Podcast appearances and mentions of dianne bondy

Dianne Bondy is a yoga teacher and social justice activist who works to make wellness accessible for everyone – no matter their shape, size, level of ability or ethnicity. In this episode Laura Cathcart Robbins, host of the podcast The Only One in the Room, speaks with Dianne to unpack the world of wellness, and the many barriers to it.

Dianne Bondy's web site declares in bold letters, "Yoga is for Every Body. No exceptions. You can do yoga." And she has devoted her teaching career to making sure this is the case. Over the past few decades, she has been proactive in creating yoga spaces that are empowering, inclusive, and equitable for all. I know Dianne from her playful and educational social media presence -- I had even more fun with her magnetic and charismatic presence in our talk. In our conversation she shares:How she became a self-proclaimed "accidental activist"Ideas for creating a more equitable classHow thinness is not equivalent to fitnessWeight-training, Pilates, and yoga as complements to each other, especially during menopauseHow being in diverse spaces helps us see more beautyBeing true to ourselves and our conditioning when it comes to body positivityTo learn more about Dianne, go to our shownotes page: https://yogalandpodcast.com/episode330 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All Movement. Her inclusive approach to yoga empowers anyone to practice—regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability.Dianne's commitment to increasing diversity in yoga has been recognized in her work with Pennington's, Gaiam, and the Yoga & Body Image Coalition, as well as in speaking engagements at Princeton, Duke, University of Buffalo and UC Berkeley on Yoga, Race, and Diversity. Dianne is the author of the international best-selling book Yoga for Everyone. Dianne opens the show by telling Laura about the time she went to a yoga class and had the staff making judgements about her based on her body type. This led Dianne to decide and open her own judgement-free yoga practice that focused on inclusiveness. Dianne discusses her experience dealing with body image as a child. This included her parents pushing her to diet and exercise at a young age, which led to an eating disorder by age 12. After dealing with starvation, binging, and purging on a regular basis, Dianne realized that people will always find something about you to pick on, and she discovered the need to draw boundaries in life and not always focus on people pleasing. After being told by her doctors that she needed to gain weight in order to get pregnant, she had her son which became the catalyst for overcoming her eating disorder. Laura and Dianne then have a conversation about Ozempic and seeing food as more than just fuel for your body. Dianne talks about hosting events and realizing that sometimes a pivot is needed, and as long as there's honesty and transparency in your intention then people will find it if it's truly for them. Before they wrap, Dianne talks about her current relationship with her mother, and how she's always on some kind of diet. She also tells Laura about planning a trip to Napa in the near future.For More on Dianne:Email:  dianne@diannebondyyoga.comWebsite: www.diannebondyyoga.comIG: @diannebondyyogaofficialFB: @DianneBondyYogaOfficial/YouTube: DianneBondyYogaBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-only-one-in-the-room--6052418/support.

Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All Movement. Her inclusive approach to yoga empowers anyone to practice—regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability. Dianne's commitment to increasing diversity in yoga has been recognized in her work with Pennington's, Gaiam, and the Yoga & Body Image Coalition, as well as in speaking engagements at Princeton, Duke, University of Buffalo and UC Berkeley on Yoga, Race, and Diversity. Dianne is the author of the international best-selling book Yoga for Everyone.  Dianne opens the show by telling Laura about the time she went to a yoga class and had the staff making judgements about her based on her body type. This led Dianne to decide and open her own judgement-free yoga practice that focused on inclusiveness.  Dianne discusses her experience dealing with body image as a child. This included her parents pushing her to diet and exercise at a young age, which led to an eating disorder by age 12. After dealing with starvation, binging, and purging on a regular basis, Dianne realized that people will always find something about you to pick on, and she discovered the need to draw boundaries in life and not always focus on people pleasing. After being told by her doctors that she needed to gain weight in order to get pregnant, she had her son which became the catalyst for overcoming her eating disorder.   Laura and Dianne then have a conversation about Ozempic and seeing food as more than just fuel for your body. Dianne talks about hosting events and realizing that sometimes a pivot is needed, and as long as there's honesty and transparency in your intention then people will find it if it's truly for them.   Before they wrap, Dianne talks about her current relationship with her mother, and how she's always on some kind of diet. She also tells Laura about planning a trip to Napa in the near future.  For More on Dianne:Email_  dianne@diannebondyyoga.comWebsite_ www.diannebondyyoga.comIG_ @diannebondyyogaofficialFB_ @DianneBondyYogaOfficial/YouTube_ DianneBondyYogaBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-only-one-in-the-room--6052418/support.

