The advent of New Age spiritualism (Wikipedia link) in the 1970s did not add much new substance to the Western hybrid spiritual discourse. New Age-ism mainly brought to the table the optimistic evolutionary belief that the world has reached a stage where the spiritual will come forth. Within the New Age movement yoga however was given a prominent role. For yoga Western spiritualism became a significant habitus (we recall the term habitus’ is about how we bring our history into present circumstances).
Spiritual discourse maintains as its core doctrine that there is a spiritual dimension to life the transcendent – found within the individual as a super-conscious mind state’. In relation to yoga it is postulated that yoga techniques can get the virtuoso in touch with this (spiritual) inner dimensions of life, which is out of reach (transcendental) of modernist science. So within the spiritualist habitus yoga is not constructed as something in opposition to science but rather as a refinedform of science with roots in ancient wisdom systems.
Contraindications: Ischial bursitis, coccygodynia. Props: A yoga Pose Yoga Dedicated to the Sage Marichi I mat and a chair. Avoiding pitfalls: Adjust for your height relative to the chair if Pose Yoga Dedicated to the Sage Marichi I necessary. If your front foot does not easily reach the floor, place a phone book under it. If you are tall, put the phone book on the chair seat. Even though you have a chair for support, work diligently in the pose. Sit on the chair with your legs wide apart. Manually widen your buttocks and upper thighs.
