The Science of Yoga

educator.Began what is considered to be the world’s first major experimental study of yoga in 1924 at his ashram south of Bombay. Guided the field’s development for decades.
    MARSHALL HAGINS (1957– ). Physical therapist at Long Island University. Participated in 2007 study that found yoga fails to meet the minimum aerobic recommendations of medical and government groups.
    STEVEN H. HANUS (1954– ). Physician at the Medical School of Northwestern University. Led team reporting in 1977 that a yoga practitioner suffered a major stroke after doing the Shoulder Stand.
    B. K. S. IYENGAR (1918– ). Yogi innovator. Studied with Krishnamacharya. Authored the 1965 book Light on Yoga , a global bestseller. Originated a precise style practiced around the world.
    EDMUND JACOBSON (1888–1983). Physician at the University of Chicago. Taught patients how to undo muscle tension as a way to lift moods and promote healing. Authored the 1929 book Progressive Relaxation.
    VIRGINIA E. JOHNSON (1925– ). Sex researcher at Washington University in Saint Louis. Coauthored in 1966 Human Sexual Response. Documented long orgasms in women.
    K. PATTABHI JOIS (1915–2009). Yogi innovator. Studied with Krishnamacharya. Founded style known as Ashtanga, after the eight rules of spiritual living in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
    CARL JUNG (1875–1961). Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology. Pioneered the academic study of kundalini, a yogic state characterized by strong body currents, especially up the spine. Warned in 1938 that the experience could result in madness.
    SAT BIR KHALSA (1951– ). Yogi and neurophysiologist at the Medical School of Harvard University. Directed many investigations of yoga, including its ability to promote sleep and reduce stage fright in musicians.
    BARRY KOMISARUK (1941– ). Sex researcher at Rutgers University. Studied the nature of the human orgasm and women who can think themselves into states of ecstasy.
    GOPI KRISHNA (1903–1984). Kashmiri mystic. Spokeand wrote openly about his kundalini arousal. Characterized the experience as sexual in nature and a source of creativity.
    TIRUMALAI KRISHNAMACHARYA (1888–1989). Guru to modern gurus. Taught yoga in Mysore, India. Trained a number of gifted students who spread modernized yoga around the globe.
    WILLIAM H. MASTERS (1915–2001). Sex researcher at Washington University in Saint Louis. Coauthored the 1966 book Human Sexual Response. Documented fast breathing as a regular part of sexual arousal.
    TIMOTHY MCCALL (1956– ). Doctor and medical editor of Yoga Journal. Authored in 2007 Yoga as Medicine. Recommended that general yoga classes avoid Headstands because of the risk of injury.
    RINAD MINVALEEV (1965– ). Russian physiologist at Saint Petersburg State University. Led team reporting in 2004 that the Cobra position raises blood levels of testosterone, a primary sex hormone in men and women.
    WILLIBALD NAGLER (1929– ). Physician in Manhattan at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Described in 1973 a case study in which a stressful pose resulted in a major stroke.
    ANDREW NEWBERG (1966– ). Neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. Reported in 2009 that yoga activates the right brain—the side associated with creativity.
    DEAN ORNISH (1953– ). Physician known for promoting lifestyle changes to fight heart disease. Reported evidence in 2008 that yoga can lengthen cellular life spans, implying that it may fight aging.
    PATANJALI (C. 400 CE ). Ancient guru. Compiled Yoga Sutras , a collection of aphorisms about spiritual living. Urged cleanliness, good posture, breath control, ethical restraint, concentration, and meditation.
    N. C. PAUL (C. 1820–1880). Indian medical doctor schooled in Calcutta. Performed what is regarded as the world’s first scientific study of yoga. Authored the 1851 book A Treatise on the Yoga Philosophy.
    LARRY PAYNE (1944– ). Yoga teacher and therapist in Los Angeles. Served as founding president of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Coauthored the book Yoga for Dummies.
    DALE POND (1955– ). Health-care specialist who investigatedmystics. Helped found the Institute for Consciousness Research, a Canadian group that studied kundalini as a source of creativity.
    PAUL POND (1944– ). Physicist turned mystic investigator. Helped found the Institute for Consciousness Research.
    JOHN P. PORCARI (1955– ). Exercise physiologist at the University of Wisconsin.