Decolonizing Yoga

“…to truly combat cultural appropriation takes critical thinking.  You’ll need to consider some questions and ask yourself about appropriation, rather than look to an outside authority to determine answers for you. No one can speak for all of us.  There is no final rule book…While we may not be able to completely eradicate appropriation, we can learn more, do far better and do less harm, which is what we are doing with the project of learning more and not appropriate.  As we explore how to appropriate less, we need to keep close the ideas of progress, and not perfection, as well as harm reduction.” – Susanna Barkataki

Watch/listen in on the following videos on Decolonizing Yoga.

Book Rrecommendations

Embrace Yoga’s Roots: Courageous Ways to Deepen Your Practice by Susanna Barkataki and Sonali Fiske
Meditation with Intention: Quick & Easy Ways to Create Lasting Peace by Anusha Wijeyakumar MA

“It is unrealistic to believe that we will be happy and positive all of the time.  The human experience is to feel sadness, anger, jealousy, envy, guilt, shame, and the other emotions opposite of the positive ones, such as happiness, love, peace, contentment, and joy. The point of a mindfulness practice is not to force feelings of happiness or positivity all of the time, as that often makes us feel worse and is counterproductive as it does not deal with the root cause of why we are feeling these negative emotions in the first place.  We must examine our own pain through the lens of love and compassion.  It is our own inner pain and unhealed trauma that can end up making us so reactive.” -Anusha Wijeyakumar

“The practices of meditation and mindfulness enable us all to befriend ourselves on our journey through life, embracing the ups and downs so we actually begin to enjoy the ride. I know that in my own life the more I talk to myself as if I were talking to a good friend and practice more kindness, compassion, and less judgment toward myself, the more I am able to be this way authentically with others. I am still keeping it real and holding myself accountable, but I’m only doing that through the lens of self-love and self-compassion, which is a far better than the lens of judgment, criticism, and self-loathing!  Let’s be honest, it can often feel like we are living our lives with the judge on one shoulder, the critic on the other, and that constant state of worry in the middle.  No wonder we feel like we are merely going through the motions of our day, barely being able to enjoy much of it as we are trying to keep those three negative chatterboxes at bay.  Learning through mindfulness and meditation practices to let go of that inner judge, critic, and worrier has been a true game changer for me, beyond anything I could have ever imagined.  -Anusha Wijeyakumar