Nov 18, 2021
I’m excited to introduce you to my guest because he is one of my biggest yoga inspirations. Jivana Heyman, author of Accessible Yoga and his latest Yoga Revolution, encourages yogis to bring their practice out into the world. Compassion is empathy combined with action, and Jivana is one of the yoga teachers who inspired me to follow this path.
He started by teaching accessible yoga classes for the LGBTQ community and those fighting HIV and AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s. His personal mission is to teach everyone that they can do yoga. For Jivana, the heart of the practice is universal and something we can all tap into.
Jivana discusses this theme in his new book, Yoga Revolution: Building a Practice of Courage and Compassion. We dissect how yoga students can combine their practice with activism, even in subtle ways. Because yoga is not just an internal practice, there is another level of engagement that happens when we bring our practice off the mat and into the world.
The question then becomes, what is your purpose? What is your role as a yoga student and as a yoga teacher? A buzzword in yoga right now is “post-lineage,” but it still touches on the significant cultural changes we are smack-dab in the middle of right now. The modern yoga community could replace the guru in a post-lineage world, but we need to support one another.
Jivana shares how “post-lineage yoga” speaks to the peer-to-peer sharing between yoga teachers. We can be inspired by the spark we ignite when we take one another’s classes and discuss the cultural changes that impact how we practice yoga.
Yoga can be many things. It’s a powerful tool that can heal the body and calm the mind. Yoga helps us process grief, overcome obstacles, and meet our true, universal selves. But yoga only works if it is accessible, so tune in now to hear how Jivana and I wish to inspire you to share your practice and carry it with you.
Take advantage of Jivana’s books and other resources we discuss:
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