About this ebook
A central practice of both premodern and modern yoga, prāṇāyāma ("breath control") is practised in yoga classes worldwide. Like the notion of prāṇa ("breath", "vitality"), prāṇāyāma has a longstanding history in South Asia, constituting the fourth limb of Patanjali's yoga. Since roughly 1850, prāṇa and prāṇāyāma have been reinterpreted in light of the ideas of Hindu reform movements, nineteenth-century occultism, science, biomedicine, and transnational hygiene. In this book, Magdalena Kraler traces the history of yogic breath cultivation between 1850 and 1945 for the first time. She reconstructs how prāṇa assumed a central role in the cosmological frameworks of modern yoga and how prāṇāyāma came to be understood as a form of self-cultivation. Engaging one of modern yoga's key practices, this book not only offers a thorough academic analysis, but also responds to a growing worldwide interest in breath cultivation.
A central practice of both premodern and modern yoga, prāṇāyāma ("breath control") is practised in yoga classes worldwide. Like the notion of prāṇa ("breath", "vitality"), prāṇāyāma has a longstanding history in South Asia, constituting the fourth limb of Patanjali's yoga. Since roughly 1850, prā...
Discover more
About the author
Magdalena Kraler holds a PhD in Religious Studies (University of Vienna) and an MA in Music and Dance Education (University Mozarteum Salzburg). She currently teaches in Graz.
Magdalena Kraler holds a PhD in Religious Studies (University of Vienna) and an MA in Music and Dance Education (University Mozarteum Salzburg). She currently teaches in Graz.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
