39. Does a Yogi Need to be Part of a Lineage?
Yoga Studies in Five Minutes - Theodora Wildcroft
Theodora Wildcroft [+]
The Open University
Theodora Wildcroft, PhD, is a researcher investigating the democratization and evolution of physical practice as it moves beyond both traditional and early modern frameworks of relationship. Her PhD was a significant advance in the analysis of contemporary yoga pedagogies. Her research continues to consider the democratization of yoga post- lineage and meaning making in grassroots communities of practice. She is an associate lecturer at the Open University, UK; a former coordinator of the SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies; an editor of the BASR Bulletin; an honorary member of the British Wheel of Yoga; a member of the IAYT; and a continuing professional development trainer and consultant for Yoga Alliance (US). Her monograph Post- Lineage Yoga: From Guru to #MeToo is available from Equinox Publishing Ltd. (2020).
Description
If every student has a teacher, or every disciple has a guru, then logically every student is part of a lineage of teachers, at least in theory. In practice, the relationship between student and teacher can be much more complex. The truth of a practitioner’s claims to lineage is less interesting than the uses to which such claims are put.