Zoë Slatoff is excited to be the new Director of the Yoga Studies MA program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where she is also the Clinical Professor of Sanskrit. She is the author of “Yogāvatāraṇaṃ: The Translation of Yoga”—a Sanskrit textbook from which she teaches—that uses extracts from classical Yoga texts to integrate traditional and academic methods of learning the language.
Dr. Slatoff discovered yoga at the age of 15 and has been devoted to a daily practice ever since. She first traveled to Mysore, South India in 2000 to study with Śrī K. Pattabhi Jois, her main teacher, and R. Sharath Jois, where she also fell in love with Sanskrit. She returned almost annually to study yoga and Sanskrit, as well as some Hindustani singing, for many years. She began teaching yoga when she was 18 (back when there weren’t very many yoga teachers) and had a beautiful Ashtanga Yoga studio in her hometown of New York City for twelve years.
Dr. Slatoff has a PhD in Religion and Philosophy from Lancaster University, in the UK, and an MA and BA in Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University. A book version of her PhD dissertation will be published by Columbia University Press in summer 2027. It centers on a translation of the Aparokṣānubhūti, an early modern Advaita (non-dual) Vedānta text, which incorporates dualistic Yoga philosophy and practices, influencing the modern understanding of yoga.
Dr. Slatoff’s work centers around translations of Sanskrit texts on Yoga Philosophy in relation to Advaita Vedānta, Sāṃkhya, Jainism, and Buddhism. She is particularly interested in the connections between contemplative practices and ethical concerns, exploring how these impact our individual, reciprocal, and collective karma, and in turn, our responsibility toward ourselves, one another, and our world. You can read some of her articles here. She also serves as the co-chair of the Indian and Chinese Religions in Dialogue unit at the American Academy of Religion.
Dr. Slatoff has always worked to build bridges between Yoga scholars and practitioners. The Yoga Studies MA Program at LMU is the perfect place to continue this joyful work.
We invite you to join us in this spirit of inquiry, as beautifully articulated in this verse from the Aparokṣānubhūti:
नोत्पद्यते विना ज्ञानं विचारेणान्यसाधनैः ।
यथा पदार्थभानं हि प्रकाशेन विना क्वचित् ॥
notpadyate vinā jñānaṃ vicāreṇānyasādhanaiḥ |
yathā padārthabhānaṃ hi prakāśena vinā kvacit ||
Knowledge does not arise,
by other practices, without inquiry.
Just as there is no appearance of an object,
in a place without a light. || 11 ||