Joining us for yet another tough, but much-needed and inspiring conversation, is Dianne Bondy, E-RYT 500, YACEP. Dianne is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga and Pilates instructor, and the driving force behind the Yoga for All Movement. Her groundbreaking approach to yoga transcends traditional boundaries, empowering individuals of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities, and abilities to embrace the practice. Dianne is at the forefront of revolutionizing yoga education, equipping instructors worldwide with the tools to create inclusive and welcoming class environments. In addition to her advocacy work, Dianne is a sought-after public speaker and the acclaimed author of international bestsellers, including Yoga for Everyone: 50 Poses for Every Type of Body, and co-author of Yoga Where You Are. She is a prolific contributor to various global publications, sharing her insights and expertise on yoga and social justice issues. She is the real deal! Join Hannah as she delves into what it is like for Dianne to lead the way in inclusivity and accessibility in the fitness world. They discuss Dianne's company tagline, her decision to start her studio with a blank canvas, and important topics like gatekeeping, feminism, and evolving movement practices. Tune in to learn about cueing from a positive perspective, the power of the online space, and why continuous, multifaceted evolution is essential for movement coaches!Key Points From This Episode:Her thoughts on leading the way in inclusivity and accessibility in the Pilates and fitness world.Dianne unpacks the reason behind the tagline for her business Dianne Bondy Yoga Inc.Her philosophy with starting her studio as a blank canvas.She expresses her surprise at the division of Pilates into contemporary and classical practice.We dive into a discussion about gatekeeping, competition, feminism, and the evolution of things.The expertise Dianne brings that flavours her movement and helps her students.Leaving behind the practice of condemning other teachers because they don't believe the same thing you believe. Dianna shares two stories with Hannah and the listeners.She emphasises the importance of cueing from a positive place. Why she doesn't offer hands-on assist.How changing, adjusting, and evolving is a key element of our job as movement teachers/coaches.Why we want evidence-based practice!Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:Dianne Bondy — https://diannebondyyoga.com/about-dianne/Dianne Bondy Yoga — https://diannebondyyoga.com/ Dianne Bondy on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/DianneBondyYogaofficial/ Dianne Bondy on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwWcJy1CK5mknhyPu7SIZ1w Free Ebook – 100 Pilates Class Themes: https://performance-fit-online.com/100-pilates-class-themesFree Ebook – Top Teaching Tips: https://performance-fit-online.com/top-teaching-tipsFree Creativity Masterclass: https://mailchi.mp/pilates-studio-nuernberg/creativity-masterclassTrain the Trainers: https://www.pilates-studio-nuernberg.com/train-the-trainers/Connect with Us: hannah@pilates-studio-nuernberg.com Performance Fit Pilates:

Host Adam McAtee sits down with Yoga & Pilates Instructor, Dianne Bondy to discuss common experiences in the Pilates industry to help you feel understood and accepted. Want to work with Adam? Click here for a 2-Week Free Trial of the VIP Membership Follow Adam on Instagram at @adammcateepilates Want to work with Dianne? Click here to view her offerings Follow Dianne on Instagram @Diannebodyyogaofficial

Erin E.H. Austin is a National Board Certified French and AP Art History teacher in Fort Collins, CO, and the author of "The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Original World Language Resources" and "Going Global in the World Language Classroom". Ms. Austin is the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers' 2023 Teacher of the Year. She regularly taught yoga from 2009-2021 as an E-RYT 200/RYT 500 yoga instructor, and she now serves on the board of the Abundant Yoga Community, a non-profit whose mission is to bring yoga to those with geographic or financial barriers.Social:Twitter: @Erin-EH-AustinInstagram: @erin_eh_austinLinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-eh-austinYoga Teachers of Color to Check Out:Susanna Barkataki: https://www.susannabarkataki.com/Kallie Schut: https://www.rebelyogatribe.co.uk/Dianne Bondy: https://diannebondyyoga.com/Mentioned in this Podcast Episode:Yoga Calm: https://www.yogacalm.org/Hoberman Sphere (to use for breath work, especially with children)Erin's Yoga Articles on Elephant Journal:7 Ideas for Yoga Studios to Support Diversity & Inclusion Without Spending Any Money Social Justice & the Yoga World (part 1 of 3)Social Justice & the Yoga World (part 2 of 3)Social Justice & the Yoga World (part 3 of 3) 

Yoga has become a practice that's seemingly reserved exclusively for the privileged few: wealthy, thin, young, flexible, white, and able-bodied. If you don't feel like you quite fit into the yoga space, you're not alone, and this week, you're hearing from an amazing yoga teacher whose mission is to be a change agent in this realm.   Dianne Bondy is an accessible yoga teacher, social justice activist, and leader of the Yoga For All movement. She's offering her own experience of feeling “othered” in yoga, the challenges she's come across as she's built her business, and her top tips for advocating for yourself in yoga.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://notyouraveragerunner.com/302

Movement is a valuable ally in bringing more calm, focus, and clarity to our state of mind. So, this week, Dianne Bondy offers a soothing yoga flow to help you choose yourself. Gentle movement helps us tune in to the daily routines that we might otherwise go through on autopilot. Savor this gentle practice as part of your time to simply be present with yourself or  invite a loved one to join you and unwind together. You'll find this practice as a web extra to our guide to mindful movement, in the April issue of Mindful. You can find the April issue of the magazine now on newsstands or you can check it out on mindful.org  Show Notes Find more from Diane Bondy here:  diannebondyyoga.com And more from Mindful here: 7 Mindful Movement Practices for Daily Life The April 2023 issue of Mindful magazine: The Joyful Movement Issue Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.

Movement is a valuable ally in bringing more calm, focus, and clarity to our state of mind. So, this week, Dianne Bondy offers a soothing yoga flow to help you choose yourself. Gentle movement helps us tune in to the daily routines that we might otherwise go through on autopilot. Savor this gentle practice as part of your time to simply be present with yourself or  invite a loved one to join you and unwind together. You'll find this practice as a web extra to our guide to mindful movement, in the April issue of Mindful. You can find the April issue of the magazine now on newsstands or you can check it out on mindful.org  Show Notes Find more from Diane Bondy here:  diannebondyyoga.com And more from Mindful here: 7 Mindful Movement Practices for Daily Life The April 2023 issue of Mindful magazine: The Joyful Movement Issue Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.

