Studying In London

We finally arrived in London! After more than a year of preparations and a solid month of visa and passport complications, we touched down in London yesterday and begin our studies today. For the next year we will be here at SOAS University of London, delving into the Traditions of Yoga and Meditation.

​We at Ghosh Yoga have always straddled the divide between modern Western yoga, Indian tradition and academic scholarship. All three aspects are fascinating and deep in their own right, each with earnest students and diverse perspectives. Put them together and it can go one of two ways: It can be terribly confusing and frustrating with so many different points of view which are often contradictory to one another. Or, as we see it, it can be illuminating, as certain beliefs from one area are unknowingly adopted into another.

We love going to India and experiencing the culture and tradition first hand. It is not only humbling and humanizing to be in another society, but it enriches our understanding of yoga and its underlying philosophy, purpose and development. Of course, being from the US, we were brought up in the modern Western yoga studio system, where the focus is mostly physical with a few hints of mental underpinnings. 

This year will be focused, though, on academic scholarship. We will study the histories of Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism that gave rise to yoga and meditation, all from a "scholarly" perspective. This has its limitations, but it is only one piece of a broader set of knowledge. We don't take this type of formal schooling to be the most valuable bit but an equally useful piece of a well-rounded perspective. 

We honestly don't know what we will learn this year. It wouldn't be much use if we did! The goal is to put ourselves in the hands of our teachers and to be open-minded. It is exciting to be in the presence of some of the preeminent yoga scholars of today, like Jim Mallinson, Mark Singleton and Jason Birch. Our ears are open!