Tune in for narratives critical to our times. Listen, ask and seek answers.
JAMES MALLINSON
James (‘Jim’) Mallinson is an indologist based at SOAS University of London who works primarily on the history of yoga and its practitioners. Sir James’ research is informed by Sanskrit texts, art-historical materials and more than a decade spent living in India with traditional yogis. Jim was made a mahant of the Ramanandi Sampradaya at the 2013 Kumbh Mela.
Session
YOGA IN A TIME OF CRISIS:
James Mallinson in conversation with Yashaswini Chanda
Since the Corona pandemic paralyzed the world, social media has been full of people spending lockdown doing yoga. In this session, SOAS Professor of Sanskrit and Yogic Mahant Sir James Mallinson tells Yashaswini Chandra about the history of yogic isolation and how yogis have used solitude and stillness to plumb their inner depths. He also reveals how very recently in it's long history yoga came to be seen to be a form of kalisthenic exercise and keep-fit.