Appropriating Yoga as Their Own

Properties of Mediated Action within Two Nordic Majority Churches

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.159795

Keywords:

cultural appropriation, mediated action, Wertsch, Bakhtin, yoga, self-spirituality, majority churches

Abstract

Cultural appropriation has recently become a central topic in discussions regarding majority churches’ adoption of ‘Eastern’ spiritual practices. This article employs a Vygotskian-Bakhtinian perspective on appropriation as developed by James Wertsch (1998) to examine the research question, how have the Danish and Norwegian majority churches made yoga their own, and how is yoga preserved as something that also belongs to someone else? The data consist of two types of sources: ten field visits conducted between January and November 2023; and a qualitative survey distributed in January 2024, with fifteen submissions from Norwegian respondents and sixteen from Danish respondents. The analysis reveals that 1) the churches’ primary objectives play a crucial role in how yoga is incorporated in existing practices such as church services; 2) Christian concepts do not entirely replace historically attributed yoga expressions; and 3) the God-centrism of church yoga is well aligned with the prevailing holistic doctrine of self-spirituality. Based on our findings, we conclude that the majority churches in Norway and Denmark have appropriated yoga as part of their own theological tradition, introducing two novel concepts: linguistic domestication; and material domestication.

Author Biographies

  • Elisabeth Tveito Johnsen, University of Oslo

    is Professor in Practical Theology, Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo, Norway. 

  • Kirstine Helboe Johansen, Aarhus University

    is Associate Professor in Practical Theology, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Denmark.

  • Kristin Graff-Kallevåg, MF School of Theology, Religion and Society

    is Associate Professor in Systematic Theology and Religious Education, MF School of Theology, Religion and Society, Norway.

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Published

2025-12-16

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Vol. 61 No. 2 (2025): Temenos - Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion

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Copyright (c) 2025 Elisabeth Tveito Johnsen, Kirstine Helboe Johansen, Kristin Graff-Kallevåg

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How to Cite

Johnsen, E., Johansen, K. H., & Graff-Kallevåg, K. (2025). Appropriating Yoga as Their Own: Properties of Mediated Action within Two Nordic Majority Churches. Temenos - Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion, 61(2), 227-249. https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.159795