The Science of Yoga

the serious study of kundalini.
    DAVID GORDON WHITE (1953– ). Professor of religion at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Argued that the ancient yogis sought a mental state corresponding to the bliss of sexual orgasm.
    NAN WISE (1957– ). Sex researcher at Rutgers University.0 Scanned the brains of women who can think themselves into ecstasy.
    YOGANANDA (1893–1952). Celebrated yogi. Moved in 1920 from India to the United States. Authored the 1946 book Autobiography of a Yogi , the story rich in supermen and supernatural feats.
    PUNJAB YOGI ( c. 1837). Mystic showman. Underwent live burial in 1837 before the court of Ranjit Singh, maharajah of the Punjab. The feat became an early case study in the science of yoga.

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    EZRA A. AMSTERDAM (1936– ). Cardiologist at the Medical School of the University of California at Davis. Led a 2001 study concluding that yoga improves aerobic conditioning.
    BASU KUMAR BAGCHI (1895–1977). Scientist of Indian birth at the University of Michigan. Found that advanced yogis could slow but not stop their hearts.
    KOVOOR T. BEHANAN (1902–1960). Yale psychologist born in India. Authored the 1937 book Yoga: A Scientific Evaluation.
    HERBERT BENSON (1935– ). Cardiologist at the Medical School of Harvard University. Found that meditators reduced their breathing, heart rate, and oxygen consumption. Authored in 1975 The Relaxation Response.
    T. K. BERA (1949– ). Director of research at Kaivalyadhama, the scientific ashram of Gune in the hills south of Bombay. Found advanced yogis skilled at slowing their metabolisms.
    GLENN BLACK (1949– ). Yoga teacher and bodyworker. Instructed at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York. Spoke openly of yoga injuries.
    THÈRÈSE BROSSE (1902–1991). French cardiologist. Showed that advanced yogis could slow their heart rate and blood flow.
    LORI A. BROTTO (1975– ). Sex researcher at University of British Columbia. Reported in 2002 and 2009 that fast breathing can result in sexual arousal.
    MAYASANDRA S. CHAYA (1953– ). Indian physiologist. Led team reporting in 2006 that yoga lowers the resting metabolic rate of practitioners and does so twice as effectively in women as in men.
    BIKRAM CHOUDHURY (1946– ). Yogi entrepreneur. Born in Calcutta and based in Los Angeles. Founded Bikram hot yoga. Set up hundreds of licensed and franchised studios around the globe.
    CAROLYN C. CLAY (1980– ). Sports scientist at Texas StateUniversity. Led 2005 study reporting that yoga has few cardiovascular benefits.
    KENNETH H. COOPER (1931– ). Physician who coined the term aerobics and advocated energetic sports. Reported few cardiovascular benefits from calisthenics, isometrics, and low-impact exercise.
    JAMES C. CORBY (1945– ). Physician at Stanford University School of Medicine. Led team reporting in 1978 that people in Tantric meditation undergo a number of physiologic arousals.
    INDRA DEVI (1899–2002). Actress turned yogini. Studied with Gune and Krishnamacharya. Taught in Hollywood, Russia, and Argentina. Popularized yoga in her 1953 book Forever Young, Forever Healthy.
    VIKAS DHIKAV (1974– ). Medical doctor at Ram ManoharLohia Hospital, New Delhi. Led team reporting in 2010 that men and women who take up yoga enjoy wide improvements in their sex lives.
    CTIBOR DOSTALEK (1928–2011). Czech neurophysiologist. Studied advanced yogis and reported that their brains exhibited waves of excitement indistinguishable from those of lovers.
    GEORG FEUERSTEIN (1947– ). Indologist of German birth. Authored or coauthored more than thirty books, including Yoga for Dummies. Served as editor of International Journal of Yoga Therapy.
    LOREN FISHMAN (1940– ). Yogi and physician in New York City who specialized in rehabilitation medicine. Employed yoga. Wrote books on yoga for arthritis, back pain, and other afflictions.
    JASON K. Y. FONG (1962– ). Neurologist at Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong. Led team reporting in 1993 that a practitioner suffered a major stroke. Warned that stressful poses can cripple or kill.
    MAKRAND M. GORE (1960– ). Senior researcher at Kaivalyadhama, the scientific ashram of Gune south of Bombay. Studied how long advanced yogis could endure an airtight pit.
    ELMER GREEN (1917– ). Psychologist at the Menninger Foundation. Studied how Swami Rama used his mind alone to redirect blood flow and how students used relaxation to foster states of creative reverie.
    JAGANNATH G. GUNE (1883–1966). Indian yogi and