You CAN go from hating your body to appreciating to it.Take it from Dianne Bondy. She's a yoga instructor, social equity warrior, and body positive activist spreading the message that yoga is for every body. She's here to share her journey of finding freedom from the harmful role that diet culture played in her relationship with food and self-esteem and self-worth. THE DAILY GROWTH HABIT

This week, Vanessa recommends some reads that feel timely for January, albeit for very different reasons. Subscribe to All the Books! using RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher and never miss a book. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. BOOKS DISCUSSED Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs Yoga Where You Are: Customize Your Practice for Your Body and Life by Dianne Bondy and Kat Heagberg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You do not want to miss this! We talk yoga, inclusivity, migration and self-care with Dianne Bondy. The mic drop moments though!    Dianne's pronouns are she/her, she is an Author, Speaker, Activist & Yogi and the leader of the Yoga For All movement. Her inclusive approach to yoga empowers anyone to practise—regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability. Dianne is revolutionising yoga by educating yoga instructors around the world on how to make their classes welcoming for all kinds of practitioners. Change Agent in Modern Yoga, Dianne's commitment to increasing diversity in yoga has been recognized in her work with Pennington's, Gaiam, and the Yoga & Body Image Coalition, as well as in speaking engagements at Princeton, Duke, University of Buffalo and UC Berkeley on Yoga, Race, and Diversity. Her writing is published in Yoga and Body Image Volume 1, Yoga Renegades, and Yes Yoga Has Curves. Master Yoga Teacher Dianne is the author of the international best selling book, Yoga for Everyone, co-author of Yoga Where You Are, and a frequent contributor to Yoga International, DoYou, Yoga Girl, and Omstars. She has been featured in publications such as The Guardian, Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, Mashable, and People.   Mentions: Connect with Dianne: Website: diannebondyyoga.com, yogaforalltraining.com, yogaforeveryone.tv Audre Lorde: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare”. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/audre-lorde Brene Brown: https://brenebrown.com/ Maya Angelou: “I am the hope and the dream of the slave”. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/still-i-rise Layla Saad: http://laylafsaad.com/ Ahimsa   Connect with us: Ama Rouge Website: www.wearewildwithin.com IG: @powerup.podcast @ama.rouge @wearewildwithin @rougedoesfood LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ama-rouge-870b60138 FB: AmaRougemoves Twitter: @podcastpowerup   Ella Mesma Website: www.ellamesma.co.uk, www.mayagandaia.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ella-mesma-b6071320/ IG: @powerup.podcast @Ellamesma @Maya_Gandaia FB:@EllaMesma @MayaGandaia  Twitter: @podcastpowerup   Music by Tomo Carter IG: @tomocarter   Everything else brought to you by us, the PowerUp! power team

Tips for Intentional Well-Being in the Activist/Ally/Coconspirator Filter your newsfeed: Take time off social media Cultivate friendships around you Get some rest Guided body scan meditation by Dianne Bondy

You're walking a tightrope, there are raging crocodiles below you and yoga is the thing that helps you balance. Journeying with yoga and yoga as activism - let's get into it.    Mentions: Glo: https://www.glo.com/ Felicia Tamasco: https://www.instagram.com/feliciatomasko/?hl=en Ahimsa Abby Hoffman: http://norwichwellbeing.com/articles/abby-hoffman-yoga-starting-again-25th-september/ Kundalini Orixas / Orishas Kemet Susana Barkataki: https://www.susannabarkataki.com/ Layla Saad - Me and White Supremacy: http://laylafsaad.com/ Dianne Bondy: https://diannebondyyoga.com/ Nadia Gilani: https://nadiagilani.co.uk/ Cultural appreciation, appropriation and arrogation Vedas book: American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation How Indian Spirituality Changed the West: https://www.waterstones.com/book/american-veda/philip-goldberg/9780385521352   Connect with us: Ama Rouge Website: www.wearewildwithin.com IG: @powerup.podcast @ama.rouge @wearewildwithin @rougedoesfood LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ama-rouge-870b60138 FB: AmaRougemoves Twitter: @podcastpowerup   Ella Mesma Website: www.ellamesma.co.uk, www.mayagandaia.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ella-mesma-b6071320/ IG: @powerup.podcast @Ellamesma @Maya_Gandaia FB:@EllaMesma @MayaGandaia  Twitter: @podcastpowerup   Music by Tomo Carter IG: @tomocarter   Everything else brought to you by us, the PowerUp! power team  

