Liberating Yoga

By Harpinder Kaur Mann (Author)

Liberating Yoga

Yoga teacher Harpinder Kaur Mann shows yoga practitioners a path to reclaim yoga from appropriation and recenter the practice where it belongs.

In the West, the practice of yoga comes to us stripped of cultural context. Colonized and appropriated by capitalism, dominant culture, fitness trends, and body shaming, yoga in America today is associated with expensive classes, trendy athleisure products, Corepower, Lululemon, and white women. However, yoga is not a one-hour fitness class aimed at stretching and flexibility. Yoga is a spiritual practice from South Asia with the ultimate goal of connection, self-realization, and liberation.

In Liberating Yoga, yoga teacher Harpinder Kaur Mann draws from her own perspective as a Sikh-Punjabi woman who was alienated by the way yoga is practiced in the United States but found her way toward reclaiming the spiritual practice for herself. Mann demonstrates that moving away from appropriated forms of yoga and back to yoga's roots is the only true path to healing--both for yoga practitioners who desire to engage responsibly in the practice with cultural appreciation, and especially for folks who have been marginalized who wish to reconnect with their ancestral spiritual practices and reclaim their full identity.

From Appropriation to Healing

Endorsements

  • "Honest, raw, and straightforward. In Liberating Yoga, Harpinder Kaur Mann motivates the sincere practitioner of Yoga to look beyond the conventional lens and take their yoga Journey forward by leaning into its roots, culture, and philosophy. She made a convincing point why context in yoga matters more than sterile and robotic techniques. Be ready to leave inspired, stirred, yet stilled."

    -Indu Arora, Author of SOMA: 100 Heritage Recipes for Self-Care, YOGA: Ancient Heritage Tomorrow's Vision, and MUDRA: The Sacred Secret

  • "Harpinder Kaur Mann writes with humility and grace, sharing complex topics on marginalization with great skill. She draws the reader in: her story is also my story. As a 1.5 generation Indian American, yoga therapist, and Ayurvedic doctor, I resonate with Harpinder's calling in of yoga as an inclusive, life-affirming, home-coming, transformative practice. I hear her stories of how Western yoga has commodified Indian cultures, and I appreciate her skillfulness in weaving narrative with theory to help us move forward with more love and liberation collectively. Thank you, Harpinder, for your magnificent contribution. May we heal legacies of generational and cultural trauma in our selves and our communities. Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu (May all beings in all the worlds be liberated)."

    -Vinita Prachi Murarka, Ayurvedic Doctor, Author, Visionary

  • "Liberating Yoga by Harpinder Kaur Mann is a deeply personal and thought-provoking exploration of yoga as a path to healing, self-acceptance, and cultural reclamation. What sets this book apart is its honest examination of modern yoga, which often exclude marginalized voices and overlook the full spectrum of yoga. Her writing invites readers to reimagine yoga beyond exercise, positioning it as a tool for personal and collective liberation. Harpinder's reflections encourage all of us to embrace our whole selves and engage in the practice of yoga as an act of inner transformation, community healing, and reconnection with ancestral wisdom. Whether you are a long-time practitioner or someone looking for more depth in your practice, Liberating Yoga is a timely and inspiring read."

    -Manoj Dias, Meditation Teacher author of Still Together

  • "Liberating Yoga is a bold, necessary offering for all who care about the integrity of yoga. Harpinder Kaur Mann weaves her intimate knowledge of yoga, Sikh heritage and personal journey with a deep respect for yoga's roots, reminding us that yoga is not just a practice--it's a path of connection, liberation, and healing. In a world where yoga has been commodified, she beautifully reclaims its authentic essence, showing us how to honor both its cultural and spiritual heritage with compassion and respect. This book is an essential read for those who wish to engage with yoga responsibly, while embracing its true purpose."

    -Susanna Barkataki, author of Ignite Your Yoga and Embrace Yoga's Roots

  • "A beautifully articulated and deeply insightful work by Harpinder, enriched with wisdom drawn from her life experiences. The book is both engaging and relatable, sure to inspire readers on their own journey of transformation."

    -Sri Prasad Rangnekar, Founder of Yogaprasad Institute

  • "Harpinder's pure heart and sense of devotion are evident in this honest telling of her spiritual journey. The reader is treated to a story written with such sincerity and generosity of spirit that you cannot help but read more. I am grateful this story is being shared with the world."

    -Reggie Hubbard, Founder and Chief Serving Officer, Active Peace LLC; Activist, Strategist and Teacher

  • "In Liberating Yoga, Harpinder offers insights, guidance, and clarity to trace a path to yoga free of modern day white-washed commercialization. From personal experience, the wisdom of those who came before, and the illuminating truths of the practice, Harpinder lovingly calls on every single reader to join the cause of redirecting yoga from a gimmicky fitness exercise to a holistic, contemplative discipline."

