22. Why do Yogis Contort their Bodies?

Yoga Studies in Five Minutes - Theodora Wildcroft

Daniela Bevilacqua [+-]
Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA, ISCTE-IUL), Lisbon
Daniela Bevilacqua received her PhD in 2015, in Civilizations of Africa and Asia from Sapienza University of Rome and in Anthropology from the University of Paris Nanterre. Her PhD research was published by Routledge (2018) under the title Modern Hindu Traditionalism in Contemporary India: The Śrī Maṭh and the Jagadguru Rāmānandācārya in the Evolution of the Rāmānandī Sampradāya. She is a Associate Researcher at the Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA, ISCTE-IUL) in Lisbon. Her research has aroused particular interest because of its methodology and results. Her article, “Let the Sādhus Talk. Ascetic understanding of Haṭha Yoga and yogāsanas”, published in Religions of South Asia, (Vol 11, n. 2, pp. 182-206) has been translated into German, French and Portuguese. She has been invited to give lectures in various universities (Cambridge, London, Haifa, Prague, Turin, Milan) and to present her research in various yoga teacher training courses and yoga studios. She has published several articles in peer review journals and book chapters for on Hindu asceticism, female asceticism, etc. She is currently editing two volumes, one forthcoming for Amsterdam University Press and another will be a special issue of the Journal of Yoga Studies (JoYS).

Description

Yogis contort their bodies as part of a sādhanā or a performance, for spiritual and pragmatic reasons. Pragmatically, contortions can attract special powers, health benefits and devotees and supporters. Contortions are also a transformative process that prepare the individual to overcome the limits of the body and purify the mind and thought for higher achievements.

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Citation

Bevilacqua, Daniela. 22. Why do Yogis Contort their Bodies?. Yoga Studies in Five Minutes. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. Mar 2025. ISBN 9781800506008. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=46364. Date accessed: 21 Dec 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.46364. Mar 2025

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