Sacred Feminine Wisdom of Yoginis, Sadhakas, and Female Sages

Rediscovering Yoga’s Overlooked Feminine Voices

This lecture brings to light the women who shaped yoga’s philosophical, devotional, and practical traditions—from ancient debate halls to the quiet, generational passing of wisdom.

Drawing on my doctoral research in Sanskrit and Tamil sources, I will explore three distinct expressions of feminine spiritual engagement:

• • Philosophical Pioneers – figures such as Gārgī and Sulabhā, who engaged in direct inquiry and debate

• • Wisdom-Keepers – women like Maitreyī, Lallā, and Bahinabai, whose lives wove together practice, poetry, and daily responsibilities

• • First Teachers – including Goṇikā (Patañjali’s mother), who transmitted knowledge through maternal and familial lineages

Through considering primary texts—ranging from the Upaniṣads to medieval devotional works—we will see how women were recognized as Yoginīs, Brahmavādinīs, and Ṛṣikās, and why their presence gradually receded from mainstream narratives.

Why It Matters for Us Today

Recovering these voices matters because they show us:

• • How spiritual discipline and daily life can be lived together

• • That embodied experience is not separate from wisdom, but part of it

• • That teaching and transmission can take many forms

• • That yoga’s tradition has always been broader and richer than often assumed

About Dr. Agi Wittich

I bring three perspectives to this exploration: my years of practice as a dedicated Iyengar yoga teacher, two decades of teaching experience, and my academic training as a scholar of yoga, Hinduism and Gender. This combination allows me to present rigorous scholarship in a way that speaks directly to practitioners and teachers.

My aim is to honor the integrity of these ancient sources while showing their relevance for us today—so that the wisdom of the feminine in yoga is not left in the margins, but brought back into our shared practice and understanding.