Episode 9: Yoga as a Philosophy of Integrity with Anjali Rao
Why do modern yoga spaces feel so in conflict with the path’s core principles? In this episode of the Liberating Yoga Podcast, Harpinder Kaur Mann is in conversation with yoga educator, author, and practitioner Anjali Rao. They discuss the absence of history and philosophy in yoga teacher trainings, the damage of unbridled power and privilege in yogic spaces, and all that is possible when we tap into the depth of yoga’s teachings.
WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:
Yoga as a teaching and practice of solace, connection to the past, and hope for the future
Why yoga teacher trainings need to include more teachings on history and the social, economic, and political contexts from which different yoga traditions emerged
How capitalism and patriarchy directly counter yogic concepts of Santosha (contentment), Ashrama (life stage), and Ahimsa (non-violence)
Understanding yoga as an embodiment practice of interconnectedness and integrity that goes way beyond the yoga mat
How South Asian yoga teachers can combat burnout amidst modern yoga culture
ABOUT anjali rao:
Anjali Rao is an author, yoga educator, and practitioner. She brings an intersectional and decolonial feminist lens to the study of philosophy and yoga history integrating storytelling, art and poetry. Emphasizing an embodied approach, her work interrogates the link between religions, politics and yoga. She is on the faculty of multiple yoga teacher training programs—her areas of specialization includes deconstructing the dynamics between caste, gender, nationalism and colonialism. She is the host of The Love of Yoga podcast bridging scholarship, activism and yoga. Anjali has served as the President of the Board of Directors of Accessible Yoga Association, a non-profit dedicated to ensuring accessibility and equity in yoga spaces to people of all backgrounds. Her forthcoming book, Yoga As Embodied Resistance: A Feminist Lens in Caste, Gender And Sacred Resilience in Yoga History, will be published by North Atlantic Books and is now available for pre-order.
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Website: Yoganjali.me
Instagram: @yoganjali
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Yoga teacher Harpinder Kaur Mann shows American yoga practitioners a path to reclaim yoga from appropriation and recenter the practice where it belongs.
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 marginalized yogis who wish to reconnect with ancestral spiritual practices and reclaim their full identity.