Harmonial Yoga: Tuning the Microcosm with Anya Foxen

Friedrich Nietzsche is usually remembered for declaring the death of God, but he also once wrote that “there is nothing to which the spirit of a philosopher more aspires than to be a good dancer. For the dance is his ideal, also his art and, finally, also the sole object of his devotion, of his ‘service to God.’” This day-long workshop invites us to bridge philosophical and bodily ways of knowing, drawing on South Asian yogic as well as Western harmonial frameworks for understanding the links between our bodies and our world. Do breath and movement have inherent meaning? Or universal purpose? What cultural stories do we tell ourselves about how and why we breathe and move, and how much do they matter?

Combining history, philosophy, and embodied practice, we will think about—and, just as crucially, feel into—what it means to be bodies in motion in today’s world. From yoga to theurgy, from somatics to mindfulness, from West to East and back again, we will explore how intentional shifts of embodied attention structure our ways of doing, knowing, and being.

The day will begin with an introductory presentation and group discussion, leading into an hour-long Harmonial Yoga movement practice, featuring rhythmic asana-based choreography set to music. Following a break for lunch, we will return to more basic breath, movement, and sound techniques to help us delve deeper into their effects on our bodies and minds.

No prior yoga expertise or superhuman flexibility required—only a willingness to embrace movement.

This event is in-person only. Tickets are sliding scale $30 - $60 with no one turned away for lack of funds.

Anya Foxen, PhD, is a teacher and scholar of spiritual movement traditions. She is the author of four books, including Inhaling Spirit: Harmonialism, Orientalism, and the Western Roots of Modern Yoga (Oxford University Press, 2020) and the The Serpent’s Tale: Kundalini and the History of an Experience (Columbia University press, forthcoming). Foxen’s academic research focuses on the intersection of South Asian yogic and tantric traditions with Western esotericism and metaphysical spiritualities. Her embodied teaching and personal practice are rooted in her scholarship as well as over twenty years of experience in yoga, harmonial somatics, and other movement modalities.

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