The academic study of yoga is subtly at odds with its practical objectives. Intellectual gymnastics are clearly a block to the ultimate goal of transcending the mind. Although many scholars perform a great service—translating texts and explaining their history—this is largely detached from applying their teachings. Scholarship and practice are rarely combined. Even those who do both tend to highlight the former, while keeping the latter a private matter. It might inform their research, but not how they present it. They mainly write for each other, not yoga practitioners.