Activism
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Our Responsibility to a World in Crisis
It is time. It is past time. We are witnessing a myriad of overlapping world crises manifesting in destructive ways. We all, every one of us, need to take some form of action now. Our world is calling us to shift in a way we have never had to in our history. Change...
The Integral Yoga Anti-Racism Task Force
The Integral Yoga Anti-Racism Task Force took shape in July of 2020. It is made up of a group of Integral Yogis from the New York and San Francisco Integral Yoga Institutes, as well as Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville (Integral Yoga Global headquarters) who came...
Integral Yoga Podcast: Spirituality & Social Justice
In this recent episode, Avi Gordon (Integral Yoga Teachers Association director) and Maziz Jamal Mahgoub (founder of holisticunderground.org) discuss various aspects of social justice and how we all have the potential to be happy and compassionate people, and we also...
Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Yoga & Wellness Communities
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by police in Minneapolis. How have Americans come to grips with issues of police brutality and social/criminal justice in the year since Floyd's murder? Mazin Jamal will lead a workshop at the Integral Yoga Institute of San...
Promoting a More Inclusive Yoga Community
Integral Yoga International recognizes the structural and institutional racism in Yoga and wellness communities, and acknowledges the lack of diverse representation in many of our Yoga classes.In an effort to work toward dismantling this systemic racism and injustice,...
Alabama Lawmaker’s Bid to Overturn a 28-year Yoga Ban in Public Schools
The Guardian newspaper recently reported that Jeremy Gray, a state lawmaker in Alabama (and longtime Yoga practitioner), is facing backlash for a bill he plans to present. The ban, believed to be the only statewide prohibition of its sort, is proving to be tougher to...
Don’t Make the Same Mistake Your “Woke” Elders Once Made
I was as woke as a young white man could be, back when the terms closest to “woke” were “hip” and “cool” and pretty much anything else that wasn’t “straight,” which referred not to a sexual orientation but to people living an ordinary, conventional way of life. To me,...
Race and Equity in Yoga: Disruption As a Practice
The Integral Yoga Institute of New York will host the series, "Race and Equity in Yoga: Disruption As a Practice" with Kelley Palmer online from February 24, 2021 – March 5, 2021. This program will help participants get clear on their role in dismantling white...
“Gate 4-A”
In this short video, Poet Naomi Shihab Nye reads her inspiring poem "Gate A-4." She wrote this about an experience she had while traveling. "And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and I thought, This is the world I want to live in. The shared world."...
If You are a Yogi, Should You Vote?
With the upcoming elections, we wanted to share Swami Satchidananda's views on Yoga and political involvement. Even from the earliest days of his arrival in America, he encouraged his students to be responsible citizens and to vote. For example, one new student asked...
“Conflict, COVID and Compassion” — the Dalai Lama Speaks
In this recent video, H.H. the Dalai Lama engages in a dialogue on Conflict, COVID and Compassion with Nancy Lindborg, CEO of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), and their Generation Change Fellows from his residence in Dharamsala, India. For the past several...
A Disability Revolution and a Swami’s Personal Journey
For those who have heard about or seen the compelling Netflix documentary "Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution," Yogaville's own Swami Suddhananda (who has cerebral palsy) only appears briefly in it—but she figures more centrally in its main storyline. "Crip Camp" is...