Yoga - Philosophy for Everyone

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 ixJohn Friend Editor’s Introduction xivLiz Stillwaggon SwanAcknowledgments xxviPART 1 COMING INTO THE SPACE: WHAT IS YOGA? 11 How Yoga Won the West 3Jennifer Munyer2 Will I Find My Guru in India? 15Kieran McManus3 The Seeker: How Yoga is Meeting Changing Western Spiritual Needs 24David Robles4 Men, Sports, and Yoga 36Barbara Purcell and Andrew Shaffer5 Standing on Your Head, Seeing Things Right Side Up 47Steve JacobsonPART 2 THE ASANAS: YOGA AND THE BODY 596 Help! My Philosophy Teacher Made Me Touch My Toes! 61Ken Burak7 Man a Machine, Man a Yogi: Why Yoga’s Critics will Come Around 73J. Neil Otte8 Yoga for Women? The Problem of Beautiful Bodies 84Luna Dolezal9 The Feeling of Beauty: A Yoga Project 94Nicole Dunas10 Picturing Yoga: Yoga Journal and the Perfect Form 106Debra MerskinPART 3 PRANA: YOGA’S VITAL ENERGY 11711 My Guidance Counselor Always Said I’d be a Great Yoga Student 119Eric Swan12 Balance in Yoga and Aristotle 129Leigh Duffy13 Healing the Western Mind through Yoga 139Abby Thompson14 The Path to Happiness Begins with a Journey Inside 149Jim BertiPART 4 YAMAS AND NIYAMAS: ETHICS AND YOGA 15915 Get Out of My Way! I’m Late for Yoga! 161Jeff Logan16 Yoga Off the Mat 166Julinna Oxley17 Becoming-Frog: Yoga as Environmentalism 178Megan M. Burke18 Yoga and Ethics: The Importance of Practice 187Paul Ulhas MacNeill19 Why are You Standing on my Yoga Mat?! 200Heather SalazarNotes on Contributors 212 ?

"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)