Abstract
This chapter explores yoga as a cultural pedagogy. It begins with the explicit instructional discourse typical of a yoga session and shows that an imperative to pause, breathe and observe marks a shift in experiential focus (from external to ‘internal’) and pedagogic relations (between the taught and the teacher). However, this shift also requires that, in considering yoga as cultural pedagogy, two simultaneous moves are made. One, a move from a formal sense of the pedagogic in order to grapple with the wider complexities of a cultural pedagogy, and two, a move that augments the linguistic analysis of instructional genre with an exploration of the embodied processes of a yoga class, examining the ways the capacity for stillness and quiet observation are taught. Further, though, the philosophy of yoga makes clear that the point of yoga pedagogy is not a stilling of the body and mind per se but rather the development of an ethical disposition. Drawing on the work of Kelly Oliver, I argue that yoga invites one into the process of ‘witnessing’ – addressing and being addressed by the body. This chapter argues that we need a layered account that embraces the discursive, embodies and ethical dimensions of yoga in understanding the cultural pedagogy of yoga.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Title of host publication | Cultural Pedagogies and Human Conduct |
Editors | Megan Watkins, Greg Noble, Catherine Driscoll |
Place of Publication | U.K. |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
Pages | 201-216 |
Number of pages | 16 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781315794730 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781138014411 |
Publication status | Published - 2015 |
Keywords
- education
- learning
- teaching
- yoga