The Love of Yoga Podcast connects to the expansiveness of the teachings of Yoga through provocative conversations with Yoga scholars, changemakers, and thought leaders.
Our intention is to provide avenues of access for yoga practitioners who are seeking to embody these teachings for personal and social transformation.
Episode 21: A Song for Liberation: Activism with Music
with Leila Hegazy
In this episode, Anjali and Leila discuss:
Leila’s musical path and background as an Arab-Italian-American living in New York City
Music as a practice of connection to social change
Accessible and authentic activism
Culture, appropriation and power
…and so much more!
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Episode 20: Women, Gender, and Yoga History
with Anjali Rao
In this episode celebrating Women’s History Month, Anjali sharesL
Four big reasons why there is a paucity of information on ancient femme and women in yoga
The necessity of understanding the expansiveness of yoga and the fluidity of gender
Highlights of yoga history as it relates to specific yoga traditions and gender
Her own story of why she got interested in the topic
…and so much more!
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Episode 19: Healing Justice Lineages
with Erica Woodland
In this episode, Anjali and Erica discuss:
Foundational premises of healing justice and the abolitionist approach to justice
The meaning of healing
Learning from the mistakes of our movement ancestors
The integrality of dissent
…and so much more!
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Episode 18: Who is Wellness For?
with Fariha Roisin
In this episode, Anjali and Fariha discuss:
Navigation of imposter syndrome as an immigrant
What is anti-colonial wellness?
What role does art have in activism?
Liminality
…and so much more!
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Episode 17: The Social Change Ecosystem as a Guide Map
with Deepa Iyer
In this episode, Anjali and Deepa discuss:
The biggest misconceptions around justice work
Radical visioning for the world we live in
Liberation
Practices of care in times of adversity
…and so much more!
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Episode 16: Finding the Center
with Anjali Rao
In this episode, Anjali shares:
5 lessons from the Bhagavad Gita
A brief background of Mahabharata and the Gita
The relevance of the first chapter during these times
…and so much more!
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Episode 15: Grief as a Portal for Collective Liberation
with Tysir Salih
In this episode, Anjali and Tysir discuss:
Tysir’s path in Yoga and experiences as a yoga practitioner/teacher
Our impact on situations happening around the world
Practices to support you during times of collective grief
Practices of both Self care and Collective care
…and so much more!
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Episode 14: Are We Free Yet? with Tina Strawn
In this episode, Anjali and Tina discuss:
Tina’s path in Yoga and experiences as a Yoga practitioner/teacher
The story of Legacy Trips and the excavations from these journeys
Her book Are we Free Yet? The Black Queer Guide to Divorcing America
Unfolding of grief and healing on multiple levels and holding the complexities of power and privilege
…and so much more!
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Episode 13: The Gift of Purpose with Rodrigo Souza
In this episode, Anjali and Rodrigo discuss:
Rodrigo’s journey being paraplegic and reconnecting to the body
Finding purpose through teaching adaptive yoga
Learning through teaching
Ways in which people with disabilities can be supported in Yoga spaces
Practices of nurturing and self care
…and so much more!
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Episode 12: Scattered Goddesses: History as a Teacher with Dr. Padma Kaimal
In this episode, Anjali and Dr. Padma Kaimal discuss:
Unpacking a non-binary approach to history.
How “seeing connections and interdependencies rather than polarities and oppositions” help shed light on the various conflicts in our world now.
How we can hold the tension of appropriation and misrepresentation of colonized cultures along with fostering narratives of inter-dependency.
Unearthing non-patriarchal narratives in Yoga.
…and so much more!
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Episode 12: Yoga and Liberation: A Critical Interrogation with Dr. Tria Blu Wakpa
In this episode, Anjali and Dr. Tria Blu Wakpa discuss:
Dr. Wakpa’s thoughts on the state of Yoga today
How can we tap into the transformative potential of Yoga and the tension between carceral systems and this liberatory practice
Core tenets of Indigenous sign language
Dr. Blu Wakpa’s practices, especially during moments of activation
…and so much more!
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Episode 10: Here 4 the Kids: A Conversation with Saira Rao
During this conversation, Saira and Anjali discuss:
• Saira and Regina’s experiences of hosting sold-out events all over the country at Race2 Dinner conversations
• Gun violence is the number one cause of deaths for children in the United States. How we move past the political gridlock
• How dominant culture is complicit in suppressing efforts to end gun violence
…and so much more!
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Episode 9: Demystifying Tantra with Dr. Sravana Borkataky Varma
In this conversation Anjali and Dr. Sravana Borkataky Varma discuss:
Dr. Sravana Borkataky Varma’s initiation into a Sakta Tantra lineage in Kamakhya, India and her journey as a scholar-practitioner-professor of Religious Studies
The definition and fundamental elements of Tantra
Dominant narratives of Tantra and cultural appropriation
…and so much more!
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Episode 8: Unpacking Culture, Power and Agency with Chemi Lhamo
During this conversation, Chemi and Anjali discuss:
• The impact of the video and how the ensuing backlash felt in the Tibetan community
• The intergenerational trauma of displacement and erasure from the Dominant cultural narratives
• How Tibetans in Tibet are responding to this situation Differences in cultural norms of affection and expression; the harm of ethnocentrism
…and so much more!
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Episode 7: Manifestation of Caste: Naming the Invisible
In this episode, Anjali and Prachi discuss:
• Prachi’s background growing up in rural India and how that informs her work and life now
• How caste system as the oldest system of social stratification and the most insidious has been institutionalized
• The manifestation of caste in the diaspora
…and so much more!
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Episode 6: The Audacity of Being
In this episode Anjali, rüdrāksh, and Tristan discuss:
rüdrāksh and Tristan’s introductions into the teachings and practice of Yoga
The ways in which the Dominant culture manifests in Yoga spaces, especially for gender non-conforming practitioners.
Holding the tension between the performativity and the necessity of TDOV and other days/ months of celebration
…and so much more!
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Episode 5: Self Care as Sva-dharma
In this episode, Anjali and Indu discuss:
Indu’s personal story of learning and studying Yoga with her elders and teachers in India
Self care as Svadharma: The role of self care in knowing, being and observing our Dharma
Self care as Ahimsa
…and so much more!
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Episode 4: Liminality in Liberatory Movements
In this episode, Anjali and Shawn discuss:
Shawn’s personal journey into Yoga and other mind-body-spiritual transformative practices
Finding the connective tissue between academia and Buddhist teachings
Liminality liberatory movements: the need to consciously acknowledge and cultivate spaces
…and so much more!
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Episode 3: Black Spirituality in Justice Movements
In this episode, Anjali and Ash discuss:
How Black queer and trans folks have been and are at the frontlines of justice and liberatory movements
Abortion and the medical industrial complex
Decolonizing birth and learning from reproductive justice history
…and so much more!
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Episode 2: Belonging, Cultural Appropriation, & Tibetan Buddhism with Chemi Lhamo
In this episode, Anjali and Chemi discuss:
Chemi’s work on Free Tibet as well as community organizing in Toronto
How we cultivate a sense of belonging in our communities
Tibet's human rights struggles
…and so much more!
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Episode 1: The Trauma of Caste with Thenmozhi Soundararajan
In this episode, Anjali and Thenmozhi discuss:
The behind the scenes process for Thenmozhi's book, The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition.
How caste operates as a system of oppression
How embodiment acts as a form of resistance
….and so much more!