Yogi Calisthenics 133
great relief to be able to withdraw into some such state of complete mental
and bodily torpor.^20Here, we see an emerging distinction in the popular understanding of yoga, or
“Yogiism,” and the dynamic form of yogic g ymnastics appears to be winning out,
even if superficially, over the purely meditative mysticism that characterized the
initial positive conceptions of Yogis in the West. We also see that tolerance for
more extreme postural forms appears to be increasing, at least among those who,
as Andrea Jain has described them “could afford, both financially and socially, to
be eccentric.”^21 The relationship between these two types of yoga, one distinctly
spiritual and the other ostentatiously physical, remained ambiguous.
Yogananda consistently maintained a balance between the more esoteric
aspects of haṭha yoga and popularizing versions that relied on more familiar phys-
ical practices. Especially in his early days in the United States, he would occasion-
ally personally demonstrate advanced āsanas— such as balancing on his hands
while in a full lotus seat (utthita padmāsana)— as proof of the effectiveness of his
method of willful muscle control. However, he was careful to contextualize such
displays by incorporating them into a holistic system of Western- friendly bodily
and mental health. This is especially evident in Yogoda’s reliance on European
calisthenics rather than yogic āsanas. While more advanced and traditional
techniques, including a full if modified version of Kriya Yoga, were available to
committed disciples, he was careful to avoid anything that could be perceived
as “freakish” in his more publicly available materials. Nevertheless, although
Yogananda’s system resembles Ramacharaka’s purely- European fitness program
masquerading as yoga, it is novel and unique in its careful integration of haṭha
yogic logic and methodolog y.
Adaptations of Kriya Yoga
Yogananda did not altogether abandon the distinctly Indian haṭha yogic tech-
niques of Kriya Yoga. However, because Kriya Yoga requires initiation and calls
for committed and sustained practice, it was not particularly practical as a source
of material for public lectures and demonstrations. The SRF continues to initiate
students into the technique via the series of lessons that Yogananda composed and
left behind. Because Yogananda decreed himself to be the last in the line of Kriya
Yoga gurus— at least in the West, since presumably the swamis in Sri Yukteswar’s
continuing lineage as well as other remaining disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya might
very well be considered gurus in their own right— the written lessons, after the
Sikh fashion, have become guru in his stead.