Resources for a better understanding.
With more and more academic research about yoga being published, finding good sources of information online is increasingly important. A group of scholars looking at yoga and based in the social sciences and humanities have therefore got together to develop a web-based resource for those interested in this field.
This initiative is run by a group of established scholars who conduct research on yoga which formed at the Yoga Darśana, Yoga Sādhana international yoga conference in Kraków, Poland in May 2022. Their aim is to develop a website that offers information about the best quality yoga-related research in the humanities and social sciences.
The 4th International Yoga Darśana Yoga Sādhana conference:
Authenticity, Authority and Adaptation
27-29 May 2026
Paris, France
Programme Announcement
The 4th International Yoga Darśana Yoga Sādhana conference will take place in Paris beginning Wednesday May 27 at 1:00 p.m. with official proceedings ending at 6:00 p.m. Friday evening May 29, 2026. The events are being organized in collaboration with the Center for South Asian and Himalayan Studies (CESAH) at the School for Advanced Social Sciences (EHESS – École de hautes études en sciences sociales) in Paris.
Latest Reflection
Interview with Suzanne Newcombe and Raphaël Voix
The 4th Yoga Darśana Yoga Sādhana Conference The 4th International Yoga Darśana Yoga Sādhana Conference convenes 27–29 May 2026 at EHESS Paris, organized by CESAH. Theme: Authenticity, Authority and Adaptation—examining how yoga traditions establish legitimacy, transmit knowledge, and negotiate transformation across time and place. Bridges philological and ethnographic approaches. Host: Raj Balkaran Guest: Suzanne Newcombe and Raphael Voix Date: 9th March 2026
Yoga Research Mailing List
list@yogaresearch.org is a new email discussion group providing a forum for academic discussion among professional scholars of Yoga Studies.
Membership of the list is mainly open to scholars with an advanced degree and whose primary field is yoga studies. Sending a short academic CV is a requirement for approval.
Featured Researcher Profile
Prof. Lola Williamson
Lola Williamson is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies and the former Director of Peace and Justice Studies at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS. She holds a Ph.D. in Languages and Cultures of Asia from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Williamson’s research centers on Hinduism in North America with an emphasis on yoga and meditation movements. She founded the North America Hinduism Consultation of the American Academy of Religion in 2006. Her book, Transcendent in America: Hindu-Inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion (New York University Press, 2010), uses Self-Realization Fellowship, Transcendental Meditation, and Siddha Yoga as case studies to argue that these and similar groups form a distinct category of new religion. Her edited volume with Ann Gleig, Homegrown Gurus: From Hinduism in America to American Hinduism (SUNY Press, 2014), examines the role of American-born teachers and gurus in creating a new hybrid “American Hinduism.”