Harvey-Collins, L. (2021). Authority and transmission: An alchemical hermeneutic narrative inquiry into the lived experience of yoga teachers who have left the ashtanga vinyasa yoga tradition [Unpublished Master’s thesis]. Alef Trust & Liverpool John Moores University.

This study explored the experience of yoga teachers working in contemporary British yoga culture who have left the Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga tradition, a subject that had not been previously researched. In particular, it looked at how they reinterpreted their roles as transmitters of yoga and how the teaching of yoga is experienced. An alchemical hermeneutic process was used alongside narrative inquiry. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants, as well as participant-observation in their yoga classes. Analysis showed that the yoga teachers reinterpreted their roles via a process of empowerment around their choices within practice, which was passed onto their students and experienced as embodied movement. Whilst they continued to interact with Ashtanga Vinyasa to various extents, teaching was experienced as an evolving process which combined various elements, from both yoga and non-yoga sources.