Embodied Consciousness and Yogic Philosophy in Indian English Women’s Poetry
International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research October 7, 2025 DOI: 10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i05.73821 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractIndian English women poets, including Kamala Das, Eunice de Souza, Arundhati Subramaniam, Meena Alexander, and Rukmini Bhayia Nayar, articulate a nuanced understanding of the body as both material and metaphysical by engaging with yogic philosophical traditions. Their poetry reflects principles such as mind-body integration, meditative introspection, and holistic self-realization, moving beyond reductive binaries of body versus mind or material versus spiritual. Through corporeal imagery, cognitive reflection, and linguistic strategies, these poets negotiate personal, social, and spiritual identity, conceptualizing embodiment as a dynamic site of self-awareness, resistance, and transcendence. This interdisciplinary analysis situates their work at the nexus of literary, feminist, and philosophical studies.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Indian English women poets (Kamala Das, Eunice de Souza, Arundhati Subramaniam, Meena Alexander, Rukmini Bhayia Nayar) |
| Keywords | Embodied cognition Poetry Consciousness Indian english Context archaeology |
| Key finding | Argues that Indian English women poets use yogic principles to conceptualize embodiment as a dynamic site of self-awareness, resistance, and transcendence, moving beyond reductive body-mind binaries. |
Abstract
This study is going to investigate the intricate relationship between embodied consciousness and yogic philosophical traditions in Indian English women’s poetry. It seeks to demonstrate how women poets writing in English from the Indian context engaged deeply with indigenous epistemologies to articulate a nuanced understanding of the body as both a material and metaphysical entity. Drawing on the works of Kamala Das, Eunice de Souza, Arundhati Subramaniam, Meena Alexander, and Rukmini Bhayia Nayar, this paper examines how poetic expression mirrors yogic principles, including mind- body integration, meditative introspection, and holistic self- realization. Moving beyond reductive binaries such as body versus mind or material versus spiritual, these poets conceptualize embodiment as a dynamite site of self- awareness, resistance, and transcendence. By analysing corporeal imagery, cognitive reflection, and linguistic strategies, the study demonstrates that Indian English women poets negotiate personal, social, and spiritual identity through poetry. This interdisciplinary approach highlights the philosophical depth of their work, situating it at the nexus of literary, feminist, and philosophical studies.