06/21/2023
“If International Day of Yoga were a true celebration of yoga in its entirety, there would be no harming of human lives (ahimsa) and more truthtelling (satya) by those in power.
Even as we look at Yoga in the context of the political situation in India, another reality is that in the modern world, yoga is global. In the United States, mainstream yoga has been taken over by the dominant White, able-bodied, cis-gendered culture—appropriated, capitalized, and reduced to a physical self-care practice and wellness lifestyle choice.
So, the question many may have now is, how are we to honor and celebrate Yoga? The answer lies in Yoga itself.
We celebrate Yoga every day by practicing all the eight limbs with dedication. We honor the roots of the practice, and the land, and the teachers who gifted it to us. We can uplift and amplify diverse teachers, experts, and authors. We can offer spaces that are truly inclusive of difference.
We can be accountable for the harm caused by racism, and speak out when we see oppression. We can recognize our shared humanity and the potential of the practice to transform our individual and collective suffering. We can embody compassion and courage in service not just to some of us, but to all of us. That is how an international day of Yoga should be lived.”
Why I Don’t Celebrate International Day of Yoga written by Anjali Rao via
Read the full article: www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/history-of-yoga/international-yoga-day/
[ID: A teal blue graphic with black text quoted in the caption above, the Accessible Yoga teal and white ping logo is in the lower right corner]