Our society tells us that we are supposed to look, act, and be a certain way. But the reality is that a majority of us do not fit into those ideal molds. And half of the people that do, are faking it. Stacy Sorgen has been a health and fitness professional for well over a decade, and she does not fit the mold. She had to carve her own path in one of the most judgmental industries there is. Join us for a conversation about how she fought back against expectations in order to help others live their best lives.   Connect with Stacey:  Website: https://staceysorgencoaching.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/staceysorgencoaching/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/modbodyfitness/ Email: Stacey@staceysorgencoaching.com  Strength Camp: https://staceysorgencoaching.com/strength-camp/  Schedule with Stacey: https://www.schedulicity.com/scheduling/MFMHU4/services  Connect to Genea: Website: http://geneabarnes.com/ Book a Call with Genea: https://bookacallwithgenea.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geneabarnes/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@geneabarnes   From Stacey: I am an HAES-aligned American College of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer with 12+ years of training experience. I've taught mat-based Pilates, Spin, CoreMania, Silver Sneakers, Adaptive Strength Training, Yoga, Total Body Conditioning, Bootcamps, etc. I work with many organizations, and have taught onsite and online corporate classes at Google, Adobe, Davis Wright Tremaine, McKinstry, EXOS, Fremont Athletic Club, and more. I've coached runners for 15+ years and served as Head Coach for SoleMates for GOTRPS for 5 years. I hold Yoga Teacher Certification RYT200 (2015), STOTT Pilates Mat-based practice training (2010), and a certification as a Holistic Health Coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (2013). I completed the 9 month Body Trust Project: School for Unlearning in 2021 and the Promoting Body Trust in Your Work for Practitioners in 2022, both hosted by Be Nourished. I'm dedicated to creating an environment for movement that is equitable, accessible, and diverse. Social justice is paramount and I strive to continue growing in my ability to be of service and support to groups traditionally excluded by the diet/wellness industrial complex. I recently completed a 3 workshop program with Dianne Bondy and Amber Karen's with “Yoga For All” on the topics of implicit bias in movement spaces, using trauma-informed language to create affirming spaces, and adapting Yoga asana for all bodies. In July 2022 I successfully completed a 9 month Process-Oriented Facilitation (somatic interventions) program led by David Bedrick, JD, Dipl PW. Most recently I completed EXOS education's course, “The Applied Neuroscience of Peak Performance”. I'm currently pursuing the GGS-1 Women's Coaching Specialist Certification with additional study regarding movement and PCOS, strength training specific to Menopause, and pre/post-natal considerations for movement. When it comes down to it, I'm really just a queer, anxious, fat cis woman who grew up in a suburb of Chicago. I now live in Seattle, WA with my incredibly patient and kind wife of 12 years (almost 13 years) and our 3 dogs; Oliver (Boxador), Pumpkin (Italian Greyhound/Chihuaua), and Emmie (Chihuahua). Would you believe me if I told you that my wife and I met on Craigslist? Lol. I looooove live music, random acts of kindness, paddle boarding on Lake Washington, and cozy nights watching some sort of trashy television. I love movement in many different forms and I do the work that I do because I'm passionate about it – and I love to use that passion for movement to support others. I love triathlons, a really good slice of pizza, saying hello to every dog I meet – ever, and reading trashy books on the beach.  

Season 1 of The Intentional Well-Being Podcast with your host Dianne Bondy is a wrap! What an incredible first season it has been. I was joined by some incredible experts in their field to lift the veil off of topics such as diet culture, social justice, well-being in the yoga community, self-care, and so much more! Dive into all 26 episodes of this season and get ready for Season 2 coming September 2022! Thank you all for being here and tuning in.

The 8 limbs of yoga fundamentally support anti-racism, diversity, and body acceptance - and yet yoga in the west has been largely inaccessible to anyone who isn't white, wealthy, thin, and able-bodied. In this episode I speak with the incredible Dianne Bondy, and she delivers truth-bombs with her characteristic vivacious spirit!We talk about the commodification and cultural misappropriation of yoga, performative activism, anti-racism in yoga, and ways we can decolonise yoga in the west and finally make it accessible for people who have historically been denied access to these life-affirming practices. LINKS:Support the pod! BONUS episodes and exclusive goodies for subscribers:https://www.patreon.com/nondietyogiDianne's website: https://diannebondyyoga.com/Dianne's Instagram: @diannebondyyogaofficial https://www.instagram.com/diannebondyyogaofficial/Dianne's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DianneBondyYogaOfficialCasey's website: https://www.funkyforest.com.auCasey's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/funkyforesthealthCasey's Instagram: @funky.forest.health    https://www.instagram.com/funky.forest.health/Non-Diet Yogi Instagram: @nondietyogi    https://www.instagram.com/nondietyogi/Grab your copy of my free e-book The Modern Yogi's BS-Free Guide to Wellbeing!https://www.funkyforest.com.au/a-modern-yogis-bs-free-guide-to-wellbeing.htmlSupport the show

Dianne returns, we talk a lil yoga, a lil Elvis and a lot of current events! Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement. Her inclusive approach to yoga empowers anyone to practice—regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability. Dianne is revolutionizing yoga by educating yoga instructors around the world on how to make their classes welcoming for all kinds of practitioners. Follow her IG @diannebondyyogaofficial or diannebondyyoga.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Kate interviews published author, podcast host and former editor-in-chief at Yoga International, Kat Heagberg Rebar. Listen on for more insights on: -Why we should never make important decisions from "despo mode" -The importance of asking for help from community to get out of scarcity. -The power of collaboration to create more resources. -Kat's personal journey to accomplishing big dreams, including securing multiple book deals and launching a podcast. -And more! Go deeper with today's podcast: ✨ Check out Kat's podcast, Dark Side of the Mat ✨ Follow Kat's yoga insights on Instagram ✨ Read Kat's book, co-authored with Dianne Bondy, Yoga Where You Are ✨ Sign up for Kate's weekly newsletter to receive journal prompts and further insights based on this week's episode!

