How Social Justice Relates to Your Yoga Practice

Social Justice refers to the equitable distribution of resources, rights, and opportunities in a society.

How does this relate to your yoga practice?

When I first started doing yoga, I didn’t understand the connection. I quit my job as a Nonprofit and International Development Specialist to escape politics and instead dedicate my life to meditation!

In a world where the daily news reports stories of racism, ignorance, and white supremacy, it made sense why I wanted to use my yoga practice as an escape.

I wanted to believe that yoga was simply a set of practices for exercise, relaxation, and mindfulness, when in fact -

Yoga is a practice spanning more than 5,000 years!

If we look at the history of yoga, it is full of examples of yogis and yoginis drawing upon their practices of yoga to promote equality, diversity, and accessibility by creating spaces in which people of all genders, castes, religions, and abilities could participate in society.

I realized that I couldn’t stand by while people continued to be marginalized and exploited; that yoga was not a practice for avoiding everyday existence but rather a manual for confronting the realities of life.

In this short video, I share more about yoga’s history as a path of social justice and unity.

References & Further Reading:

• Anjali Rao, The Intersection of Yoga and Social Justice, 2020, https://www.warriorflow.com/post/the-intersection-of-yoga-and-social-justice

• Dianne Bondy, Yoga, Equity, and Social Justice, https://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-equity-and-social-justice

• Lakshmi Nair and Jesal Parikh, 2020, You’ve Heard of Kirtan, but Have You Heard of Bhajan?, https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/kirtan-bhajan-bhakti-yoga/