Fridays, February 9 - March 15, 2024 | 12:30-2:30PM PST
Registration is now closed.
This twelve hour course demystifies the dynamics and manifestations of power in yoga with an emphasis on caste, religion and race, delving into embodied anti-oppression as an ongoing liberatory practice. The lectures and discussions offer insight into developments that shaped Yoga, the history of movements such as ethno-nationalism, anti-colonialism and place them in context to the times we live in. We will discuss the imperative to study, dismantle fundamentalism, racism and Brahminism in context to Yoga. The course is for BIPOC only and aims to be an intimate, committed space where we build a dedicated community of practitioners who are deeply interested in discerning and shifting the narratives of mainstream Yoga.
In this course, you will:
Learn about the early history of Yoga, and the development of caste
Understand the complex relationships between Yoga and religion, specifically Hinduism
Explore how caste manifests in modern Yoga spaces
Embody anti-oppression as a liberatory practice.
Study the history of ethno-nationalism and discern how Yoga interplays with Dominant cultures.
Be a part of an intentional and radical community of yoga practitioners.
All sessions will be recorded and made available for 8 weeks after each session.
“As a non-South Asian, I learned so much about the current and past socio-political history of the region. I am beyond grateful for the privilege of widening my world view. Although the content was often upsetting or activating in nature, the energy of the space was nurturing and supportive. Anjali effortlessly embodies and invites authenticity. If you care to expand not only your knowledge, but also your capacity to grieve and practice compassion, I highly recommend studying with Anjali Rao.”
“I’m so grateful to Anjali for creating a space for these crucial explorations around caste, religion, and the history and origins of yoga. Being guided through this course truly allowed me to take a closer look at my clouded perception and discomfort, which is rare in my experience in yoga spaces in the West. Her facilitation style and how she holds space for everyone to have their own experience is unparalleled. I highly recommend this course for anyone seeking to understand the depths of yoga beyond choreographed movement classes. ”
Sliding Scale:
$150 Community Rate (discounted)
$175 Sustainer Rate (pays for you)
$200 Supporter Rate (supports others as well as yourself)
Please contact Anjali directly at anjaliraoyoga@gmail.com if you need a payment plan or pay-what-you-can option.
Facilitator Bios
Anjali Rao (she/her)
Anjali is a yoga educator offering a multi disciplinary approach, integrating yoga philosophy and history, with storytelling, imagery and poetry. She brings critical insight into the Yoga stories and histories that have been obscured by Brahminism, heteropatriarchy and colonization . She is the host of The Love of Yoga podcast and serves as the President of the Board of Directors of Accessible Yoga.
Michelle Cassandra Johnson (she/her)
Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an author, activist, spiritual teacher and practitioner, racial equity consultant and trainer, and intuitive healer. She approaches her life and work from a place of knowing we are, can, and must heal individually and collectively. Michelle teaches workshops and immersions and leads retreats and transformative experiences nationwide. As a dismantling racism educator, she has worked with large corporations, non-profits, and community groups. Michelle was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019 and has been interviewed on several podcasts in which she explores the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with embodied approaches to racial equity work, creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Michelle published the first edition of Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World in 2017; and the 2nd edition of Skill in Action in November 2021, published by Shambhala Publications. Her second book,Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief, was published by Shambhala Publications in 2021. Her third book, We Heal Together: Rituals and Practice for Building Community and Connection, published by Shambhala Publications, explores the deep knowing and truth that we are interconnected; we belong to one another. We Heal Together offers rituals and practices meant to dream us into a new way of being to benefit the highest and fullest good. Her latest book, A Space For Us: A Guide For Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups, was published by Beacon Press in August 2023.
Michelle leads courageously from the heart with compassion and a commitment to address the heartbreak dominant culture causes for many because of the harm it creates. She inspires change that allows people to stand in their humanity and wholeness in a world that fragments most of us.
Prachi Patankar (she/her)
anti-caste, feminist activist and writer
Born and raised in rural India, Prachi was raised by a freedom-fighter grandmother and parents deeply involved in anti-caste, feminist, and peasant movements. Over two decades in New York City, she has been an activist, educator, grantmaker, and writer involved in social movements which link the local and the global, police brutality and war, migration and militarization, race and caste, women of color feminism and global gender justice.
Through her work with organizations such as Afghan Women’s Mission, CAAAV and Palestine Education Project, Prachi has been involved in innovative projects to link social justice movements between the United States and the Global South. Prachi believes in the vital power of intersectional and international visions and strategies, which resonate across Dalit rights and Black lives, migrant justice and gender justice, to build bottom-up change from the local to the global.
rüdrāksh chand (they)
rüdrāksh is an anti-carceral practitioner of yoga and abolition, a community organizer, and a reluctant yoga teacher.