{"id":1219,"date":"2026-07-24T10:15:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T10:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/blog\/press-coverage\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T10:15:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T10:15:01","slug":"press-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Press: the \u201cYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism\u201d Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A
A still from the video project: the \u201cEnergy of the Body\u201d episode<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two online publications have written about my video project. I’m glad the journalists picked up on the main point: this isn’t yet another \u201copen your chakras\u201d course, it’s an attempt to explain ancient practices in the language of physics and physiology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the project is<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The format is simple. I read chapters of my book \u201cYoga vs Qigong: Basic Techniques\u201d aloud and comment as I go: where a particular idea came from and what’s behind it in terms of biomechanics, respiratory physiology and the nervous system. Meanwhile the screen shows the book’s pages, diagrams and charts, so you can pause and take a closer look. And if you don’t have time to watch, an episode works just as well as a podcast, in the car or on a walk. Each episode runs about forty minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first topics: what \u201cprana\u201d and \u201cqi\u201d actually refer to, why it’s better to breathe slower and less often, where mitochondria come into it, and whether breathing practice can help protect your lower back from disc herniation. Coming up next: a close look at slouching, how meditation changes the brain, the physics of stress, and the biomechanics of basic qigong and yoga routines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why \u201cwithout esotericism\u201d? I’m a physicist by training, a graduate of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), and I’ve been practicing and teaching for more than twenty years. Over that time I’ve become convinced that almost everything old texts describe in terms of energies and channels can be explained by ordinary physiology. That doesn’t make practice any less interesting. Quite the opposite: you start to understand why you do things exactly this way. You can read more about my path on the About the Author<\/a> page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publications (in Russian)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Era Zdorovya (Health Age): \u201cA Scientist Explains Yoga and Qigong from the Standpoint of Modern Physics and Physiology\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/healthage.ru\/novosti\/jogu-i-czigun\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moi Goda: \u201cMIPT Physicist Launches a Video Project Offering a Scientific Breakdown of Yoga and Qigong Principles\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/moi-goda.ru\/busnews\/fizik-iz-mfti-zapustil-videoproekt-s-nauchnim-razborom-printsipov-yogi-i-tsigun<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project started on the book’s Russian-language website, yoga-vs-qigong.ru<\/a>. For readers outside Russia, the book is available in English, Bulgarian and Russian, as a PDF and as an audiobook, on the \u201cYoga vs Qigong: Basic Techniques\u201d<\/a> page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two online publications have written about my video project. I’m glad the journalists picked up on the main point: this isn’t yet another \u201copen your chakras\u201d course, it’s an attempt to explain ancient practices in the language of physics and physiology. What the project is The format is simple. I read chapters of my book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-notes"],"yoast_head":"\nYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism: Press Coverage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Press coverage of Anatoly Yasinsky\u2019s video project \u201cYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism\u201d: his book \u201cYoga vs Qigong\u201d through physics and physiology.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yoga and Qigong Without Esotericism: Press Coverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Press coverage of Anatoly Yasinsky\u2019s video project \u201cYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism\u201d: his book \u201cYoga vs Qigong\u201d through physics and physiology.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Yoga vs Qigong\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-24T10:15:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-66-screenshot-2026-06-24-027-1024x647-1.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"647\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"apyasinsky\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"apyasinsky\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"apyasinsky\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/989a089fe6c51754de2d8e60f1ccf285\"},\"headline\":\"In the Press: the \u201cYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism\u201d Project\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-24T10:15:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":406,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/blog-66-screenshot-2026-06-24-027-1024x647-1.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Notes\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/\",\"name\":\"Yoga and Qigong Without Esotericism: Press Coverage\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/blog-66-screenshot-2026-06-24-027-1024x647-1.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-24T10:15:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/989a089fe6c51754de2d8e60f1ccf285\"},\"description\":\"Press coverage of Anatoly Yasinsky\u2019s video project \u201cYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism\u201d: his book \u201cYoga vs Qigong\u201d through physics and physiology.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/blog-66-screenshot-2026-06-24-027-1024x647-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/blog-66-screenshot-2026-06-24-027-1024x647-1.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":647},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/press-coverage\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/home\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In the Press: the \u201cYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism\u201d Project\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Yoga vs Qigong\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/989a089fe6c51754de2d8e60f1ccf285\",\"name\":\"apyasinsky\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/77da34232f793058b63bd0439339e72937640e587c50ec9f81be4b205910e8f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/77da34232f793058b63bd0439339e72937640e587c50ec9f81be4b205910e8f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/77da34232f793058b63bd0439339e72937640e587c50ec9f81be4b205910e8f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"apyasinsky\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/apyasinsky\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Yoga and Qigong Without Esotericism: Press Coverage","description":"Press coverage of Anatoly Yasinsky\u2019s video project \u201cYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism\u201d: his book \u201cYoga vs Qigong\u201d through physics and physiology.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Yoga and Qigong Without Esotericism: Press Coverage","og_description":"Press coverage of Anatoly Yasinsky\u2019s video project \u201cYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism\u201d: his book \u201cYoga vs Qigong\u201d through physics and physiology.","og_url":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/","og_site_name":"Yoga vs Qigong","article_published_time":"2026-07-24T10:15:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":647,"url":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-66-screenshot-2026-06-24-027-1024x647-1.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"apyasinsky","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"apyasinsky","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/"},"author":{"name":"apyasinsky","@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/989a089fe6c51754de2d8e60f1ccf285"},"headline":"In the Press: the \u201cYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism\u201d Project","datePublished":"2026-07-24T10:15:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/"},"wordCount":406,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-66-screenshot-2026-06-24-027-1024x647-1.webp","articleSection":["Notes"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/","url":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/","name":"Yoga and Qigong Without Esotericism: Press Coverage","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-66-screenshot-2026-06-24-027-1024x647-1.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-24T10:15:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/989a089fe6c51754de2d8e60f1ccf285"},"description":"Press coverage of Anatoly Yasinsky\u2019s video project \u201cYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism\u201d: his book \u201cYoga vs Qigong\u201d through physics and physiology.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-66-screenshot-2026-06-24-027-1024x647-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-66-screenshot-2026-06-24-027-1024x647-1.webp","width":1024,"height":647},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/press-coverage\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In the Press: the \u201cYoga and Qigong Without Esotericism\u201d Project"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/","name":"Yoga vs Qigong","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/989a089fe6c51754de2d8e60f1ccf285","name":"apyasinsky","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77da34232f793058b63bd0439339e72937640e587c50ec9f81be4b205910e8f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77da34232f793058b63bd0439339e72937640e587c50ec9f81be4b205910e8f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/77da34232f793058b63bd0439339e72937640e587c50ec9f81be4b205910e8f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"apyasinsky"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com"],"url":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/author\/apyasinsky\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}