The Yogic Studies Podcast

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Sunila Kale and Dr. Christian Novetzke from the University of Washington about their recent publication, The Yoga of Power: Yoga as Political Thought and Practice in India (Columbia 2025). We discuss the genesis of their book beginning with court cases in both the U.S. and India involving yoga and politics, an understanding of the term yoga not only as philosophy or mind-body disciplines but as a political idea and practice, yoga's varied meanings in the ancient Rg Veda, Mahābhārata, and Bhagavadgītā, the mandala theory, yoga spies in the Arthaśāstra, yoga's political role within modern Indian independence movements including the writings of Tilak, Aurobindo, and Gandhi's famous Karma Yoga, and how the authors discovered what is potentially the earliest video footage of sūryanamaskār! We close by discussing the upcoming course, YS 134 | Yoga, Power, and Politics. Speaker Bio Dr. Sunila S. Kalé is a Professor in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Kalé has a BA from the University of Chicago and PhD from the University of Texas, Austin. Her teaching and research are in the fields of politics, development, political economy, energy studies, and yoga studies. She is author of many essays and articles and the books Electrifying India (Stanford 2014) and Mapping Power (Oxford 2018). Her first book was awarded a prize from the American Institute of Indian Studies, and her research has been supported by fellowships from AIIS and Fulbright. Dr. Christian Lee Novetzke is a Professor in the Jackson School of International Studies and the Comparative History of Ideas Department at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Novetzke teaches and researches in the fields of religion, cultural history, and yoga studies. He has a BA from Macalester College and graduate degrees from Harvard University (MTS) and Columbia University (PhD). His books include Religion and Public Memory (Columbia 2008), The Quotidian Revolution (Columbia 2016), and Amar, Akbar, Anthony (Harvard 2016). His first book won a prize from the American Academy of Religion and his research has been supported by grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, AIIS, Fulbright, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Links https://www.yogicstudies.com/ys-134 https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-yoga-of-power/9780231220019 "Surya Namaskar 1928 by Raja of Aundh" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYcwS2ePkMw

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Anya Golovkova about the world of Śrīvidyā and the Hindu tantric traditions. We learn about her background growing up in Russia and then discovering South Asian studies later in life in New York City, eventually going on to pursue a PhD on Śrīvidyā texts and traditions. We discuss the category of "tantra," the role of the Goddess within tantric traditions, the history of Śrīvidyā, the major texts of the tradition, the nature of the Śrī Cakra, contemporary Śrīvidyā traditions, and much more. We close by previewing her upcoming course, YS 133 | Śrīvidyā: Tantric Wisdom of the Goddess. Speaker Bio Anya Golovkova is a historian of Asian Religions and a Sanskritist. Prior to joining Lake Forest College as Assistant Professor of Religion, she was an A. W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Religion at Bowdoin College and a Visiting Scholar at Cornell University’s South Asia Program. Dr. Golovkova completed her Ph.D. in Asian Studies at Cornell University and holds a B.A. (with distinction) in Linguistics and Intercultural Communication from Moscow State Linguistics University, an M.A. in the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University, and a Master of Studies (with distinction) in Oriental Studies from Oxford University. Dr. Golovkova has published articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited book chapters. She is the co-editor (with Hugh Urban and Hillary Langberg) of The Tantric World, forthcoming from Routledge. Her forthcoming monograph, A Goddess for the Second Millennium: The Making of Śrīvidyā, is the first comprehensive study of a Hindu Tantric (esoteric) tradition called Śrīvidyā. Dr. Golovkova serves as the Co-Chair of the Tantric Studies Unit of the American Academy of Religion, the largest scholarly society dedicated to the academic study of religion, with more than 8,000 members around the world. Links YS 133 | Śrīvidyā: Tantric Wisdom of the Goddess Golovkova, Anna A. “Śrīvidyā.” Edited by Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, and Angelika Malinar, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Vol. 4. 815–22. Leiden [etc.]: Brill, 2012. https://lakeforest.academia.edu/AnnaAAnyaGolovkova 

In this episode, we speak with return guest and teacher Dr. Daniela Bevilacqua to discuss the publication of her latest work, From Tapas to Modern Yoga: Sādhus’ Understanding of Embodied Practices (2024). We discuss the origins of the book as part of the research and output of the infamous SOAS Hatha Yoga Project (2015-2020), her methodology as an ethnographer working in India, the various sampradāyas, the role of yoga and the question of who are the yogis amongst sādhus today, and many stories and details from her years of conducting research in India.  Speaker Bio Daniela Bevilacqua is an Indianist specialized in Hindu asceticism, investigated through an ethnographic and historical perspective. She received her PhD in Civilizations of Africa and Asia from Sapienza University of Rome and in Anthropology from the University of Paris Nanterre. She worked as a post-doc research fellow at SOAS, for the ERC- funded Haṭha Yoga Project (2015–2020). She is currently a researcher at CRIA (ISCTE-IUL) in Lisbon as PI of the project “Performing the Sacred: Ethnographies of Transgender Activism in the Kinnar Akhara”. She authored Modern Hindu Traditionalism in Contemporary India (Routledge 2018), From Tapas to Modern Yoga. Sādhus’ Understanding of Embodied Practices (Equinox 2024), edited volumes, and written several articles and book chapters on topics related to Hindu religious tradition, gender, and embodied practices. Links From Tapas to Modern Yoga: Sādhus’ Understanding of Embodied Practices (2024) YS 103 | Yoga and Hindu Asceticsm, Past and Present YSP 2. Daniela Bevilacqua | Hindu Asceticism and Haṭha Yoga

In this episode we speak with Briana Dana Akers, who is a publisher, editor, and translator, best known for his translation of the Haṭhapradīpikā. We discuss his background discovering yoga at a young age, learning Sanskrit in Michigan and in India, and how he first began publishing Sanskrit works on yoga when he founded YogaVidya at just 23 years old. Brian shares with us insights into the world of independent publishing, Sanskrit translation, working with scholars like Dr. James Mallinson, and why the Kāmasūtra may not have sold as many copies as the Śivasaṃhitā. We conclude by discussing Brian's latest book, The Yoga Manifesto, a short 60-page tract that traces some of yoga's history and looks critically though optimistically at yoga's present and future in modern society.  Speaker Bio Brian Dana Akers is a publisher, editor and translator (Sanskrit-English bilingual editions of the yoga classics), and also an author (science fiction and fantasy). He began practicing yoga at age twelve, learning Sanskrit at seventeen, and working in publishing at twenty-three. Brian grew up in Kalamazoo and spent his teenage years building telescopes, reading science fiction, and practicing Yoga. He started six years at the University of Michigan in 1975, with his senior year abroad in India. His studies included Sanskrit and Indian history. After graduate school, he left for the Bay Area and worked as a typographer and network manager. In 1991, he met his wife Loretta, moved to New York, wrote a little science fiction, and founded YogaVidya.com.  Links YogaVidya.com BrianDanaAkers.com