Yoga - Philosophy for Everyone

"This fascinating collection of essays reveals that although yoga means something different to each person, it is a powerful a movement today as when it first began." (Yoga Magazine, 1 February 2012)

Liz Stillwaggon Swan has a PhD in philosophy and is a certified yoga instructor. Her niche in the world is helping people exercise their brains and their bodies. Her recent publications in the emerging field of biosemiotics explore how we use our brains and bodies to make sense of the world. She is also a new mother and delights in watching her son practice happy baby pose. Series Editor: Fritz Allhoff is an associate professor in the philosophy department at Western Michigan University, as well as a senior research fellow at the Australian National University's Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. In addition to editing the Philosophy for Everyone series, he is also the volume editor or co-editor for several titles, including Wine & Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Whiskey & Philosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley, 2009), and Food & Philosophy (with Dave Monroe, Wiley-Blackwell, 2007). His academic research interests engage various facets of applied ethics, ethical theory, and the history and philosophy of science.

Foreword ix John Friend Editors Introduction xiv Liz Stillwaggon Swan Acknowledgments xxvi PART 1 COMING INTO THE SPACE: WHAT IS YOGA? 1 1 How Yoga Won the West 3 Jennifer Munyer 2 Will I Find My Guru in India? 15 Kieran McManus 3 The Seeker: How Yoga is Meeting Changing Western Spiritual Needs 24 David Robles 4 Men, Sports, and Yoga 36 Barbara Purcell and Andrew Shaffer 5 Standing on Your Head, Seeing Things Right Side Up 47 Steve Jacobson PART 2 THE ASANAS: YOGA AND THE BODY 59 6 Help! My Philosophy Teacher Made Me Touch My Toes! 61 Ken Burak 7 Man a Machine, Man a Yogi: Why Yogas Critics will Come Around 73 J. Neil Otte 8 Yoga for Women? The Problem of Beautiful Bodies 84 Luna Dolezal 9 The Feeling of Beauty: A Yoga Project 94 Nicole Dunas 10 Picturing Yoga: Yoga Journal and the Perfect Form 106 Debra Merskin PART 3 PRANA: YOGAS VITAL ENERGY 117 11 My Guidance Counselor Always Said Id be a Great Yoga Student 119 Eric Swan 12 Balance in Yoga and Aristotle 129 Leigh Duffy 13 Healing the Western Mind through Yoga 139 Abby Thompson 14 The Path to Happiness Begins with a Journey Inside 149 Jim Berti PART 4 YAMAS AND NIYAMAS: ETHICS AND YOGA 159 15 Get Out of My Way! Im Late for Yoga! 161 Jeff Logan 16 Yoga Off the Mat 166 Julinna Oxley 17 Becoming-Frog: Yoga as Environmentalism 178 Megan M. Burke 18 Yoga and Ethics: The Importance of Practice 187 Paul Ulhas MacNeill 19 Why are You Standing on my Yoga Mat?! 200 Heather Salazar Notes on Contributors 212 ?