Yogi Calisthenics 147
order to render the supernatural as simply the logical extension of the natural.
More than this, the supernatural is nothing but the natural in its truest form.
Thus, Yogoda, relying on the basic laws of the universe— previously articulated in
the occult wisdom of the ancient Yogis and rearticulated in the language of mod-
ern science in the West— caters to the natural potential of the human to become
superhuman.
Yogananda’s method is ultimately based on a seamless integration of auto-
suggestive psychotherapy with physical calisthenics. He notes that “the yogis of
India have a large number of postures which they practice in order to strengthen
and develop their will,”^48 implicitly suggesting that his Energization Exercises are
meant to accomplish the same goal as yogic āsanas. This is perhaps the clearest
indication that we have from Yogananda as to his reasoning for not adopting the
more commonly recognized forms of āsanas. It is likely that, as in the case of
khecarī mudrā and the meditative posture padmāsana, he would have thought
that haṭha yogic āsanas, which were associated in the Western mind with side-
show contortions,^49 would be considered too bizarre or would simply be too dif-
ficult for his American students. What he retains, then, is not the form but the
function of these “yogic postures,” thus suggesting that there is a mutually benefi-
cial relationship between the physical exercises that develop the power of will and
the will itself, which in turn develops the capabilities of the body.
By 1923 the Boston Post was referring to Yogananda as “the Coué of g ymnas-
tics,” implying that he had fully integrated the Yogoda system of Energization
Exercises into his public demonstrations. Émile Coué (1857– 1926), a French psy-
chologist known for popularizing optimistic autosuggestion, rose to great popu-
larity in Europe and subsequently in America, where he enjoyed the patronage of
Anne Vanderbilt. However, Coué- style autosuggestion was only a single aspect of
Yogananda’s larger system. As he himself insisted:
The famous Coué formula and theory are based on a partial understand-
ing of the hidden factors behind many physical ailments. But the Coué
formula cannot help many types of unimaginative minds, because it is
based on the mistaken idea that imagination, rather than will, is the seat
of many physical ills. In the last analysis, imagination is but a servant of
the will.^50The above statement is ultimately a misreading of Coué insofar as it appears to
misunderstand what Coué means by “imagination.” However, the misunder-
standing arises from Yogananda’s much more expansive understanding of will.
For Coué, the imagination, which he takes to mean something generally synony-
mous with the unconscious, and the will, which is simply the conscious resolve or