Foundations of Decolonizing Yoga: A Conversation and Training
Apr
5
10:30 AM10:30

Foundations of Decolonizing Yoga: A Conversation and Training

Day 1: April 5 from 10:30-2p ET | 7:30-11a PT | 3:30-7p GMT | 5:30-9p EET

Day 2: April 6 from 10:30-2p ET | 7:30-11a PT | 3:30-7p GMT | 5:30-9p EET

Full Investment is $60 for the 2-day training. We highly recommend attending both days to receive access to the replay.

Get a special offer now: When you sign up as a Patreon member, you receive a discount code for 50% off the ticketed event price. As a Patron, you can join us for this (or any) abcdyogi event for HALF OFF!

To receive the replay, attendees must be able to participate in at least 4 hours of the live training.

Capacity for this event is limited so be sure to reserve your spot ASAP!

Join Dr. Sheena Sood for Foundations of Decolonizing Yoga: A Conversation and Training and apply a critical lens to your relationship with Yoga. Rather than settle for the mere insertion of brown faces in yogic spaces, this Foundations training examines the origins of yoga, the weaponized tentacles of the practice, and how the colonial and imperial layers of yoga are infused in contemporary practices and spaces. 

This training disrupts the frameworks that equate decolonization with representation and identity politics and replaces it with an anti-oppressive and anti-imperial framework.

You will be guided to understand the significance of rooting the struggle to decolonize yoga through an ethics of social justice and collective liberation.

In this workshop, you will be invited to:

  1. Relate the framework of decolonization to your own ancestral lineage.

  2. Consider how orientalism, coloniality, caste-based supremacy and other structures of oppression are infused in contemporary yoga practices and spaces

  3. Contemplate how the decolonization of yoga is not simply about race/representation/identity; it is also about its weaponization by imperial and neoliberal structures

  4. Learn how to push back on homogenizing and & monolithic narratives of a cultural practice

  5. Learn how to integrate your yoga practice to movements that advance decolonial and and healing justice ethics

  6. Dialogue around examples of “colonized/weaponized yoga.”

  7. Build your capacity to thoughtfully engage in your daily practice.

  8. Develop a decolonized workshop series that’s tailored to your ancestry/community

 

You will be invited to co-create this learning space by building community agreements, participating in group work, engaging in reflective practices (such as meditation and journaling), learning through lecture and popular education activities, participating in embodied yoga practices, and interacting with other participants through breakout rooms and assignments.
Please sign up in advance to have ample time for all suggested pre-work.

ABOUT SHEENA:

Sheena Sood, PhD (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Delaware Valley University and a Philly-based scholar activist, yoga practitioner, and healing justice visionary. Sheena earned her basic and advanced yoga certifications at Kailash Tribal School in McLeodganj, India in 2011 and 2013. Her research “Omwashing Yoga,” examines how far-right ethnostates weaponize yoga to advance neoliberal, colonial, and supremacist agendas. Her work has appeared in Jadaliyya, Race & Yoga Journal, Al Jazeera, and anthologies such as The Yoga Teacher’s Survival Guide.




As her research and writings explore the Brahmanical caste supremacist, ethnonational and colonial layers of yoga and its weaponization by far-right ethnostates, Sheena’s offerings harness yoga’s potential for collective liberation. While curating offerings, such as her Decolonizing Yoga workshops, Sheena works to help participants recognize yoga’s oppressive and its liberatory potential as a tool for politicized healing. Sheena serves on the editorial board of Race & Yoga Journal; is a co-founder of Yogis for Palestine - a collective of yoga teachers and students, who strive to embody our practice by politicizing yoga toward action for Palestinian freedom and liberation; and is also the founder of Yoga Warrior Tales, an educational program that uses interactive, adventure-based narratives to teach kids yoga and mindfulness through a social justice lens.

View Event →
Finding Ashoka, Freedom From Grief Healing Through Ayurvedic Wisdom and Collective Care
Feb
27
3:00 PM15:00

Finding Ashoka, Freedom From Grief Healing Through Ayurvedic Wisdom and Collective Care

Thursday, February 27th from 12-2pm PT | 3-5pm ET

Shoka, grief in Sanskrit, is an experience we will all encounter in our lives at some point.