Yoga Journal, which is the long standing print magazine for yoga professionals, and the yoga community, is owned by the same parent company that publishes Clean Eating magazine. So there’s a lot of intersection in the writing and the journalists between them. And I find it very problematic. Extremely problematic. But that’s capitalism, right? You’re listening to Burnt Toast. This is the podcast where we talk about diet culture, fatphobia, parenting, and health. Today I’m chatting with Jessica Grosman! Jessica is an experienced anti-diet registered dietitian and certified Intuitive Eating counselor, weight inclusive health practitioner, and yoga teacher. She is on the faculty of Yoga for Eating Disorders, where she teaches the popular compassionate and mindful yin yoga series. And she’s a co-founder of Anti-Diet Culture Yoga, a platform with a mission to keep diet culture out of yoga spaces by providing training and educational opportunities for teachers. So, as you can probably guess from her bio, Jessica and I are discussing the intersection of diet culture and yoga today. This was such a fascinating conversation for me, because I truly did not know the extent to which yoga has been colonized and appropriated by white people and diet culture. If you have a fraught relationship with yoga, or have had that over the years like I have, I think you will get a lot out of this one. I do want to acknowledge that Jessica and I are two white, privileged ladies having this conversation. I’m very aware that in order to divest from yoga from diet culture and white supremacy more completely, we need to be learning this from people of color. We do shout out some of those voices towards the end of the episode. But I would love to know who else you are learning from—post suggestions in the comments so we can continue this conversation! If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe, rate and review us in your podcast player! It’s free and a great way to help more folks find the show.Keep sending in your questions for Virginia’s Office Hours! If you have a question about navigating diet culture and anti-fat bias that you’d like to talk through with me, or if you just want to rant about a shitty diet with me, you can submit your question/topic here. I’ll pick one person to join me on the bonus episode so we can hash it out together.PS. Also hi new subscribers/listeners! I think a bunch of you found me through Julia Turshen’s podcast Keep Calm and Cook On. I have loved her entire series on Unapologetic Appetites and was delighted to join her for this conversation. Episode 52 TranscriptVirginiaHi, Jessica! Why don’t we start by having you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and your work?JessicaMy work is primarily patient-focused nutrition therapy, and I work to help individuals reestablish a comfortable connection with food and body most often after years of living and diet culture. I am a member of ASDAH, the Association of Size Diversity and Health and use HAES principles in my individualized care. I’m also a yoga teacher, as I mentioned, and really love bringing together all sorts of ways to help people feel comfortable in their body.VirginiaI think you’re our first yoga teacher on the podcast and today that’s going to be our focus — this intersection of diet culture and yoga. I think for a lot of listeners, this probably isn’t breaking news. We’ve all kind of seen the Lululemon version of yoga, and the Gwyneth Paltrow / Goop version. I think a lot of us may assume that diet culture has been baked into yoga from the start. But is that true or do you see this as a more recent co-option of yoga?JessicaI want to start by asking you if you know what the word yoga means. So I want to spin this question back to you. VirginiaI feel like I knew this when I did a lot more yoga, and now I’m going to fail this quiz. JessicaIt’s okay! Yoga is a Sanskrit word that means “to yoke” or “to join.” So right there, the word yoga does not mean acrobatics, leggings, green juice, restrictive diets, or any other stereotype that has been portrayed in the media through diet culture. I want to acknowledge that right from the start that yoga has nothing to do with diet culture in its origin. I’m going to give you a little history lesson here. There are eight limbs of yoga, with only one being the physical practice of yoga, the poses and postures that we see so often. In the classic, traditional sense, yoga really is about the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. The physical practice of yoga was developed to help rid the body of distractions, of impulses, to be able to sit and meditate. So if you think about kids in a classroom, we know that if we want kids to sit and concentrate, first we let them get all their energy out, and they run around on a playground have play time before they’re able to sit calmly and concentrate. Yoga, the physical practice of yoga, is in the same vein, to give the body time to rid itself of the distractions to be able to turn inward and sit and focus in meditation.VirginiaI love that framing and I’d never thought of it that way. And nothing you mentioned has to do with weight loss or changing your body size or shape. So when did the shift happened? JessicaSo, yoga was brought to the west from southern Asia about 100 years ago—and notice I said Southern Asia and not India, because yoga’s inception was not just in the land that is currently India, but all throughout southern Asia. So we want to give respect and honor to those lineages. But it was brought to the West about 100 years ago by a Russian woman named Eugenia Peterson who later changed her name to Indra Devy. She was an actress and a spiritual seeker who traveled to India and became the first female student of Krishna Macharia, who was considered the father of modern yoga. He created the posture-based yoga practice, the physical yoga that was influenced by martial arts and wrestling and British calisthenics. Remember, this was in colonized, British-occupied India. And so Indra was able to bring her yoga studies to the west with her when South Asians were not able to come West due to the Immigration Act of 1924, which set quotas for immigration from “less desirable” countries. Indra came back to the west, came to Hollywood dressed in saris and was emulated by movie stars and Hollywood types seeking exotic practices from the East to keep themselves young and beautiful. This was the start of the modern wellness movement and with yoga at the core. VirginiaShe’s like a proto-Gwyneth Paltrow.JessicaExactly. And you know, how ironic that she was