Wczesne informacje na temat jogi w wielkopolskich periodykach medycznych

Abstract

The first pieces of information about yoga in the Polish lands are associated with the figure of Witold Lutosławski and his work Rozwój potęgi woli [The development of the power of will] (1909). However, the information about yoga appeared slightly earlier in Poznań-based medical press. “Nowiny Lekarskie” – a periodical of the Medical Department of the Poznań Association of the Friends of Science, appeared since January 1889. It featured articles by Wacław Zaremba and Franciszek Chłapowski. In an article by Zaremba which was part of a series known as Pogląd na stan sztuki lekarskiej w Indjach starożytnych [The opinion about the state of the medical arts in ancient India] and which appeared in issue no. 8 published in 1890, mentioned yoga in reference to ayurveda, when it compared the medical methods and practices of the East and the West concerning the materia medica (the knowledge about the medical properties of substances). Chłapowski (Sen Yoga fakirów indyjskich, issue no. 3 published in 1895) described hypnosis as a therapeutical method, comparing it with the states of awareness attained by practising yogins.