Today's guest is Susanna Barkataki and her big truth was about how intimately interconnected wellness, healing, and social justice are.
We talked about dominant culture, how whiteness is upheld in yoga and wellness spaces, power dynamics and structures, people's capacity for discomfort and navigating the big emotions that come up doing this kind of work: sadness, grief, and anger.
Susanna provided a thorough examination of violence and nonviolence in three levels - self, interpersonal and institutional - which helped me deepen my learning a lot and I really hope it does for you also.
We also talked about how to dismantle and build at the same time, decolonizing our own minds, internalized oppression, trauma-informed yoga and the nature of privilege.
A few notes on the summit Susanna is hosting that we mentioned in the interview which I am a guest for:
I haven't said yes to an online summit in years, but when Susanna invited me to be part of her summit, I made an exception because the topic is super important to me. Even so, as I do not have the time to personally vet each speaker or listen to the other 20+ interviews, please be aware that my participation in this summit is not an endorsement for every speaker in the lineup and it's likely that not all views are in alignment with my own. I do recommend that you use your own discernment if you choose to sign up for the summit and be aware that you will receive several emails once you do and be invited to a Facebook group for discussion, which you do not have to join if you don't want to.
As well, as clear communication is a high value for me, I want to add that based on some of the messaging around it, it seems the summit, though titled Honor Don't Appropriate Yoga is largely focused on diversifying western yoga asana practice spaces, just as much, if not moreso than addressing cultural appropriation within the western yoga world.
For more information and for full show notes, head to http://untameyourself.com/294
Truth Telling with Elizabeth DiAlto aims to cut through the noise and ignorance of our current culture by exploring the truths of a diverse range of incredible voices. From authors artists, creatives and educators, to activists, speakers and those in various scientific and esoteric fields - our guests hail from cultures and countries all over the world. Expect courageous conversations that range from insightful, uplifting, and illuminating, to uncomfortable and sometimes even confrontational. Each episode invites you, with a ton of love and respect, to listen with your heart and mind wide open. You never know when a perspective might click into place like the puzzle piece you've been searching for OR didn’t even know you were missing. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode! To keep up with the show notes & quotes from our guests, follow me on Instagram and get on the weekly notification list here!