on Gwyneth Paltrow land?VirginiaSo, the Western conception of yoga has always been more linked to diet culture. We wouldn’t have called it diet culture back then, but certainly this idea of the body and controlling the body. JessicaI would say so, especially in the yoga space that is full of white practitioners. I think South Asians in the West practicing yoga that are coming from that lineage, from their motherland, it’s a different type of practice. But the yoga of diet culture is very whitewashed.VirginiaLet’s talk specifics about how that manifests. What are some of the most surprising ways you’ve seen diet culture infiltrate yoga?Jessica Yoga is part of wellness culture and wellness culture is that friendly guise of diet culture which is rooted in capitalism. Yoga in the West is rooted in capitalism. I can tell you that working as a yoga teacher, to earn a living as a yoga teacher is not sustainable in our capitalistic society. There’s just no way to go about doing that for most people, other than those elevated—and I’m going to use air quotes—“gurus” of yoga, the ones that we see in the ads for Lululemon and all of the other brands.So yoga studios—we have yoga studios in the West, not so much in South Asia. But yoga studios in the West are for profit, and you can just look at what they sell beyond classes: The food, the drinks, the clothing, the apothecary items. This is all so steeped in diet culture. So before setting foot in a yoga studio, there’s this assumption that certain clothing is required to practice yoga, and that clothing is most often indicated for particular bodies. That keeps diversity out of yoga spaces. We don’t have to look too far to see that the ad campaigns for leggings, for activewear that is indicated for yoga practices, is usually on very small bodies. VirginiaAs you’re saying that, I’m just thinking I would feel weird going to a yoga class not wearing yoga pants. Like, we have this sense that you have to. But you also don’t have to. When I practice yoga at home, I often do it in just my pajama pants or any loose clothing. Why we have this idea that you have to wear this one type of pants to go to a yoga studio is fascinating.JessicaIt’s all about that culture of fitting in and needing to feel like you’re worthy of being in that space. VirginiaYep, that makes sense. And yet the pants so rarely have pockets and are not efficient for many of my needs.JessicaWell, that’s why you need more of the swag to go along with them.VirginiaOh, of course. JessicaYou need the correct bag to hold your yoga mat. And it has to be the correct yoga mat. And then the correct yoga bag, which has the pockets for this, that, and the other. VirginiaThere’s many more products we can buy.JessicaSo yoga studios, right? They’re selling more than classes. They’re selling a lifestyle. And I can tell you that walking into many studios—and I have not been in many studios since the pandemic, that’s been the beauty of the pandemic for me is the ability to both practice and teach yoga from the comfort of my home which I think is very, very important. But yoga studios have to make a profit and they do this by selling more than classes, by selling more than experience. So there is the clothing, there is oftentimes food—and I can tell you that it’s not chips and candy that are sold in yoga studios. It’s whatever bar or superfood of the moment is capturing the attention of wellness culture. It’s specific filtered water and kombucha and all sorts of other foods and foodstuffs that really have nothing to do with yoga or wellbeing, but just offer that glimmer of hope that by being in the space, by drinking this liquid, eating this snack, you’ll become more than who you were when you walked in the door. VirginiaAnd they’re also selling restriction too, right? There’s often an emphasis on cutting out food groups. I’m hoping you can tease this out a little bit. I know being vegetarian is linked to some of the history of yoga, but cutting out sugar seems more of just a straight up diet culture intervention. JessicaSo there are many different lineages of yoga. As I mentioned, yoga is not just based in the land that is currently referred to as India, but all over South Asia. And different lineages do have different traditions when it comes to food. There’s this assumption, though, that to practice yoga, to be a quote unquote “good yogi,” means that you are vegetarian, if not vegan, and that cannot be further from the truth. Really what we are looking for in a yoga experience is to feel well in your body. One of the ethical precepts of yoga is a Ahimsa and I’m sure a lot of people have heard this term Ahimsa, which means “no harm” and oftentimes gets co opted into meaning veganism as no harm, you’re not harming another living organism. But I like to turn back Ahimsa to no harm upon yourself. And really, when you’re not harming yourself, you’re loving yourself and taking care of yourself. The notion that to practice yoga means that you have to eat a certain way or not eat a certain way is completely false for the general population. As I said, there are pockets of yoga lineages and people practicing yoga that do take a different stance, but for the general public that wants to bring yoga into their life, keep on eating whatever you want and feel well in your body.VirginiaThat’s a really powerful reframing because yes, I’ve gotten stuck on that ahimsa, do no harm piece. And I think that’s really useful to consider that we have to include ourselves in that doing of no harm. I also want to circle back quickly to the guru concept that you touched on. I’m curious to hear more about to what extent the idea of a guru is important to what yoga was originally and how you see the guru concept working out today, because it seems like that’s often where a lot of the diet culture comes in, right? Because people in a studio or in a yoga community are so revering this one teacher to the point that there’s a lot of opportunities for harm. JessicaCorrect. Yoga in its origin was taught from teacher to student, and there wasn’t a set number of hours that you study with your teacher and then are declared a yoga teacher. It was a lifelong relationship of learning and reciprocity between student and teacher, and continuous learning. We don’t see that sort of student teacher relationship in modern yoga in the West. There is more of that Guru culture where teachers are revered. They’re oftentimes put on a pedestal and whatever a teacher says is often taken as the right thing to do, the right way to be. That’s really dangerous because the scope of practice which is