Blurb:

This chapter examines Acem’s philosophy and practice of yoga as taught by Acem School of Yoga (Norsk Yoga-skole). Acem was founded as a part of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement in 1966, but disagreements led to an organizational rupture in 1972. Acem’s discursive framing has changed significantly since the rupture with the TM movement. Maharishi was inspired by Advaita Vedānta philosophy and referred to the Vedas for legitimation; Acem promotes its activities as secular and scientifically based. This chapter argues that Acem represents a selective understanding of yoga that is typical of bodily practices on the move from their original context to a Western setting. Acem claims to transmit a “classical” version of yoga in line with Patañjali’s Yogasūtra, but free from the religious frames of reference found in the Indian tradition. At the same time, the organization implicitly builds upon other forms of modern postural yoga. There is a strong emphasis on personal growth and existential acknowledgment in Acem, which can be traced back to the existential philosophy and humanistic psychology of the 1970s, and which reflects “the therapeutic culture” that permeates contemporary Western societies. The result is an invented tradition labelled as “classical, meditative yoga,” which can be used as a point of departure for a secularized and individual-oriented spirituality.