Slowness out of Sync : Understandings of Time in Ashtanga Yoga

• Yoga is often presented as a ‘slow’ form of exercise. Yoga magazines are filled with advice about how to ‘slow down’. However, Ashtanga yoga is considered dynamic and ‘fast’ - something that dates back to its role in the modern re-invention of hatha yoga in India, highly influenced by European physical practices (Alter, 2004; Michelis, 2005; Singleton, 2010; Goldberg, 2016). It is therefore paradoxical that it has become part of the craving for ‘slow’ forms of exercise. This article argues that, when looking at the role of time in contemporary yoga practice, we first need to examine critically the different understandings of time that are part of the practice, and their geo-political circumstances. 

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Filosofi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- Philosophy (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)