Building identities among yoga and meditation practitioners in the middle classes of South America

Researcher: Bastos, Cecilia

Research Project: Building identities among yoga and meditation practitioners in the middle classes of South America

Region: South America

The objective of this research is to discuss the complexity and scope within the dimensions of identity related to the body and emotions, based on the case study of yoga and meditation practitioners in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. The research proposes to understand how the yogic identity is constructed, which is first visible in the transformation of their bodies, and which seems to involve the adoption of a “yogic” lifestyle, worldview or way of thinking. By observing how the techniques of meditation and yoga became popular in South America, I try to analyse the process of reflexivity and rationality inherent to these practices, in order to understand how practitioners understand and experience them. Through participant observation and interviews, I will analyse how practitioners propose to reconcile their social lives with a philosophical perspective and if these are in fact realised through reflexively organised knowledge, supported by empirical observation and logical thinking. Finally, I will examine how, through the resignification of personal experiences, the articulation between identity, body and emotion develops.