In Episode 3 of the Accessible Yoga Podcast, Amber Karnes and Jivana Heyman discuss the responsibility of yoga teachers to have a commitment to accessibility in their group classes and how we can’t let ourselves off the hook by saying, “I’m just not the teacher for everyone.” In this episode, we discuss:

• Making a commitment to accessibility and how that’s different from trying to please everyone
• The importance of creating a culture of permission and safety in our learning spaces
• When a “safe space” for some feels unsafe for others, how we can hear difficult truths without getting defensive
• Are you giving yourself a pass by saying, “I’m not the teacher for everyone.”
• The commitment of yoga teachers to creating equitable learning environments
• Creating a culture of safety and openness where students can feel safe in their bodies
• Shifting from the role of a fitness instructor to a guide who holds space for our students transformation
• Being open to inquiry takes the pressure off us to have all the answers and helps us play to our strengths as yoga teachers
• Shifting away from a physical focus toward the subtler teachings of yoga transforms the way a group yoga class looks
• Thoughts on “advanced” practice and trauma-informed teaching

Each week we’ll leave you with a powerful question. We encourage you to sit in inquiry with this question, write about it, discuss it with another community member on this path. Today, we are sitting with this question:

What does having an “advanced yoga practice” mean to you?

Get a transcript, links to resources, and show notes at accessibleyogatraining.com/podcast.

In Episode 2, Amber Karnes interviews Kelley Palmer, writer, yoga teacher, wellness advocate, and community organizer. In this episode:

Each week we’ll leave you with a powerful question. We encourage you to sit in inquiry with this question, write about it, discuss it with another community member on this path. Today, Kelley poses a 2-part question:

When you think about working toward equity, justice, and liberation, what are you willing to release? What are the obstacles you perceive to releasing those things?

Connect with kelley:

In episode 1: 

• Amber talks about her work: community-building around yoga, social justice, and body image
• Jivana shares his background with yoga and social justice including how he got started with yoga, how Accessible Yoga came to be, and how his participation in AIDS activism laid the groundwork for his work today
• How a community of practice (like the global Accessible Yoga community) supports marginalized practitioners and teachers to be of service and stay connected to one another
• Yoga is not just about a personal practice to make us feel better, our opportunity is to use our practice to create more well-being for all
• “Yoga is supposed to be peaceful, why are y’all so angry and negative all the time?” We discuss spiritual bypass and why the yoga teachings are not just about “love and light.”
• The harm that is done when spiritual teachings are used to ignore or downplay the harm that happens in our own lives, our yoga communities, or the world
• Yoga gives us the tools to sit with discomfort, but only using yoga to end our own suffering means we miss an opportunity to use our practice to be of service and lessen suffering for others
• Jivana shares about his experience working in AIDS hospice and how that shifted his understanding around healing, death, and yoga
• Service is the expression of an expanded mind and an ability to stay open to others’ humanity
• Figuring out “your lane” in social justice by honoring your body, knowing yourself, getting beyond shame, fear, and confusion, and managing your mind
• We’ll also share with you our plans for this podcast going forward

Each week we’ll leave you with a powerful question. We encourage you to sit in inquiry with this question, write about it, discuss it with another community member on this path. 

This week’s question comes from Rachelle Knowles (she offered this during her workshop on the Bhagavad Gita during the St. Louis Accessible Yoga Conference last year). 

“If the battle is inevitable, what kind of warrior do you want to be?” 

Get show notes, downloads, and transcripts at accessibleyogatraining.com/podcast.