Yoga as an áskesis practice

Abstract

This essay aims to establish a reflection about how the yoga practice can be constitutive of an áskesis, in the sense given by Foucault on the basis of ancient Greek practices of care of the self. We do not intend to make simple approximations or equate yoga and ancient Greek practices, but show that the practice of yoga can present elements of áskesis, as characterized by Foucault. Thus, we will see that yoga can induce a contact of the subject with oneself and constitute a stylistic for the production of transformations in one’s life. Given the relevance that yoga as a body practice has acquired nowadays, it is also important to reflect what kind of ethics and practice in life the practice raises.