43. Christopher Jain Miller | Embodying Transnational Yoga

In this episode we speak with Christopher Miller about his recent
monograph, Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and
Breathing in Transformation (Routledge 2023) and his upcoming
online course at Yogic Studies. We begin by discussing his
academic background and how he first got into critical Yoga and
later Jain Studies, his experiences as a practitioner of yoga in
Santa Monica, California, and how he developed his dissertation
project that would eventually become the book. We discuss the
importance of shifting Modern Yoga Studies beyond the study of
postural yoga, exploring his three book chapters which analyze
the practices of eating (yogic diet), singing (kīrtan), and
breathing (prāṇāyāma). We discuss the origins and history of the
harmonium, how yoga intersects with food and pollution studies,
and question what it means to practice prāṇāyāma in a heavily
polluted Indian city. We conclude the conversation by previewing
Miller's upcoming online course, YS 127 | Embodying Transnational
Yoga.



Speaker Bio


Dr. Christopher Jain Miller is the co-founder, Vice President of
Academic Affairs, and Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies at
Arihanta Institute. Miller completed his PhD in the study of
Religion at the University of California, Davis. He is a Visiting
Researcher at the University of Zürich’s Asien-Orient-Institut
and Visiting Professor at Claremont School of Theology where he
co-developed and co-runs a remotely available Masters Degree
Program focusing on Engaged Jain Studies. His current research
focuses on Modern Yoga and Engaged Jainism. Christopher is the
author of a number of articles and book chapters concerned with
Jainism and the practice of modern yoga. He is the author of
Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in
Transformation (Routledge 2023) as well as co-editor of the
volumes Engaged Jainism: Critical and Constructive Approaches to
the Study of Jain Social Engagement (SUNY Forthcoming) and
Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age
(Lexington 2020).



Links


YS 127 | Embodying Transnational Yoga

Arihanta Institute

https://uzh.academia.edu/ChristopherMiller

Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing
in Transformation (Routledge, 2023) -- use code ESA32
before Dec 31, 2023 to receive a 20% discount.