Jacqueline Hargreaves, BE (Hons), E-RYT, is Project Manager of the SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies and Programme Convenor of Yoga Studies Online at SOAS University of London. In 2022, Jacqueline pioneered international partnerships between SOAS and several leading Chinese yoga institutions, resulting in the development of the innovative Yoga and Meditation Education Certificate, an online programme offered in Chinese.
Jacqueline’s research focuses on the intersection of historical yoga and its contemporary applications, particularly in therapeutic settings. She is committed to advancing the field by collaborating with fellow researchers to present findings in innovative and accessible ways. Notable contributions include her work on the AyurYog Project (Vienna University, 2016–2020), where she constructed a web-based visual and textual timeline of premodern Ayurveda and Yoga; and her curation of “Embodied Liberation” exhibition for the Haṭha Yoga Project at SOAS University of London. This exhibition, held at the Brunei Gallery, featured the documentary film she produced that brought to life the eighteenth-century yoga practices of the Haṭhābhyāsapaddhati through embodied philology.
Jacqueline Hargreaves holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) from the University of New South Wales. She is a founding member and online editor of the Journal of Yoga Studies, a peer-reviewed, open-access academic publication, and The Luminescent, an independent, evidence-based research hub dedicated to the history and practice of Yoga and Meditation.
Publications
2023. (with J. Birch.) “Premodern Yogāsanas and Modern Postural Practice: Distinct Regional Collections of Āsanas on the Eve of Colonialism.” In Yoga and the Traditional Physical Practices of South Asia: Influence, Entanglement and Confrontation, Eds. Daniela Bevilacqua and Mark Singleton. Journal of Yoga Studies (Special Issue): 31–82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.34000/JoYS.2023.V4.01.
2020. Manuscripts: Yoga on Leaves. A film for Embodied Liberation II, a virtual exhibition at the Brunei Gallery SOAS University of London.
2020. Embodied Liberation: The Textual, Ethnographic and Historical Research of the Hatha Yoga Project. An exhibition at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS University of London.
2020. “Longevity: A Timeline of Yoga and Ayurveda.” A web and video-based timeline for the AyurYog Project, University of Vienna. Retrieved from: http://ayuryog.org/timeline
2018. “The Yogapradīpa: A Pre-Modern Jain “Light on Yoga”.” The Yoga Bridge (Winter 2018), Vol. 18, 1.
2017. (with J. Pankhania.) “A Culture of Silence: Satyananda Yoga.” The Luminescent, 2017 (12). Retrieved from: https://www.theluminescent.org/2017/12/a-culture-of-silence-satyananda-yoga.html
2016. “The Yamas and Niyamas: Medieval and Modern Views.” Yoga Scotland Magazine, 2016 (50).
2016. “The Yamas and Niyamas: Patañjali’s View.” Yoga Scotland Magazine, 2016 (49).
2015. “Yoganidrā: An understanding of the history and context.” The Luminescent, 2015 (1). Retrieved from: https://www.theluminescent.org/2015/01/yoganidra.html