The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast

395: Anticolonial Philosophy & Yoga with Shyam Ranganathan

Description:

Yoga philosophy can sometimes feel overwhelming, inapplicable to the modern problems we face today, or just too abstract. Dr. Shyam Ranganathan, a repeat guest on the podcast, has a gift for breaking philosophy down in a way that we can relate to.

Dr. Shyam Ranganathan is a philosopher, author, researcher, and leading voice in anti-colonial philosophy, as well as the founder of the Yoga Philosophy Institute. He specializes in the study and translation of philosophy, especially South Asian philosophy and Yoga. In his recent book, Yoga — AntiColonial Philosophy, Shyam explores yoga as a decolonial tradition and how we can reconnect to that legacy in our modern practice.

In this episode, Shyam explains how colonialism shows up even in yoga philosophy, and how we can apply the practice of yoga and yoga philosophy to the many social justice issues we face in the world. He shares more about Ishvara Pranidhana (devotion to sovereignty), samskaras (rituals and practices), and how we might apply them to our daily lives to take back agency and practice yogic behavior. Tune into this conversation if you are seeking to be inspired by how philosophy can be a tool for liberation.

Key Takeaways:

[2:04] Shannon gives a shout-out to sponsor, OfferingTree.

[3:08] Shannon introduces her guest for this episode - Dr. Shyam Ranganathan.

[6:20] What does Shyam do and who does he do it for?

[8:06] How did Shyam choose the title of his book, Yoga — AntiColonial Philosophy?

[9:27] Why is it that yoga philosophy does not often give a platform to the voices of South Asian yoga teachers and authors?

[13:35] Shyam reflects on how education is not really about learning but about training people to follow instructions.

[16:39] How does the practice of yoga and yoga philosophy apply to the many social justice issues we are facing in the world?

[21:40] Shyam explains the concept of Ishvara Pranidhana (devotion to sovereignty) in more concrete terms with some examples.

[24:19] What is the practice to get out of being stuck in our own prejudices?

[26:23] What are samskaras in yoga and how do they affect us?

[29:55] Shyam shares how we can take back and redeploy our agency instead of getting stuck in loops and patterns.

[31:58] Shannon pops in to give a shout-out of thanks to OfferingTree.

[33:25] Simply practicing yoga is the easiest way to disrupt the harm of colonialism.

[34:47] Shannon and Shyam discuss how challenging certain laws may be a part of resisting colonialism and is yogic behavior.

[39:47] Shyam explains what he means by "the real philosophical practice is what one does where one already is in relationship to the people that are already in one's life."

[44:51] What is a practice that can be a first baby step for someone who has not explored much of yoga philosophy?

[46:57] What might the first moment of conscious thought look like when we are showing up as an ally for ourselves? Shyam talks about what the practice of yoga can look like in our daily lives.

[51:31] Shannon and Shyam discuss the future of (de)colonization.

[57:35] Shannon and Shyam chat about how he felt writing the book and how Shannon felt reading it.

[58:49] Connect with Shyam via his website or on Instagram to learn more.

[59:18] Shannon shares her biggest takeaways from this conversation.

Links:

• Dr. Shyam Ranganathan

• Dr. Shyam Ranganathan on Instagram

• Yoga AntiColonial Philosophy by Dr. Shyam Ranganathan

• The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 269: Yoga Philosophy and Colonialism with Shyam Ranganathan

• The Connected Yoga Teacher Facebook Group

• Shannon Crow on Instagram

Gratitude to our Sponsor, OfferingTree

Quotes from this episode:

"The fact that people do self-select in this way speaks to a kind of an actual fear of learning."

"What we call education, especially in the West, is not really education. It's geared to getting us to follow instructions."

"Every kind of bigotry or small-mindedness is part of just not being free from those past experiences."

"What happens is we don't see our agency when we're in these patterns and loops because our agency is hidden by these patterns, but our agency is what's powering it. So we have to find a way to redeploy our agency."

"You can't be working on your autonomy and also being colonized at the same time."