Description

What is the subtle or "energy" body in Yoga, and what relevance does it have for contemporary practice? 

Modern Yoga is often presented as a secular practice focused on physical postures, but many Yoga traditions describe subtle, non-physical dimensions of the body. This year’s theme examines how these ideas persist, change, or reappear in contemporary contexts.

We will explore how embodied experience can be understood through the framework of the subtle body, and how such experiences, being subjective and not directly accessible to measurement, can be approached in study and discussion.

This summit brings together historians, scholars, researchers, and experienced practitioners to explore what might be called Yoga's unseen dimension: its energetic frameworks of prāṇa, cakra, and kuṇḍalinī, alongside the practices of breath, sound, and meditation that seek to transform and open new modes of embodied experience.

The summit asks: What is the subtle or "energy" body? How has it been understood across Yoga's history? How does it work and can it be measured?

Through panel discussions, guided practice sessions, and a keynote lecture, participants will examine the history and philosophy of the energy body, the roles of prāṇa, cakras, and kuṇḍalinī, and the relationship between embodied experience and contemporary research. 

Bringing together leading scholars and practitioners from around the world, the summit offers a unique opportunity to engage in dialogue across disciplines and traditions, exploring how Yoga's subtle dimensions continue to shape both scholarship and practice.

Full details on the talks and speakers can be found on our dedicated webpage:

https://bwy.org.uk/about-bwy/yogasummit/  

If you are logged into this site, tickets willl appear below. To log in, use the buttons Log in  or Become a free member to register with BWY. 

Tickets - £75 in-person and £45 online attendance, both ticket types include the recordings of all the talks. 

Additional Information

Schedule:

9.30–9.50 Welcome and Opening address

PANEL 1 (1hr 30 minutes including Q&A)

9.50–10.20 Bodily Entanglements with Transcendence – Dr Ruth Westoby, OCHS and SOAS University of London

10.20–10.50 When the Serpent Starts to Tremble: Challenges in the Awakening of Kundalini – Dr Marleen Thaler, University of Vienna

BREAK (25 minutes)

11.45–12.25 Experiential session on chakra meditation – Swami Saradananda, yoga teacher, mentor and author

LUNCH (1hr) 

PANEL 2 (1hr 30 minutes including Q&A)

13.25–13.55 Prāṇāyāma in Relation to Other Aṅgas of Yoga – Dr Magdalena Kraler, University of Vienna

13.55 – 14.25 Breathing, Moving, and Chanting in Transnational Yoga Practices – Dr Marissa Clarke, Associate Lecturer in Contemporary Yoga Studies, SOAS

BREAK (10 minutes)

15.05–15.45 Experiential session exploring the energy body through Tsa Lung practice – BWY tutor Sarah O’Connor

KEYNOTE (45 minutes including Q&A)

15:45–16:15 The Wheel, the Lotus and the Serpent: Towards a History of the Body of Tantric Yoga – Prof Shaman Hatley, University of Massachusetts

BREAK (20 minutes)

16:50–17:10 Questions and discussion with all speakers and practice leaders

17:10–17:30 Closing collective practice with Swami Saradananda.

Moderator:

Dr Suzanne Newcombe, Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the Open University

Convenors:

Prof. Ulrich Pagel, Chair of the SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies

Jacqueline Hargreaves, SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies

Peter Tyldesley, CEO of BWY

What to Bring

Notebook and pen, you may like to bring your yoga mat and practice wear for the optional lunctime yoga sessions. 

Bring something for lunch with you, either from home or local shops, so you can enjoy the lunchtime practices or have your own discussions about the talks.