abcdyogi is a hub for healing, learning and growth through the power of community.
learn MORE about abcdyogi
Our Purpose
Our purpose is to create an inclusive community that facilitates healing through storytelling, conversation, performance, art, song, dance, writing, and retreat. We offer courses, workshops, and classes for all yoga students from a place of authentic connection and cultural context.
About Us
abcdyogi is a global community for
South Asian teachers committed to decolonizing yoga and mindfulness teachings
People identifying as South Asian, Non-South Asian BIPOC, LGBTQIA2+, Allies, Accomplices in search of community-based, spiritually-rooted yoga and mindfulness practices and stories. Everyone is welcome to learn regardless of ethnicity, caste, gender, religion or practice level.
We facilitate healing for our community through story-telling, conversation, performance, art, song, dance, writing, and retreat.
We connect via social media, email, chat groups and in-person to support each other’s journeys. Our community is centered around uplifting South Asian teachers while standing in solidarity with all marginalized groups.
Our Story
abcdyogi formed in June 2018 to connect South Asian yoga and mindfulness teachers and students. We offer diverse yoga and mindfulness practices and authentic and culturally rooted storytelling, while raising awareness of the many issues that South Asian people face in the wellness industry.
As of March 2022 abcdyogi hosted 174 instagram takeovers from people living in 19 different countries.The social media takeovers uplift South Asian teachers who speak about yoga from a place of authenticity and share about their unique and personal experiences in the yoga and wellness industry.
Past programmes:
We 🤎 books: IG Live between two authors
EARTH PRTHVI abcdyogi magazine
Workshops:
Cultural Appropriation + You : The difference between appreciation and appropriation
The Fine Line between Cultural Appropriation and Appreciation
It's Not Me. It's Food! - Dumping Diet Culture
Resist + Rise : Navigating Civil, Political and Social Turmoil through Yoga
Panel Discussion: Desire, Wellness, and Power with Queer South Asians
April 2020: Month of Meditation
Who We Include
abcdyogi is a global community for:
South Asian teachers committed to decolonizing yoga and mindfulness teachings
People identifying as South Asian, Non-South Asian BIPOC, LGBTQIA2+, Allies, Accomplices in search of community-based, spiritually-rooted yoga and mindfulness practices and stories. Everyone is welcome to learn regardless of ethnicity, caste, gender, religion or practice level.
What we do
We facilitate healing for our community through story-telling, conversation, performance, art, song, dance, writing, and retreat.
We connect via social media, email, chat groups and in-person to support each other’s journeys. Our community is centered around uplifting South Asian teachers while standing in solidarity with all marginalized groups.
Our Commitments:
We frame our work through the foundational teaching of ahimsa (non-violence and non-harm).
As a community, we commit to uplifting South Asian teachers that have been historically marginalized and systematically erased in wellness culture. We stand against colorism, casteism, religious intolerance, Hindutva & Hindu Supremacy, Islamophobia, white supremacy culture, anti-Blackness, racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia and all other forms of intolerance.
We honor the generations of indigenous peoples connected to native land, and where possible, commit to land acknowledgements and paying respects to the many diverse indigenous peoples on whose land many of us inhabit.
We recognize that some spiritual teachers have histories of abuse, misconduct and cult behavior. We commit to holding space for the harm created by these behaviors and encourage sensitivity towards those in our community sharing from personal experience.
We actively monitor community interactions to ensure that these commitments are upheld.
Our thanks to Equality Labs, Juliana Mitchell, and Kings College Students Union for their statements of solidarity as their words are often borrowed and/or inspired much of our language.
Takeover Adherences:
We believe yoga is a tool for personal and collective liberation. Our vision for these takeovers is to dismantle white supremacy culture/dominant culture narratives within wellness, while building a network of support. We ask that you carefully read through this list of adherences to ensure alignment with your values and stated beliefs.
We see neither sex nor gender as binary categories. We seek to not reduce ‘womanhood’ to a mere matter of biology – as indeed women’s struggles for gender equality around the world take place beyond this biological limit. We believe that feminist spaces operate beyond the gender binary and affirm non-binary, trans, and gender expansive experience and wisdom. We envision the practice of feminism as one which seeks to dismantle the gender binary and makes space for those who do not sit within the categories of ‘men’ and ‘women’. We hope to recognise the way in which patriarchy does not simply disadvantage women but also erases the experiences of those outside the gender binary. In making these acknowledgements, we ask that your work also be inclusive of non-binary and trans identities in any feminist spaces that you organize, cultivate, and lead.
We stand against diet culture in all forms.
We are aware of the high volumes of misinformation and disinformation spread on social media, and how this can be harmful to marginalized groups. We seek to ensure that our platform does not foster these, while also leaving room for discussions and nuance.
We strongly suggest incorporating a land acknowledgement in your takeover. One resource to facilitate understanding of the meaning of indigenous land acknowledgments: https://nativegov.org/news/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/
We review all takeover requests with these commitments in mind, and invite only those that align with these values to takeover, join, and remain a contributing member in this thriving community.
We reserve the right to refuse, postpone, or cancel takeovers that do not support this position.
Ways to Connect:
Apply for a takeover: Review the forms
Support our community-funded organization via Patreon: Visit our Patreon page
Follow each takeover and event on Instagram: Learn from the abcdyogi takeover crew