Yoga, the Body, and Embodied Social Change

Beth Berila is professor of ethnic and women’s studies at St. Cloud State University.Melanie Klein is an associate professor of sociology and women’s studies at Santa Monica College.Chelsea Jackson Roberts is founder and director of yoga, literature, and art at Spelman College.

• Introduction: Beth Berila, What’s the Link Between Feminism and Yoga?Section 1: Chelsea Jackson Roberts, Inclusion/Exclusion in Yoga SpacesCh 1 Marcelle M. Haddix, In a Field of the Color Purple: Inviting Yoga Spaces for Black Women’s BodiesCh 2 Jillian Ford, “I’m Feelin’ It.”: Embodied Spiritual Activism as a Vehicle for Queer Black LiberationCh 3 Enoch H. Page, The Gender, Race, and Class Barriers Enclosing Yoga as a White Public SpaceCh 4 Roopa Kaushik-Brown, Towards Yoga as PropertyCh 5 Kerrie Kauer, Yoga, Culture and Neoliberal Embodiment of HealthCh 6 Carol Horton, Yoga is Not Dodgeball: Mind-Body Integration and Progressive EducationSection 2: Melanie Klein, The Intersection of Yoga, Body Image and Standards of BeautyCh 7 Diana York Blaine, Mainstream Representations of Yoga: Capitalism, Consumerism, and Control of the Female BodyCh 8 Jennifer Musial, ‘Work Off that Holiday Meal Ladies!’: Body Vigilance and Orthorexia in Yoga SpacesCh 9 Sarah Schrank, Naked Yoga and the

Taken as a whole, this anthology provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges facing yoga culture in the United States. The lived experiences of the authors as scholars and yoga teachers, many of whom are also members of marginalised communities, provide unique insights into these challenges. Notably, this collection moves beyond a purely scholarly approach, taking into account the physical practice of yoga and the way in which yoga has the potential to be a site for embodied social change that could greatly benefit vulnerable communities. This change, the authors argue, cannot be achieved without the conscious effort of those involved in the yoga community. Yoga, the Body,and Embodied Social Changeis an invaluable resource for those who want to instigate that change.