Body-selves and health-related narratives in modern yoga and meditation methods

Abstract

The article explores the stories of engagement with modern yoga and meditation (MYM) methods of a group of long-term practitioners from the combined perspective of body and narrative. It uses Frank's typology of ‘body use in action' as an interpretive framework to illustrate key embodied dispositions and health-related narratives that these participants cultivate through their embodied practises, which are perfect renditions of the individualised neoliberal subject of capital. Frank's typology is applied to rich qualitative data that include practitioner interviews and documentary evidence. The findings illustrate how MYM methods can encourage disciplined, dominating, mirroring and communicative yogic bodies. Specifically, the article argues that disciplined yogic bodies have elective affinities for restitution and/or self-actualisation narratives. Some mirroring yogic bodies tell restitution or/and self-actualisation stories, whilst others may also tell Self-realisation stories. Dominating yogic bodies have elective affinities for Self-realisation narratives and communicative yogic bodies for quest stories. The article considers some of the implications for applying Frank's typology in the subcultural context of MYM practice and to the sociology of embodiment more widely.

Keywords:

• frank
• communicative
• disciplined
• neoliberal
• capitalism

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr Jacquelyn Allen-Collinson and Dr Penni Tearle for their support and helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. As this work is based on my PhD, I would also like to thank Dr David Brown, my supervisor, for all the interesting and inspiring discussions and debates that we had during the ‘making’ of the thesis. Finally, I thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive input.

Notes

1. Neoliberalism, a ‘theory of political economic practices’ (Harvey 2005, p. 2), is increasingly understood as a way of making sense of the world (Harvey 2005), constructing individuals that are self-reinventing, regulating and active agents who are ‘free to choose’ (Gill 2008, Read 2009).

2. See http://www.bikramyoga.com/Bikram/bikram.php.

3. According to Feuerstein (2001, p. 395), the locks (Bandhas) are ‘special bodily manoeuvres that are designed to confine the life force within the trunk and thereby stimulate it’. By contracting particular anatomical parts, like the stomach lock, the anal lock, the tongue lock and so on, the practitioners try to block and then release the flow of prana.

4. The chakras (‘wheels’, ‘circles’) are thought of as energy centres and are associated with interactions of both physical and mental nature (Alter 2004). They are believed to be the loci of prana, the invisible, abundant inflowing and outflowing life energy of the external world (the universe or cosmos) that permeates all levels of existence (Feuerstein 2001). See the above authors for a full description.