Social Justice is based on the concept of human rights in which all humans have, as their birthright, the freedom to realize themselves. Yet we live in a world with so much social injustice, an injustice to which we, often unknowingly, contribute. Yoga is called a path of self-realization; yet this realization, to truly serve oneself or others, isn’t the realization of who we have been or who we might become, but rather the realization of who we are in our shared humanity, our vulnerability, and our potential.
Yoga has within it the profound capacity to awaken us to our shared humanity as we discover in ourselves both the seeds of human capacity and the seeds of suffering. Blessedly, yoga also provides us with the tools to nourish the seeds of capacity and to address the seeds of suffering.
Yoga as an interpersonal tool is uniquely powerful as a means to social justice for, in the transmission of yoga from teacher to student, the perceived hierarchy, separateness, or labels of “the one in need” and “the one who supplies that need” dissolve in the shared experiences of breath, movement, and the surrender of identification to who we are or who we have been and who we perceive the other to be or to have been. It is the journey, outlined in the Bhagavad Gita, within our contemporary dharmic field: the yoga mat.
When yoga is positioned to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of the diversity and dignity of each student, it becomes a social justice catalyst – an opportunity for students, through the explorations of yoga’s life skills and tools for personal well-being, to experience themselves as Belonging, as worthy of their own Advocacy and Empowerment, and as capable of making Contributions to the betterment of the whole.
This workshop will open your mind and heart as to how you can provide yoga as life-changing, empowering, and accessible tools for those whose potential may as of yet remain untapped, unrecognized, or marginalized, but who can flourish and thrive with the integration of yoga in their life.
Recommended props: 2 blocks
This workshop provides two Yoga Alliance continuing education contact hours.