    -Tejal Patel, organizer of Tejal Yoga & abcdyogi, co-creator of Yoga is Dead

  • "Liberating Yoga exposes how the West has exploited yoga's sacred tree of knowledge, extracting only the limbs of postures and breathwork from its rich cultural soil, while ignoring the deep roots of ethics and wisdom that bear its medicinal fruit of liberation. Harpinder Kaur Mann emerges as a confident voice of a new generation of trauma-informed yoga activists, skillfully calling us in to face the shadow of the colonial mindset--not only to restore the integrity of the yoga tradition, but to allow it to heal the very source of our fragmented psyche and fractured society. This is timely medicine."

    -Dr. Miles Neale, Psy.D. Buddhist Psychotherapist and author of Gradual Awakening

  • "Liberating Yoga is an absolute joy. Mann's remarkable work sheds light on an ongoing and significant issue in the yoga industry: the appropriation of yoga culture and the creation of an exclusive practice that lacks adaptability and historical understanding. This book is an excellent resource for exploring how yoga can serve as a powerful tool for collective healing and care."

    -Dianne Bondy, RYT, Equity Advocate, and author of Yoga for Everyone

  • "Honest, revolutionary and brave...this book should be required reading for anyone practicing and teaching yoga. This book is a gift and shows us how we can be in right relationship with the practice of yoga."

    -Jonelle Lewis, Fitness + Yoga & Meditation Trainer, Co-Owner of Empowered Yoga Studio, Co-Founder of Radical Darshan Yoga School

  • "With every page, you can feel Harpinder's care and reverence for yoga. This book is a gentle yet powerful call to return to yoga's true essence--a gift for all who seek to practice with authenticity and love."

    -Zahabiyah Yamasaki, M.Ed, RYT, Trauma-Informed Educator and Consultant and Author of Trauma-Informed Yoga for Survivors of Sexual Assault: Practices for Healing and Teaching with Compassion

  • "With poise and clarity, Harpinder reveals how the yoga industry has both failed to take into account populations too often excluded from the banner of mainstream enlightenment and failed to consider the issues that impact South Asian practitioners. Throughout, she thoughtfully and deliberately takes mainstream yoga to task. Still, it is also an invitation. For every case in which she highlights problematic practices, she offers guidance on how to do better. My wish is for every non-South Asian who calls themselves a yoga practitioner (as I do) will read this book in a state of hushed and humble respect."

    -Charlotte Nguyen, Activist, Buddhist Teacher, and Founder of Get Free!

  • "It's one thing to research and write about liberation, it's another thing to embody it and vulnerably share it with the world. Harpinder is the perfect lighthouse for the message of Liberating Yoga during a very tumultuous time where we need yoga the most."

    -Indy Rishi Singh, Executive Director of Cultivating Self

  • "Right from the introduction of Liberating Yoga Harpinder Kaur Mann poetically reflects on what many of us who have chosen to practice yoga have experienced at some level- the paradox of how we relate to the modern phenomenon of translating yoga practice in the modern West. As a daughter of Indian immigrants, Harpinder gently and very personally calls all of us into contemplating how we can reconcile the split that exists between the cultural roots and traditional aims of yoga practice with the western commodification and cultural appropriation that so often obscures or distorts this vast tradition. She invites all of us who love yoga into an integrity and humility that opens new potentials of healing and belonging."

    -Dr. Scott Blossom, Founder of Doctor Blossom, Health Educator, and licensed practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and integrative Ayurveda

Liberating Yoga Book Launch Celebration

Join us for an evening filled with yoga, kirtan, and ecstatic dance at the Pieter Performance Space. Immerse yourself in the joy of movement, music, and community as we celebrate the release of this transformative book. See you there beloved being!

You can purchase your ticket here.

Liberating Yoga Podcast

Liberating Yoga Podcast

Hi! I’m Harpinder Kaur Mann, your host as well as trauma-informed yoga teacher and mindfulness educator for women of color and allies. I help students learn all aspects of yoga as a spiritual path as a pathway for powerful embodiment and healing. Together, we study diligently and with devotion in the efforts to bring forth clearer integration of our body-mind-spirit and be grounded in our faith and presence.

Welcome to Liberating Yoga, a space to explore yoga as a practice of healing, resistance, and deep connection. Here to dive into the roots of yoga, dismantle appropriation, and uplift practices that honor tradition while making yoga truly accessible.

All of these conversations were recorded two years ago as part of my research and interviews for my book, Liberating Yoga: From Appropriation to Healing. Now, I’m bringing them to you—unedited and in full—to continue the dialogue on how we can honor yoga’s past while shaping its future. Let’s move beyond the surface and into the heart of yoga. This is Liberating Yoga.

To fellow podcasters, if you want me to be a guest on your podcast, send me an email at harpinder@harpindermann.com.