ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 compares two forms of playing we-identity, the gliding body of (Norwegian) skiing and the sitting body of (Indian) yoga. Skiing and yoga show complex connections between “ancient roots” and modern transformations of cultural identity. They cast light on how religion can be built on the basis of bodily play and exercise. When gliding on skis or sitting and breathing in yoga, deep play appears as a basis on which people have built quasi-religious identities of their collective “we.” Can we understand religion as high play?