a set of rules and policies set forth by Yoga Alliance, the governing body of yoga teachers, does not include any talk of food, diet or nutrition. Yet we know that to be far from the truth, that is definitely an area that is abused by many teachers who share their thoughts, their opinions, their personal experiences as the way things should be done, on and off of the mat. And that’s where the danger comes in. VirginiaI’m looking back on my own relationship with yoga over the years and so many workshops I went to with male gurus who were very hands on in their adjustments of the women who came in with the right Lululemon leggings. There’s just a whole whole lot going on there.JessicaAbsolutely. I mean, I didn’t even touch on the hands-on adjustments. Partly from teaching outside of studios, in the online space, I think we’ve gotten away from adjustments a lot, because my students are on the other side of the screen. But that sort of abuse in teacher/student relationships definitely has been well documented. I think the more subtle abuse or harm is the teacher or the guru that inflicts on their students their own beliefs, opinions, and knowledge that isn’t their place to share.VirginiaIt can be hard when you’re seeking something from yoga, which a lot of people are. You’re in a vulnerable position, right? This person seems to have a lot of answers. They’re personifying this lifestyle that’s extremely seductive. And often you’re getting some real tangible benefits from the yoga practice. So it can get very murky and hard to sort out. Like, which aspect of what I’m doing in yoga, what’s coming from the breathing or the meditation or the physical work and what’s coming from now I’m doing this cleanse with 30 people in my studio?JessicaExactly, exactly. It gets blurry, as you said, and I think it’s important for anyone that is currently practicing yoga or looking to begin a yoga practice to really examine their intention for being in a space or for being in the presence of a particular teacher. VirginiaYeah, let’s talk more about that. There’s obviously so much that’s great about yoga and making yoga more accessible for all bodies is so important. So how can we think about separating yoga from diet culture? How do you start to suss out where a studio falls in all of this? And how do you figure out what to wear if you don’t want to wear skinny yoga pants?JessicaYou never need to wear skinny yoga pants. The most important thing from the start is to be comfortable. So skinny yoga pants aren’t comfortable for you, then that’s not what you should be wearing. But I think the most important thing from the start is to read class descriptions. If you’re looking for a yoga class, read class descriptions. There should not be any promise of changing a body or any regimented requirements for diet involved, right? Along the lines of diet, culture and wellness culture and its roots in white supremacy and patriarchy, we have to look at classes and specifically about levels of classes and saying that a class is advanced and has advanced poses is not a place that welcomes everyone, right? If you go to a class and feel like you’re being told to just rest while everyone else is doing some fancy shape pose, then that class is not for you, and that class shouldn’t be taught that way, either. We have autonomy as yoga students to practice the way we want to in our body, our bodies are unique and individual and have unique capabilities that change from day to day. So there is no one pose or practice is more advanced than another. It’s learning how to honor your body and its unique abilities from day to day, from moment to moment.VirginiaI certainly have had and I’m sure many people listening have had that feeling of failure, when you’re told, “okay, you can just go into child’s pose now,” and that feels very stigmatizing. I think a lot of teachers mean it kindly. I think they mean, like, listen to your body and take your time and whatever. But if you’re the one person in the room, and especially if you’re in a bigger body than everybody else, it doesn’t feel kind. JessicaI also pay attention to the languaging used by the teacher and the languaging used within a yoga studio. You want language to be qualitative, and not descriptive. Descriptive language can be inappropriate and stigmatizing. So for example, if a teacher says, “place your hands on your fleshy thighs” versus “place your hands on your upper legs,” there’s a big difference right there. “Rest your hands on your abdomen” versus “rest your hands on your soft belly.” Well, it just isn’t comfortable, right? This is something that’s very nuanced. My experience in teaching yoga for eating disorders and those suffering from eating disorders—that’s very trauma informed work—really informs the language that I use. But I think it’s something that all yoga teachers need to have exposure to and be taught the nuance of qualitative and descriptive languaging. Because there is something very uncomfortable about being told to put your hands on your fleshy thighs, on your soft belly.(Note from Virginia: Obviously fleshy thighs and soft bellies are not inherently bad! Jessica is referencing how these descriptions can feel not great when used by thin teachers, in a diet culture context.)VirginiaI had a yoga teacher once who taught triangle pose by telling us to imagine our body between two panes of glass. It took me years to even recognize how stigmatizing that was because I don’t want my round body flattened between two panes of glass. That’s not a helpful note. I don’t really want anyone’s body being flattened between two panes of glass. That sounds painful. It’s an incredibly anti-fat image.Jessica I couldn’t agree more. I want to point out that yoga is an embodied practice. So that means listening to your body’s cues and messages and trusting yourself and your instincts. So, if you don’t feel comfortable in a space, if you don’t feel comfortable in the presence of a teacher, if it’s online or in person, trust your body. Trust your nervous system, if you have that awareness because it’s very hard to have an embodied practice and embodied experience in a body that is heightened and on alert and not relaxed and not comfortable.JessicaSo in terms of where diet culture comes in to yoga, and especially in social media, at this point, Yoga Journal, which is the long standing print magazine for yoga professionals, and the yoga community, has a large online presence. And it is owned by the same parent company that publishes Clean Eating magazine. There’s a lot of intersection in the writing and the journalists between