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| Author | Alistair Shearer |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Yoga as exercise |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Hurst Publishers |
Publication date | 2020 |
| Publication place | England |
| Pages | 419 (first edition) |
| ISBN | 978-1-78738-192-6 |
The Story of Yoga: From Ancient India to the Modern West[S 1] is a cultural history of yoga by Alistair Shearer, published by Hurst in 2020. It narrates how an ancient spiritual practice in India became a global method of exercise, often with no spiritual content, by way of diverse movements including Indian nationalism, the Theosophical Society, Swami Vivekananda's coming to the west, self-publicising western yogis, Indian muscle builders, Krishnamacharya's practice in Mysore, and pioneering teachers like B. K. S. Iyengar.
The book has been received warmly by critics in the western world, who found it erudite, informative and well-written. In India, The Hindu found it a readable account of how an ancient path to enlightenment had become a profitable wellness industry, while the Hindustan Times considered that Shearer had an agenda to argue that western body-yoga was unrelated to Indian spiritual yoga.
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