Episodes

Join us for the captivating season finale of our podcast as Jivana interviews Anjali and they dive into a deep, transformative conversation.

sujatha baliga’s work is characterized by an equal dedication to crime survivors and people who’ve caused harm. A former victim advocate and public defender, baliga was awarded a Soros Justice Fellowship in 2008 which she used to launch a pre-charge restorative juvenile diversion program.

Tracee Stanley is the author of the bestselling book Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity and the forthcoming The Luminous Self: Sacred Yogic Practices & Rituals to Remember Who You Are (Oct 2023 by Shambhala Publications). Tracee is the founder of Empowered Life Circle, a sacred community and portal of practices, rituals, and Tantric teachings inspired by more than 25 years of studentship in Sri Vidya Tantra and the teachings of the Himalayan Masters. As a post-lineage teacher, Tracee is devoted to sharing the wisdom of yoga nidra, rest, meditation, self-inquiry, nature as a teacher, and ancestor reverence. 

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.

Leila Hegazy is an Egyptian-Italian-American singer-songwriter, social media creator, teacher, and activist in New York City. Using music to advocate for Palestine is one of her passions, and her adaptations of popular songs aim to help those in the pro-Palestine movement feel seen, as they battle the absurdity of the occupation and Western propaganda. Leila is currently working on a protest album for Palestine and plans to donate the proceeds to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. She is also in the process of recording her next project with her twin sister duo, HEGAZY.

Are there women and non binary practitioners and teachers in yoga history? And if they are a part of yoga history, why dont we know of them? And if they are not a part of history, why not?

In this episode celebrating Women’s History Month, Anjali shares the complex history of women, femme and gender expansive folks in yoga history.

Erica Woodland (he/him) is a facilitator, consultant, psychotherapist and healing justice practitioner with more than 20 years of experience working at the intersections of movements for racial, gender, economic, trans & queer justice. Erica is a co-editor of the anthology ‘Healing Justice Lineages: Dreaming at the Crossroads of Liberation, Collective Care and Safety’ (North Atlantic Books, 2023) & Founder/Executive Director of the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network (NQTTCN.com).

Fariha Róisín is a multidisciplinary artist, a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, who is interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. Her work has pioneered a refreshing and renewed conversation about wellness, contemporary Islam, and queer identities and has appeared in The New York Times, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Vice, Village Voice, and others. 

Deepa Iyer is a South Asian American writer, strategist, and lawyer. Her work is rooted in Asian American, South Asian, Muslim, and Arab communities where she spent fifteen years in policy advocacy and coalition building in the wake of the September 11th attacks and ensuing backlash. Currently, Deepa leads projects on solidarity and social movements at the Building Movement Project, a national nonprofit. She has written two books, We Too Sing America and Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection. Her first children’s picture book, We Are The Builders, will be released in the fall of 2024.

In the last episode of 2023, Anjali shares about 5 lessons from the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita: 

• The power and the essentiality of an intentional pause

• Talk to a friend/Listen to a friend: Connection and relationships are important for collective liberation

• Asking questions is important for skillful action

• Finding the Center doesn't mean neutrality

• Staying engaged in the seeking of your role. The seeking is the practice

She also shares a brief background of Mahabharata and the Gita, the relevance of the first chapter during these times, and an invitation for reflection from five lessons from the First chapter. 

Tai Salih (she/her) E-RYT® 500, YACEP®, came to Canada as a refugee in her youth. Today she is the Founder of the Red Ma'at Collective and is currently working towards her designation in Psychotherapy. Her dedicated passion to heal through her own traumas has guided her desire to do more for and within the community. Tai's approach encompasses a compassionate and intersectional lens that is geared towards uplifting and empowering BI&WoC/gender-expansive folx. Tai is an intersectional feminist, who believes in uplift and empowering women/gender-expansive folx through intersectional wellness, therapeutic yoga, and education on trauma healing to build resiliency and autonomy.

Tina Strawn (she/they) is a joy and liberation advocate, racial and social justice activist, author of "Are We Free Yet? The Black, Queer Guide to Divorcing America." Tina is also the owner and host of the Speaking of Racism podcast and she is the co-founder of Here4TheKids and abolitionist movement to ban guns and fossil fuels. The heart of Tina's work is founding and leading Legacy Trips, immersive, 3-day antiracism weekends where participants visit historical locations such as Montgomery and Selma, AL, and utilize spiritual practices and other mindfulness based resources as tools to affect personal and collective change.