Join Ayurvedic practitioner, Anjali Deva, to explore GRIEF through an integrative lens, bridging Ayurvedic wisdom and lived experience. With each breath we take, our collective grief becomes more apparent. In this workshop, we will explore Ayurvedic tools, including food and herbs, to support healing while grieving; we will explore the role of community in healing and learn how we can better understand the often overwhelming grief process. This workshop is for anyone interested in learning how to support themselves or loved ones through grieving.

SPECIAL OFFER: Reserve now at 50% off by becoming a Patreon Member here.

Sliding Scale available. Use code “SLIDINGSCALE” to bring your investment down to $32.50

We will explore the following questions:

  • What is grief? How do the Doshas impact our physiology when we grieve?

  • How can we better care for ourselves during this time?

  • What practices can Ayurveda share with us about self-care during times of loss?

  • What foods will support me through the grieving process?

  • What herbal allies can I call on to support me? We will explore Ashoka, Tulsi, Ashwagandha, Rose, and California Poppy as herbal allies.

  • How does being in a supportive community enable our healing?

During this class, we will explore our herbal allies through a mindful tea-drinking practice. We encourage you to bring a warm tea to class. We recommend ‘Joyful Heart’ from Banyan Botanicals (use code ROOTED-RASA for 20% off) 

About Anjali Deva:

Anjali Deva is an Ayurvedic practitioner, educator, and writer from the mountains of Southern California. Her private practice, Rooted Rasa, specializes in an integrative and trauma-informed approach to Ayurveda. Anjali founded Mādhya Way, a school for Ayurveda.  She co-authored “From Stressed Out to Stress Wise,” published in July 2023. Her compassion-based approach helps alleviate anxiety, depression, PTSD, digestive disorders, and women’s health issues with a holistic framework.

Anjali has been greatly fortunate to have been introduced to Ayurveda and Yoga at a young age by her father and mentor, Arun Deva. Her clinical experience began at Hope Integrative Psychiatry overseen by Omid Naim, MD. Her familial lineage is rich with the desire to preserve and maintain these healing arts.

Driven by her aspiration to better understand the connection between food and mood, she has trained with Kerala Ayurveda Academy, Loyola Marymount’s Yoga and the Healing Sciences Program, and with various teachers both in the United States and India. Her strong passion for digestion and mental health provides others with a holistic approach to find their inner harmony and resilience for healing. Anjali is dedicated to sharing the Wisdom of Ayurveda for the benefit of all living beings. Learn more at rootedrasa.com  

View Event →
Movie Night: Garm Hava
Sep
12
8:00 PM20:00

Movie Night: Garm Hava

Thursday, September 12th, 2024

8:00 PM - 10:30 PM ET // 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM PT

Register here!

Join us as we watch the 1973 Partition drama, Garm Hava.

In post-partition India, a Muslim businessman and his family struggle for their rights in a country which was once their own.

We are asking attendees to make an optional sliding scale ($10-$50) donation to the Act!ion Aid India campaign to help end gender-based violence by providing immediate relief and rehabilitation support to survivors of gender-based violence.

Click the image for more information and to sign up

View Event →
Community Circle
Apr
29
5:15 PM17:15

Community Circle

Monday, April 29th 5:15pm PT / 8:15pm ET

Join the free monthly gathering for South Asian yoga & meditation practitioners to connect. Open for you to join whether or not you have taken over, and regardless of whether you teach!

The gathering begins with an opening practice led by a rotating teacher followed by a reflection question for the community to consider.

Submit reflection questions or anything you’d like to discuss to takeover@abcdyogi.com!

