The Science of Yoga

Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, Supplement , vol. 640, 1997, pp. 158–62.
    Schwartzstein, Richard M., and Michael J. Parker. Respiratory Physiology: A Clinical Approach. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006.
    Shamdasani, Sonu, ed. The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1932 by C. G. Jung. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.
    Shaw, Beth. Beth Shaw’s YogaFit. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2000.
    Siegel, Lee. Net of Magic: Wonders and Deceptions in India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
    Singleton, Mark. Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
    Sjoman, Norman E. The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1999.
    Taimni, I. K. The Science of Yoga. Wheaton, IL: Quest, 1972.
    Taylor, Jill Bolte. My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey. New York: Viking, 2006.
    Udupa, K. N. Stress and Its Management by Yoga. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2000.
    Urban, Hugh B. Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
    Vishnudevananda, Swami. The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga. New York: Bell Publishing, 1960.
    White, David Gordon. Kiss of the Yogini: “Tantric Sex” in Its South Asian Contexts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.
    ———. Sinister Yogis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009.
    ———, ed. Tantra in Practice. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.
    World Health Organization. “Depression.” www.who.int/mental_health/management/depression/definition/en .
    Yogani. Advanced Yoga Practices: Easy Lessons for EcstaticLiving. Nashville: AYP Publishing, 2004.

Acknowledgments
    My thanks go first and foremostto the scientists and other specialists who made this book possible. Their courtesy and patience—in some cases over a number of years—helped illuminate a subject so murky and complicated that I despaired at times of figuring it out. Although I now question much about the culture of modern yoga, I hope that anyone who feels uneasy with my skepticism will nonetheless see my reporting as thorough and fair. As always with authorship, I alone am responsible for any errors or significant omissions.
    Initially, I saw this book as a nine-month wonder in which I would pick the low-hanging fruit and go merrily on my way. Five years later, I have accumulated a large number of debts.
    For early advice and encouragement, I offer heartfelt thanks to Joseph S. Alter, Charlotte Bacon and Brad Choyt, R. Barker Bausell, Carolyn Marks Blackwood and Greg Quinn, Ingrid and Walter Blanco, William C. Bushell, John Eastman, Jack England, Owen Gingerich, Ann Godoff, Daniel Goleman, John Horgan, Alan Lightman, Gary Rosen, and Patricia L. Rosenfield.
    In Kolkata, I am much indebted to Ashim Mukerji of the National Library, to P. Thankappan Nair, the journalist mentioned in chapter 1, to Binoy Roy, the former librarian of the University of Calcutta, and to the obliging staffs of the Asiatic Society and the Bengal Academy of Literature.
    In Mumbai, I battled monsoon flooding and dead taxicabs to laugh my head off with Madan Kataria and his good friends.
    In Lonavla, special thanks go to Subodh Tiwari and Swati Deshpande of the Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute (Gune’s ashram) and to Manmath M. Gharote of the Lonavla Yoga Institute and his colleagues. In Bangalore, H. R. Nagendra came to my rescue. In Washington at the Indian embassy, Nikhilesh M. Dhirar and his colleagues worked hard to track down an unforthcoming fact.
    Graciously over the years, Priscilla Walker lent her files and knowledge to unraveling the tale of Yoganandaand Basu Kumar Bagchi . So, too, Katharine Webster helped with Swami Rama. Randi Hutter Epstein cast light on American yoga history.
    For assistance in learning something of contemporary Tantra and Kundalini, many thanks to Bob Boyd, Michael Bradford, Joan Bridges, Jennifer Clark, Jana Dixon, Judy Harper, David Lukoff, Stuart Sovatsky, and Lisa Paul Streitfeld. Much gratitude as well to Ilse Mohn for a commercial insight and to Mary Roach for general intelligence on the relationship between sex and modern yoga.
    Gene Kieffer lent his considerable resources to helping me better understand Kundalini in general and Gopi Krishna in particular.
    Walter Blanco and James Anderson helped inspire the Muse chapter with their lively discussion of Sonny Rollins.
    For