Born and raised in a family of intellectuals, I am hardwired for uneasiness when it comes to talk of spirituality or anything approaching the unscientific. (This orientation can be something of a liability in the yoga world, but that’s a story for a different day.) So I was surprised, when, after a year or so of enjoying yoga for its stretchy exercise benefits, the practice began to deepen for me, morphing unexpectedly into something much more intense and slightly destabilizing, something for which I had no useful frame of reference and no adequate language to describe.

What is yoga, really? Is it, as we often hear, a timeless practice handed down to us, intact and unchanging, from teacher to teacher, over thousands of years? A growing body of research reframes yoga as a living practice, evolving from its very beginnings, with a rich and deeply nuanced history of adaptation and creative innovation across time and geography. Does this view diminish its authenticity? To my mind, not at all - the twists, turns, and nuances of yoga’s complex history just make it all the more fascinating and powerful. If you’re interested to hear a few perspectives on this topic, you may enjoy these two radio interviews.