The Ecology of Yoga
Research Project
Abstract
This research is a collaborative inquiry among a group
of six Kripalu Yoga teachers. The primary research question
is: How can we clarify the ecological roots of Yoga
so that they may be strengthened in both practice and
teaching?
While I (Laura Cornell) am the primary
researcher responsible for the inquiry, as a Yoga teacher
I am also a peer member of the group. The co-researchers
and I gathered for a five-day retreat in May 2003, and
are now spending a year in our home communities for
exploration and action. We will gather again for a concluding
three-day retreat in May 2004. Through this research
we are tracking not only what we learn about ecological
Yoga methods, but our own transformation as a result
of this inquiry.
This research draws upon the rich ecological heritage
of the Yoga tradition. Its findings will give insight
into Eco-Yoga practices and pedagogy appropriate for
the contemporary era. Further, research findings will
document ways in which collaboration supports both the
development of new skill and the inner transformation
needed to bring Yoga pedagogy into alignment with an
ecological worldview.
Research Group Members
Hasita Nadai is a trained biologist and geologist.
She worked for many years as a professor and then for
12 years at the EPA, from which she recently retired.
She teaches Yoga and leads deep ecology sessions at
Rivertown Center in Dobbs Ferry, NY. Her passion is
to develop YogaGaia, an integration of the cosmological
work of Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme with Yoga. She
will be co-leading a retreat on YogaGaia in the Italian
Alps in July 2004.
Ben Lord has been an avid tracker and student
of Native ways since his teen years. When he first discovered
Yoga in college it felt exactly like the practices of
full awareness with which he was already familiar—in
tracking one pays attention to nature, in Yoga one pays
attention to energy and sensations within. Ben created
a self-study project on yoga-ecology while in college.
He teaches Yoga in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Tanuja Pat Daniel is associate director of CERES
(the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies)
which supports corporations in becoming more environmentally
responsible. She leads “The Yoga of Simplicity”
at the Kripalu Center and is co-writing a book on the
same topic. Tanuja is a founding member of the Kripalu
Yoga Teachers’ Association.
Bob Bruce is recently retired as head librarian
of St. Olef College. He is active with the Greens and
a Deacon in the UCC Church. He teaches yoga to staff
and students at St. Olef College as well as at a nearby
yoga studio. Bob lives in Northfield, MN.
Leanne Ovalles teaches ESL to adults and is a
life coach. She spent two years in the Peace Corps in
Turkmenistan in Central Asia. She has taught Yoga in
a variety of workplace settings, in the Peace Corps,
and currently teaches Yoga at the public library. Her
interest is to explore successful means of bringing
students into the outdoors for Yoga.
Dissertation Advisors
Connie Jones, PhD, Committee Chair
Connie Jones holds degrees in psychology and education
and a PhD in the Sociology of Religion. She has written
widely on new religious movements, including in particular
the dissemination of Hindu thought in America. Other
research interests include feminist methods and cross-cultural
issues in religion. Connie has also taught at Mills
College and Columbia Theological Seminary. She was visiting
scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara,
and the Graduate Theological Union, and a Fulbright
Scholar at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India.
Shobhan Richard Faulds, MA, JD
Shobhan Richard Faulds has practiced Yoga and meditation
intensively for over 20 years in close association with
Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. After serving as
legal counsel for over a decade, Shobhan was Kripalu's
President from 1998 to 2001 and currently chairs Kripalu's
Board of Trustees. One of Kripalu's senior teachers
and workshop leaders, Shobhan is the author of the Bantam
Book Kripalu Yoga: A Guide to Practice On and Off the
Mat scheduled for publication in 2003. He holds a doctorate
of jurisprudence and an MA in counseling.
Stuart Sovatsky, PhD, MFCC
Stuart Sovatsky has over 25 years of lived Yogic experience,
including close association and personal tutelage from
several Kundalini masters. He was Director of the Kundalini
Clinic for 12 years. Currently, Stuart is on the faculty
at the California Institute of Integral Studies and
trains and mentors psychotherapists. He is the author
of numerous articles, book chapters, and two books related
to yogic alchemy and transpersonal psychology. He is
an advisory board member of the Yoga Research and Education
Center.
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