The Subtle Body

The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America

The first edition cover portrays a woman in Chakrasana, wheel pose
Author	Stefanie Syman
Subject	History of yoga
Publisher	Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Publication date	2010
Publication place	United States

The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America is a 2010 book on the history of yoga as exercise by the American journalist Stefanie Syman. It spans the period from the first precursors of American yoga, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau, the arrival of Vivekananda, the role of Hollywood with Indra Devi, the hippie generation, and the leaders of a revived but now postural yoga such as Bikram Choudhury and Pattabhi Jois.

Several critics gave the book positive reviews, praising its wide range and readability; other critics gave it mixed reviews, noting its strengths, but also its lack of a strong continuous argument and its tendency to gossip.