We spend a lot of time during our Hatha yoga practice quieting our minds, but the tradition of yoga is actually quite steeped in academia: The creators of yoga were intellects and scientists who dedicated their lives to investigating the human body, brain, and connection to the spiritual realm. That tradition continues today—some of the top yoga teachers are some of the brightest minds around. So, why is it that there are four- to fourteen-year study programs in the US to earn degrees for everything under the sun, but only 200- and 500-hour certifications in yoga?

This is a question that has been posed by local practitioner and yoga teacher Eric Shaw, who is currently completing a PhD in Humanities (with emphasis on Asian Studies, Hindu Philosphy, and Religion) at CIIS. Shaw teaches asana to make a living but, like many asana teachers, he is also a scholar at heart. And while he calls his degree-in-progress at CIIS a "de facto PhD in Yoga" (because of where the academic emphasis is placed), he dreams of seeing a bona fide PhD program in Yoga at CIIS in the future.

Shaw's idea for the program would include courses in everything from Sanskrit to scriptural studies to asana, yoga therapy, and even marketing and graphic design (as practical skills for starting yoga teachers). He sees this degree not only as a way to deepen one's understanding of the subject, but also as an advanced professional degree for yoga teachers—"an MBA in yoga" that would lend "a certain legitimacy to yoga and bring it up to a higher professional level."

Shaw has already approached the director of public programs at CIIS with his idea, and has been communicating with prominent yoga scholars about it, including Ian Whicher and Paul Muller-Ortega, both of whom he thinks would be perfect as starting faculty.

Currently, says Shaw, the only other American degree program in Yoga is at the small International Vedic Hindu University in Orlando. He says that San Francisco (and more specifically CIIS) would be the perfect place to do a Yoga PhD, and I agree. Shaw admits his idea is just a seed at the moment, and much is needed (support, funding, etc.) to make it grow. But I think we certainly have the interest and the minds here to make it happen here in San Francisco.

What do you think of a degree program in yoga? Would you attend?