Rodrigo Souza (he/him) is an Adaptive & Accessible Yoga teacher with experience in teaching yoga to folks who have gone through Trauma & Disability. He sustained a spinal cord injury after a fall accident. Through direct personal experience with traumatic injury and chronic pain he took charge of his recovery and decided to optimize his long-term well-being by deepening his yoga practice. 

In this week's episode with Dr. Padma Kaimal, someone who has researched and published about a very specific subject in history, the stories behind the 10th century Tantra Yogini sculptures of South India.

Dr. Padma Kaimal’s book, Scattered Goddesses, traces the journeys of 10th century Tantra Kanchi Yoginis, their birth homes in ancient South India, through colonization to their present homes in twelve separate museums in North America, Western Europe, and South India.

Dr. Tria Blu Wakpa is a scholar and practitioner of Indigenous contemporary dance, North American Hand Talk (Indigenous sign language), martial arts, and yoga. Professor Blu Wakpa has taught a wide range of interdisciplinary and community-engaged courses at public, private, tribal, and carceral institutions.

In 2020, she was the first Assistant Professor at UCLA to receive a Chancellor’s Award for Community-Engaged Scholars. Professor Blu Wakpa is a co-founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Race and Yoga, the first peer-reviewed journal in the emerging field of Critical Yoga studies. It examines issues surrounding the history, racialization, sex(ualization), and inclusivity (or lack thereof) of the yoga community. The journal features research-based articles, editorials, and reviews of books, films, and art exhibits.

What does it mean to be in right relationship to the practices and teachings of yoga as a white-bodied yoga practitioner? What does it mean to teach and offer these practices when we ourselves have no direct ties to this ancient spiritual lineage?

This is some of what Tristan and guest Emily Dalsfoist discuss in this winding conversation about privilege, yoga, solidarity, parenting, and so much more.

Emily (she/her) is a mother, trauma sensitive yoga teacher, and musician based on the land of the Cowlitz & Clackamas Peoples. Emily has sought to integrate her connection to nature with her teachings and she brings the teachings of Yoga into her role as a parent.

Riss is a storyteller, communications and marketing specialist, joyful movement enthusiast, and future skeleton living on land stolen from Peoria, Anishinabewaki, and Waawiyatanong peoples, now known as Detroit-ish, Michigan. In the digital management realm, Riss works to support folks in confidently communicating their ideas and aspirations on a grand scale, visually, verbally, and creatively through inclusive and diverse content creation and marketing management strategies. In the movement and wellness space, Riss assists those who do not typically ‘fit the mold’ find joy in moving their bodies, by reminding them that movement does not have to be spooky. With specific interest and focus on supporting larger-bodied, queer, trans, neurodivergent, and disabled populations, Riss believes in people over power and patriarchy, in building relationships rather than transactions, in inclusion, accessibility, mental health and collective liberation, and they believe, whole-heartedly, in authenticity, amplifying marginalized voices, and creating kick-ass supportive communities. 

In so many yoga spaces and in the wellness world in general, we talk a lot about embodiment. But what does it actually mean to “be embodied”?

Terra Lyn Anderson has devoted their life to being a conduit for the healing connection between body and mind for both individuals and the collective. While pursuing their graduate degree in Somatic Counseling Psychology at Naropa University, Terra began to envision what the healing potential of embodiment would look like on a large societal scale, with people aware and empowered by both thought and feeling, attuned to one another, in love with and trusting of their own bodies, and able to consciously and intentionally regulate their nervous systems. Inspired by the vision of an embodied, empowered and connected society, Terra directed their focus to studying the physical impact and healing of oppression trauma. They pursued supplemental trainings in social power differentials, racial justice, intersectionality, embodied sexuality, gender diversity, and organizational transformation. Terra believes that social justice is inherently tied to the body, as is oppression and trauma. Their unique approach to healing, education and activism is characterized by a commitment to empowering the relationship between body and mind.

In this episode, Michelle joins Tristan Katz as Tristan begins a summer podcast takeover for Anjali Rao!

Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an activist, social justice warrior, author, anti-racism consultant and trainer, intuitive healer, and yoga teacher and practitioner. She has led dismantling racism work in many settings for over two decades and has a background and two decades of practice as a clinical social worker. Michelle’s work centers on healing from individual and collective trauma, coming back into wholeness, and aligning the mind, body, spirit, and heart.

