subjects can become of their own attendance at postural yoga “governors selves.” Regular classes signify the self-control and self-mastery of the disciplined neoliberal subject. The financial incentives offered at most yoga studios for continuous attendance hail the committed practicioner who brings herself to the practice with regularity and self-discipline. Many yogic practicioners are encouraged by the system of the class-series or multi-class-pass to monitor how many times in a given week or month they have to To commit seriously to “been yoga.” postural yoga practice is to work steadily and cumulatively, perhaps over many years, on the details of precision and alignment that allow body eventually to enter increasingly more one’s easefully and correctly into and out of postures, or allow breath to flow more easily, or one’s allow mind to come to rest more naturally. Every a challenge that asana one’s (pose) “is sometimes has to be practiced intensively until you finally master (or perhaps it.” Even especially) when understood in the most mundane and worldly terms and shorn of the more ascetic implications of spiritual transcendence, these aims all require disciplined, regular practice, habituation and forms of mental and corporeal self-mastery. In this sense, “the conceptualizations of selfhood that are produced within yoga converge with neoliberal constructions of selfhood, and these discourses are therefore mutually reinforcing and constantly reproduced.” Yogic norms of self-mastery and self-discipline may also assist the subject in dealing with the conflicting demands placed on her by the neoliberal regime. Many Foucauldians have noted that the body becomes a crucial site of contradictory impulses toward both consumption and self-restraint in neoliberal regimes of biopolitical self-governance. For instance, Julie governmentality produces contradictory impulses such that Guthman aptly notes: “neoliberal the neoliberal subject is emotionally compelled to participate in society as both out-of- control consumer and self-controlled Neoliberalism and its attendant forms of consumer subject.”
subjects can become “governors of their own selves.” Regular attendance at postural yoga classes signify the self-control and self-mastery of the disciplined neoliberal subject. The financial incentives offered at most yoga studios for continuous attendance hail the committed practicioner who brings herself to the practice with regularity and self-discipline. Many yogic practicioners are encouraged by the system of the class-series or multi-class-pass to monitor how many times in a given week or month they have “been to yoga.” To commit seriously to postural yoga practice is to work steadily and cumulatively, perhaps over many years, on the details of precision and alignment that allow one’s body eventually to enter increasingly more easefully and correctly into and out of postures, or allow one’s breath to flow more easily, or allow one’s mind to come to rest more naturally. Every asana (pose) “is a challenge that sometimes has to be practiced intensively until you finally master it.” Even (or perhaps especially) when understood in the most mundane and worldly terms and shorn of the more ascetic implications of spiritual transcendence, these aims all require disciplined, regular practice, habituation and forms of mental and corporeal self-mastery. In this sense, “the conceptualizations of selfhood that are produced within yoga converge with neoliberal constructions of selfhood, and these discourses are therefore mutually reinforcing and constantly reproduced.” Yogic norms of self-mastery and self-discipline may also assist the subject in dealing with the conflicting demands placed on her by the neoliberal regime. Many Foucauldians have noted that the body becomes a crucial site of contradictory impulses toward both consumption and self-restraint in neoliberal regimes of biopolitical self-governance. For instance, Julie Guthman aptly notes: “neoliberal governmentality produces contradictory impulses such that the neoliberal subject is emotionally compelled to participate in society as both out-of- control consumer and self-controlled subject.” Neoliberalism and its attendant forms of consumer
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