The Science of Yoga

Tanya. You are not only my life energy but my ethicist and guru—among other roles. Your counsel and wisdom typically become the best parts of me. Namaste.
    Finally, I’d like to honor the memory of Nancy, a much-loved sister lost to cancer. More than forty years ago she played an important role in getting me interested in yoga and pursuing it as a life discipline. For that, Nancy, you will always hold a special place in my heart.
    William J. Broad
Larchmont, New York
November 1, 2011

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 acts of kindness and assistance, thanks to Angela Babb of the American Academy of Neurology, to Lynn Butler, Laura Tatum, Nancy Lyon, and Angelyn Singer of Yale University, to Dennis Campbell and Patricia Gallagher of the New York Academy of Medicine, to Linda Cuthbertson and Pamela Forde of the Royal College of Physicians, to Daniel DeBehnke and Terry Modrak of the Medical College of Wisconsin, to Janet Faubert and Myrna Filman of the Institute for Consciousness Research, to Daisy Franco of the American Medical Association, to Emil Frantík of the National Institute of Public Health in Prague, to Sharon Gardner of the University of Michigan, to Diane Gray-Reed of the Pacifica Graduate Institute Research Library, to Mary Guillemette of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation , to Stephanie Hawthorn of the British Medical Association, to Derek Johnson of the Berkshire Medical Center, to Cindy Kuzma of the Journal of the American Medical Association , to Robert Love of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, to John McKenzie of Sumner McKenzie, to Renate Myles of the National Institutes of Health, to Natalya Podgorny of the Himalayan Institute, to Melanie Walker of the University of Washington, and to Susan Weill