As she transitions into a brief summer hiatus, in this episode Anjali:

• Revisits the vision and intention of the podcast, and reflects on the past 6 episodes

• Weaves together the different threads of the teachings of Yoga

• Illuminates Yoga's the connection to social change

• Discusses creating avenues of connection to Yoga scholars

• Introduces the new guest host for the summer podcast episodes

Saira Rao is an activist, producer of the provocative documentary, Deconstructing Karen, co- author of White Women: Everything You Already Know about Your Own Racism and How to Do Better, and host of radically honest conversations at Race2Dinner. Since our last conversation on this podcast, Saira has embarked on a new movement effort, called Here 4 the Kids, to push “unexplored and unprecedented action to end gun violence”.

This conversation with Dr. Sravana Borkataky Varma demystifies Tantra. Sravana is a historian, educator and social entrepreneur, currently working as a Lecturer at Harvard University and at University of North Carolina-Wilmington, where she teaches introductory courses on World Religion and higher level courses on Hinduism, Buddhism, Religion and Film and the History of Yoga. She is also the co-founder of the non-profit, Lumen Tree Portal. Sravana invests in building communities with individuals from various faith backgrounds who believe in kindness, compassion and fulfillment.

The Dalai Lama is a symbol of hope and peace for millions of people all over the world, and has given the world much, so generously for decades. The world saw an edited clip of the Dalai Lama and a child that went viral a few weeks ago. Many non-Tibetans were numb, outraged, shocked and dismayed at an interaction that brought up much discomfort based on personal and collective history of harm and abuse by religious leaders and Yoga teachers who have misused and abused their power.

Born and raised in rural India, Prachi Patankar 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, Prachi has been involved in innovative projects to link social justice movements between the United States and the Global South.

rüdrāksh chand is an organizer, anti-carceral practitioner of abolition, lifelong student of Yoga, an artist at large.

Tristan Katz is a trans-queer equity inclusion facilitator and consultant/teacher/space holder, and creator of courses on Conscious Marketing. They are also on the Board of Accessible Yoga and are working on their first book!

Indu Arora is a Yoga and Ayurveda teacher, mentor, and author, based out of the USA. She considers herself a student for a lifetime. Indu has been sharing about Yoga philosophy, Yoga Therapy, and Ayurveda for the last two decades across more than 50 cities worldwide. Her unique gift is making Yoga and Ayurveda a practice, which is equally useful and accessible for a beginner as for a sincere seeker who has made Yoga a lifelong journey. She is inspired by and taught under Kriya Yoga, Himalayan Yoga and Kashmir Shaivism Yoga lineages. She has studied in a traditional Guru-Shishya parampara. 

Residing at the intersection of leadership and mindfulness, Shawn creates sacred spaces for stillness and self-inquiry to help changemakers align their strengths, intention, and impact. Reckoning with his own contemplation of burnout, purpose, and alignment from a career in higher education and student affairs for over 10 years, Shawn transitioned out of his role as Associate Dean of Student Life & Leadership at Morehouse College in the fall of 2021 to focus more on mindfulness and stillness-based training programs and workshops.

Ash Williams is an anti-carceral and reproductive justice organizer. He received his BA in Philosophy from UNC Charlotte in 2015 and his MA in Ethics and Applied Philosophy from UNC Charlotte in 2016. For the last five years, Ash has been vigorously fighting to expand abortion access by funding abortions and training other people to become abortion doulas.

Chemi Lhamo is a community organizer and a human rights activist. She served as the Community Health Lead at Parkdale People’s Economy and on the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust’s board. She is recognized in Maclean’s Top 50 Power List and as the Toronto Urban Hero for Social Issues for 2022. Formerly the CEO/President among many other roles at the University of Toronto Scarborough Student’s Union, she has served the board of Canadian Tibetan Association of Ontario and Students For a Free Tibet Canada.

Thenmozhi Soundararajan is a Dalit Civil rights artist, organizer, and theorist who has worked with hundreds of organizations to better understand the urgent issues of racial, caste, and gender equity. Working across disciplines she is an innovative strategist and thinker that has built bridges between many communities around the world.

Through her work at Equality Labs, Thenmozhi has mobilized the South Asian American community to confront their historical trauma and to break the silence about caste, and to commit to ending caste apartheid, gender-based violence, white supremacy, and religious intolerance. Thenmozhi previously co-founded Third World Majority, an international media training organization and collective that supported people from disenfranchised