Cognitive science of yoga

Together with colleagues at Humboldt University of Berlin (DE) and the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (DE), I have started a research group that aims to bridge cognitive science with yogic insights. This research group operates in close collaboration with expert yogic practitioners and our common goal is to take yogic psychology seriously as a conceptual contributor, rather than just an object of study. We have a meeting once a month in which members of the group present relevant work and to discuss progress on our projects. Our two main projects at the moment are (i) the development an integrative framework in which the yoga sutras (Patanjali) are used to generate testable predictions within a cognitive operationalization; and (ii) collecting empirical data during the yoga retreats organized by Yogalife that can shed a mechanistic light on changes in attentional, interoceptive, and emotional capacity.

You can check out our website here. Feel free to contact me if you’re interested in attending our meetings or presenting some of your own research or ideas.