by Shri Paul Dallaghan PhD and Shri Subodh Tiwari, Secretary General, IYA, Hon Secretary | CEO, Kdham
Volume 35: Issue 2025
Abstract
This perspective offers a descriptive insight into the early 20th century transformation from what was considered “folk yoga” to a scientific appraisal of hatha yoga techniques and classical yoga texts. Combined, these views convey an overall psychophysical yoga approach. The earliest scientific research on hatha yoga techniques and initial efforts to apply this through a more validated “yoga therapy” are revealed through analysis of the entire catalog of published articles in the journal Yoga Mīmāmsā, initiated by Sri Swami Kuvalayananda, founder of the Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute in 1924. Both the journal and institute were established with the express purpose of scientifically researching yoga techniques, detailing the practices, and making this information available to the public. Now, more than 100 years later, the present perspective also details the foundation for yoga exercises as therapy based on their influence on the nerves, glands, and muscles responsible for the health of the different organ systems and their tissues, drawn from research and conclusions of modern physiology, anatomy, and pathology. In addition, we present a detailed analysis of the earliest published research experiments on aspects of yoga practice. The first published research involved a novel X-ray experiment on the hatha yoga kriya (cleansing practice) of nauli (abdominal massage). Subsequent investigations included blood pressure and asana (physical postures), intragastric pressure, alveolar air, and pressure changes from a variety of techniques that dominated the research content throughout the 1930s. A final discussion on limitations of this early era of research is included.
