Blog
The Sprouts from “Embrace Yoga’s Roots”
We have finished our journey with “Embrace Yoga’s Roots” by Susanna Barkataki, but the work has just begun. What will sprout from the roots of yoga for you?
Liberation!
Chapter VI in Embrace Yoga’s Roots gives us the actionable steps toward the liberation that yoga promises. The ethical foundations of Yama and Niyama are the root of all action – on or off the mat…in the studio and beyond.
Listen, Lift Up, Take Action
Chapter V in Embrace Yoga’s Roots begins to give us tools and suggestions to reconnect in our yoga spaces and communities. We must acknowledge that we do not live in a vacuum and that it takes creativity to stay integrated and involved.
Leaning into Reconnection
Chapter V in “Embrace Yoga’s Roots” starts to give us a pathway to reconnection. Knowing and acknowledging where we have separated from the roots of yoga is only the first step, and individual growth is just the beginning.
Accomplice over Ally – Equity over Diversity
In sections 3 and 4 of Chapter IV in Embrace Yoga’s Roots, we look at clarity of terms and roles we play within our yoga communities and beyond. How Iyengar Yoga as a traditional approach intersects with the social realities of Western Yoga is quite fascinating and something to reflect more upon.
Power and Privilege in Yoga
The first two parts of Chapter IV in Embrace Yoga’s Roots have us reflecting on how power and privilege show up in our Western Yoga spaces.
Western Yoga “Norms”
Finishing Chapter III in Embrace Yoga’s Roots makes us look at how systemic oppression has made its mark on Western Yoga communities, and asks us to consider how we might “do a better job of practicing inclusion and representation” within our yoga communities.
Appropriation, Sterilization, and Trauma in Yoga
Parts 2 and 3 in Chapter III of Embrace Yoga’s Roots helps us confront some of the appropriation, sterilization, and trauma associated with Western white dominant culture taking on (and over) the practice of yoga.
