194 • Part III: YOGa FOr EDUCatING FOr SELF-rEGULatION aND ENGaGEMENt CHaPtEr 9: YOGa aS EMBODIED SELF-rEGULatION aND ENGaGEMENt • 195
stimulated a genuine interest in the health benefits of yoga (Douglass, 2007; Horton, 2012).
Strauss (2005) notes that the cultural focus on health aspects of yoga was also a marker
of the movement into modernity. According to Douglass (2007), scholars were critical of
Vivekananda’s reinterpretations of yoga and seemingly reckless blending of Eastern and
Western religions and popular Western culture. Despite the intellectual debates, by the end
of the 1880s, most American students of yoga circumvented religious conflict (Douglass,
2007). American students adapted a view of yoga as a method for enhancing physical and
mental health (Douglass, 2007). Interestingly, Swami Vivekananda’s success in the United
States sparked a yoga renaissance in India. The time was ripe for revitalization. It had
been over 100 years since the emergence from British colonialism, which exposed India to
relentless cultural and religious humiliation (Horton, 2012).
From 1900 to 1940, the exploration of yoga took divergent paths in academia and
popular culture (Cook-Cottone, 2015). De Michelis (2008) notes that this period was
marked by the substantially disruptive and intellectually unsettling influences of World
Wars I and II, as well as surges and intellectual debates in the field of psychology. At this
point, academic literature highlighted exotic and magical aspects of classic yogic texts,
discounting yoga’s potential to enhance personal growth (Douglass, 2007). Still, popu-
lar culture continued to embrace the health aspects (Douglass, 2007). English translations
of yogic texts were becoming increasingly available. Perhaps one of the biggest moves
toward accessibility of yoga for all occurred in 1966 when B. K. S. Iyengar’s 544-page
book, Light on Yoga, was published with complete descriptions and illustrations of yoga
postures and breathing techniques (Cook-Cottone, 2015). Also, Americans were studying
yoga in India in growing numbers, setting the stage for the personal exploration of yoga
(Douglas, 2007).
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, yoga was popular and being practiced by rock stars
such as the Beatles. In fact, Swami Satchidananda opened the legendary Woodstock music
festival (Douglass, 2007). It was around this time that the history of yoga took another inter-
esting turn. I think this is the point when my parents, like many others, began to see yoga
as a practice of the hippy and drug culture. At this point, the practice and study of yoga
became intertwined with the infamous LSD studies conducted by Harvard psychologists
Richard Alpert and Timothy Leary (Douglass, 2007). These studies and the behavior of the
professors appropriately inspired ethical concerns across the country. Ultimately, the two
left Harvard. According to Douglass (2007), Alpert departed to study Buddhist meditation
in India, returning as Ram Dass to propagate new ideas on consciousness. As a doctoral
student at University of Buffalo, I saw Ram Dass speak. With the charisma of a practiced
storyteller and free from conflict regarding the blending of substance use and yoga and
mindfulness practice, he spoke of his journey from the LSD experiments to a life-long
practice of meditation (Cook-Cottone, 2015). Leary’s path led him to urging the youth of
America to: “Turn on, tune in, and drop out” (Douglass, 2007, p. 40). For many, yoga’s asso-
ciation with drugs and rock music solidified their concerns, further setting the association
of yoga with a long list of deviant behaviors (Douglass, 2007). Notably, a majority of yoga
teachers and practitioners strongly believe that substance use has no place in the practice
and teaching of yoga ( Cook-Cottone, 2015). I am among them.
In the 1970s, an increasingly sound research began to emerge. Simultaneously, there was
a gradual, nation-wide adoption of yoga as a pathway to health and well-being. Today,
we see yoga studios in nearly every city. Yoga is practiced in gyms, prisons, treatment centers,
and schools (Cook-Cottone, 2015). As yoga has evolved in Western culture, there was yet