Contemporary forms of yoga and meditation, New Age-inspired practices, and alternative medicine share a conception of the body and mind as composed of “energy.” It depicts the soul, spirit, or consciousness as a form that adepts of spiritual practices can learn to “see” and “feel.” Further, the subtle body (or bodies) is viewed as permeated by subtle energy – usually referred to by Indian terms such as prana or kundalini, alternatively by the Chinese term ch’i or the Japanese ki. Sometimes theosophical concepts such as “aura” and “astral body” are used, and sometimes practitioners just refer to “the energy.” This dissertation is a study of essential influences behind the contemporary (Swedish) interpretations of such concepts (commonly referred to as “subtle-corporeal”) as well as experiences related to them.

Through an online survey with 811 Swedish yoga and meditation practitioners (conducted 2017–2019), the prevalence of subtle-corporeal concepts (i.e., prana, kundalini, ki, chakras, nadis, and aura) was examined. It showed that 99.5% of the respondents were familiar with at least one of the concepts and that 61.7% thought they had had a personal experience of subtle energy or subtle anatomy.

Furthermore, 20 interviews were conducted with practitioners recruited through the survey. Integrating the History of Religion, Cognitive Science of Religion, Embodied Cognition, and Metaphor Analysis, the interview analysis shows how subtle-corporeal concepts (and related cognitive schemas) are linked to “special personal experiences” in connection with yoga/meditation practices. It also examines which role metaphors and image schemas play in embodied cognition of subtle energy and subtle anatomy.

It is concluded that subtle-corporeal schemas have three crucial functions for yoga and meditation practicing Swedes: 1) it constitutes a “diagnostic instrument” or “language” through which practitioners can decipher, understand and mediate personal experiences; 2) it functions as “an embodied tool” through which experiences can be generated to deepen one’s knowledge of the world and the self – or in a search for new types of experiences, and 3) it is used as a “conceptual anchor” through which embodied experiences are given a broader meaning in a life-narrative.