"You have to draw from the past". On yoga in Poland in the 1960s. Cover Image

"Trzeba czerpać z przeszłości". O jodze w Polsce lat 60.
"You have to draw from the past". On yoga in Poland in the 1960s.

Author(s): Kamila Gęsikowska
Subject(s): Cultural history, History of ideas, Culture and social structure , Film / Cinema / Cinematography, History of Religion
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: physical yoga; „Wojna domowa”; yoga in Poland
Summary/Abstract: After 1945, Poland saw a more pronounced interest in yoga as a practice related to physical exercise, which is evident in book publications (manuals such as Yoga for You by Claude Bragdon, Eng. ed. 1954, Pol. ed. 1955) or press publications (such as the February 17, 1959 issue of “Przekrój”, which featured an interview with the pianist Witold Małcużyński, in which the artist talked about his experiences with yoga and his use of the practice in his daily and professional life). Yoga also became an object of interest for the creators of the popular 1960s television series Wojna domowa (“House Quarrels”) (1965). This paper analyzes episode seven of Wojna domowa entitled “Polish Yoga.” The author traces the social and cultural changes that occurred in the perception of yoga and the people who practice it. On the basis of her analysis, she proves that the figure of the yogi gradually ceased to be associated only with the culture of India at that time, undergoing a kind of “Occidentalizing” — the yogi did not have to be an Eastern master, but could be a specialist (though in the case of the show presented in a comedic fashion). Yoga, adjusting to the new cultural reality, became an interesting novelty for the young generation, at the same time entering more and more clearly into everyday life.

  • Page Range: 79-89
  • Page Count: 11
  • Publication Year: 2021
  • Language: Polish