Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the gendered and religious dimensions of yoga practice in post-socialist Europe. Polish women separate what they perceive as the religious from the non-religious components of yoga, thereby rendering it a secular practice that allows them to remain faithful Catholics.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the gendered, class and religious dimensions of yoga practice in post-socialist Europe. A dominant Polish view is that yoga is "nice stretching" that enables middle and upper people to demonstrate their social status by purchasing yoga classes and accessories. By contrast, fieldwork indicates that among middle-income women in Warsaw yoga is perceived as a largely therapeutic practice and valued as exercise that helps women pursue healthy lifestyles. Yoga's therapeutic power lies mainly in offering a means of dealing with the stresses or ‘dis’-ease of everyday life. The paper contributes to knowledge about how the religious or spiritual aspects of yoga are navigated in this particular a non-Hindu, non-Indian context. Middle-income Polish women separate what they perceive as the religious from the non-religious components of yoga, thereby rendering it a secular practice that allows them to remain faithful Catholics, and, thus, demonstrating their agency despite the attempts of Polish Catholic priests to control discourses on everyday ways of behaving of faithful Polish citizens.