the modern interpretations and alternative medicine — a type of new age healing, and the separation/divide between religious practice and “everyday” practice that is spiritual as opposed to “religious” — which is a fine line to make and describe.  Thus, I will definitely look more into this book and understand how it is used today as both a form of exercise and spiritual practice, and how it is still a foundation for religious practices as well.  I am inspired after skimming through this book to write my first paper on it, so this is just the beginning.