Over three sessions Suzanne explores how yoga came to Britain, covering the individuals and movements that influenced the exchange between the yoga from India, and the cast of characters in Britain that eagerly received these exotic ideas and practices that have become part of mainstream, modern life.

Session 1: Suzanne introduces British travelogues from India in the seventeenth century, the influences of colonial India and the Theosophical Society, Watkins Bookshop, Jiddu Krishnamurti, the physical culture movement, the presentations of yogic powers and how medical science searched for answers before penicillin, the first appearance of yoga on British television in the 1940's and Paul Brunton.
Session 2: We hear about the importance of B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga, Gerald Yorke and the Inner London Education Authority, Swami Sivananda, the first yoga studios in Britain, Pattabhi Jois and Derek Ireland.
Session 3: Suzanne emphasises the importance of The Beatles, The Asian Music Circle, the hippie trail, the arrival of Indian gurus, Gandalf's Garden, drug culture and the expansion of consciousness, Centre House, Yogini Sunita, Wilfred Clark and the Wheel of British Yoga and the tensions between tradition and authenticity.

Suzanne Newcombe