View Event →
Mar
14
12:00 PM12:00

Omwashing and Zionism: How Israelis Weaponize Yoga

A Yoga Teach-in for Palestine

Thursday, March 14th, 2024 | 3-5pm ET / 12-2pm PT

RESERVE NOW

Join yogis4palestine, featuring Sheena Sood, and Aniqa Anwar for this teach-in co-sponsored by abcdyogi, la la lil jidar, & race & yoga journal. Event art designed by Palestinian artist Qais Assali

Logo images for race & yoga journal (left), abcdyogi (right)

Flyer designed by Palestinian artist Qais Assali

Image description: An art piece with a red background depicting a person carrying a yoga mat and rifle on their back with the workshop title written in curved font around the image, date and time in the top corners, and sponsors in the bottom corners of the image.

This Yoga Teach-In calls on yoga teachers and practitioners to deepen their awareness of and solidarity with Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation and the genocide in Gaza by anchoring their yoga practice in a call for a ceasefire and an end to settler colonial apartheid. 

The part lecture/part workshop has a 3-fold purpose. Attendees can expect to: 

1) Deepen awareness of how Zionism and far-right military and law enforcement institutions -- including Hindu nationalist and caste supremacist ideologies -- around the globe weaponize yoga to advance ethnonational and colonial agendas against the Palestinian people;

2) Learn how yoga studios and practitioners, including those who call for “peace & love” and neutrality, are complicit in using yoga to normalize colonization and participate in spiritual bypassing; and 

3) Strategize on how yogis and yoga communities can take action and build long-haul resilience to interrupt Zionism and “omwashing;” and organize our yoga practice in solidarity with Palestinian resistance and freedom.

Registration is sliding scale $0 - $50 and 100% donation based. All proceeds will be directed to USCPR (US Campaign for Palestinian Rights).

Learn more about the facilitators and yogis4palestine

Sheena Sood

Sheena Sood, PhD (she/her) is a Philly-based activist, yoga practitioner, healing justice visionary and Assistant Professor of Sociology at Delaware Valley University. 

Image description: Sheena is kneeling, smiling, and wearing a keffiyeh beside a dog, who is also showing solidarity with Palestine!

Having first encountered the political weaponization of yoga during visits to McLeodganj, India while studying yoga at Kailash Tribal School, Sheena began her research on Omwashing Yoga: Weaponized Spirituality in India, Israel, and the US. This project examines the growing incorporation of yoga and mindfulness by far-right law enforcement, military, and vigilante groups -- and how they use yoga to advance ethnonational, colonial, and supremacist agendas. Her work has appeared in Jadaliyya, Race & Yoga Journal, Al Jazeera, and Colorlines.

As her research and writings explore the casteist and Hindu nationalist layers of yoga and its weaponization by the far-right, Sheena’s offerings harness yoga’s potential for collective healing. While curating offerings, such as her Decolonizing Yoga workshop or Wisdom of Avatar: The Last Airbender series, Sheena works to help participants recognize yoga’s oppressive layers and liberatory potential. Whether curating children's or adult yoga offerings, Sheena uses yoga as a medium for politicized healing. In 2021, she co-founded “Yogis for Palestine,” a collective that offers yoga in solidarity with Palestinian liberation. Sheena is also the founder of Yoga Warrior Tales, a program that uses interactive, adventure-based narratives to teach kids yoga and mindfulness through a social justice lens. Learn more at www.yogis4palestine.com, sheenashining.com, and yogawarriortales.com.

Aniqa Anwar

Aniqa is a Philly based yoga teacher and has been teaching since 2021, and practicing yoga for over a decade. She first met Sheena through her Decolonizing Yoga workshop and it sparked a vision for her of the liberatory potential of yoga. She is a co-collaborator on Yogis for Palestine, and envisions yoga as a powerful path for both, individual spiritual expansion, as well as expanding collective consciousness, particularly by harnessing the power of yoga in solidarity with collective liberation. Our yoga practice can help us turn towards towards global suffering with an engaged heart, and give us the tools to bear witness and take action.

Image description: Aniqa is standing against a white wall and smiling, wearing all black.

This event is also co-sponsored by Race & Yoga Journal. Read the journal here.

Flyer designed by Palestinian artist Qais Assali

Image description: An art piece with a black background depicting a person carrying a yoga mat and rifle on their back with the workshop details written in the borders and sponsors in the bottom corners.



View Event →

Receive News And Updates