Embodied Emotional Regulation and Performative Presence: Kamasutra’s Nigraha (Control) as a Somaesthetic Framework for Understanding Stress and Agency in Tennis

Authors: Tulsi Mathur

Country: India

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Abstract: This paper presents a culturally situated framework for understanding emotional regulation in competitive tennis by foregrounding Nigraha—the concept of embodied control from the Kamasutra—as a somaesthetic practice of ethical self-mastery. Integrating Richard Shusterman’s somaesthetics, classical South Asian philosophical insights, and contemporary tennis psychology, the study reconceptualizes the athlete’s body as a performative site where stress and agency are negotiated through disciplined bodily presence. Challenging homogenized Western models of stress management, this research highlights how Nigraha cultivates a nuanced balance between raw affect and composed poise, transforming stress into an embodied aesthetic performance. The paper argues that this embodied self-regulation not only shapes athletic identity and agency but also enriches broader understandings of somatic knowledge and cultural specificity in sports performance.

Keywords: Athletic agency, embodied control, Kamasutra, Nigraha, somaesthetics, tennis psychology

Paper Id: 232516

Published On: 2025-05-27

Published In: Volume 13, Issue 3, May-June 2025

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