Yoga Journal and Clean Eating. I find it very problematic. Extremely problematic. But that’s capitalism, right? VirginiaIt sure is.JessicaThe other very alarming situation that I’ve seen time and time again is this notion that some students, especially in a more active yoga class, will leave before savasana, before the end of class. Savasana is this time to reconnect with the body, to integrate all of the practice into the body. Its definition is “corpse pose.” Not to be gruesome, but just laying on the back in stillness that is savasana. There are a number of people, as I said, especially in more active classes that will leave class before savasana because it’s not a calorie burning pose. They feel like they need to keep the body moving and active and that rest is for the weary. It’s very sad to me.VirginiaI admit, savasana is the pose I often struggle with most, not because I want to burn calories but just because I’m, feeling like I need to get on with my day. But that’s also why it’s important, right? That’s what I need to be challenging. But yes, thinking of yoga as a workout, period, is so problematic. But certainly then thinking every minute of it has to be this really intense workout is that’s just straight up diet culture, for sure.JessicaYoga as a workout is straight up diet culture, because as I said, at the beginning, yoga is for the purpose of being able to sit and meditate. One thing I didn’t say at the start is the way that I define yoga is the integration of body, mind, and breath in the present moment. So, Virginia, we’re practicing yoga right now. We are having this conversation. We’re here, we’re breathing. We’re present. We’re in the present moment. We are practicing yoga. We are not doing handstands and contorting our bodies. VirginiaWe are not, for people who can’t see us. Nobody’s in a  headstand right now. JessicaMaybe when we’re done recording, I will go and get in that headstand. But for now…VirginiaThat’s such a more inclusive way to think about it because so many of the Yoga Journal cover poses are so inaccessible for bigger bodies. We should talk about that, too. I have a longtime hatred of shoulder stand because if you are a person with a stomach and large breasts, being in shoulder stand can feel like your body is suffocating you. It puts me immediately at war with my body when that’s not at all how I want to feel during a yoga practice. It always strikes me as a very male body designed pose. I don’t know if there are other examples like that you want to mention, in terms of getting away from this specific idea of doing yoga for certain bodies.JessicaI want to acknowledge that any body—any shape and size body—can be challenged by different yoga shapes, yoga poses. Someone in a thin privileged body may not have the ability to get into every shape and that is due to bone structure. Bone structure and the uniqueness of anybody’s bones and joints and tissues, regardless of their body size. So this assumption that you need to be in a smaller frame body, in a thin, privileged body to practice yoga is completely false. Just because you have a smaller body doesn’t mean that you’re able to do every shape either. So there are ways for every body, every single body shape and size, to get into nearly all of the shapes and postures and poses that are out there. I’ve done training on how to teach yoga for those that are bedbound, yoga for people in wheelchairs. There actually is bed yoga, which is so lovely and really beneficial for people that don’t have the ability to get out of bed, don’t have the ability to get out of a wheelchair or some other mobility device. VirginiaAs you’re saying this too, I’m realizing another way that the diet culture shows up is we so often think of modifications for poses as either failure or as a starting point and you have to progress beyond. Like, you have to eventually be able to do inversions in the middle of the room is always a big one that comes up in class. I have no interest in doing a headstand in the middle of the room. I want the wall there. I want to know that I’ve got that support. The idea that I’ve somehow never achieved a true headstand because I don’t feel safe doing it in the middle of a room is so frustrating. And there are so many examples of that.JessicaUsing props, including the wall, the wall is the greatest of all props is not a sign of inadequacy, or of being a beginner being a failure. Oftentimes, and more often than not, the use of a prop can help you get further into a shape into an area of the body that you didn’t know you had access to. VirginiaWho else do you love who’s fighting this diet culture definition of yoga? Who are you learning from? I would love to shout out some names.Jessica There are a lot of people bringing awareness to the origins and to the roots of yoga, the South Asian roots. Names like Susanna Barkataki. There’s two podcasters from the Yoga is Dead podcast, Jesal Parikh and Tejal Patel. Those three women in particular are bringing a lot of awareness of the roots of yoga and what has happened through colonization and cultural appropriation of yoga practices. I don’t see as much of the resistance to diet culture, because I see this is a little different from the fat positive or body positive movement within yoga. There is a small but mighty group of us registered dietitian and yoga teachers and a very small group that I know of that are in the anti-diet, weight inclusive space and practicing as Registered Dietitians as well as yoga teachers that are really trying to make sure that diet culture does not continue to bring harm or the harm of diet culture into the yoga space. One of my colleagues and I have started Anti-Diet Culture Yoga as a training platform for yoga teachers to help them decipher what is the true teachings of yoga versus what is the influence of diet culture. VirginiaThere are so many ways we need to rethink what modern yoga has become. It makes sense that not everybody is doing all of the work, because there’s so much work. I’ll shout out a couple of people I love on Instagram who are doing yoga and fat bodies. Jessamyn Stanley has been a longtime go-to for me. I love her underbelly app videos. They were really a turning point for my yoga relationship, both in terms of being able to do yoga outside of a studio and do yoga with someone who wasn’t in a thin body. All of that was really liberating for me. I also love @fringeish on Instagram. Shannon does a lot challenging people’s perceptions of what fat bodies can do with yoga, and creating safe spaces. Dianne Bondy is another one I’ve learned a lot from. So they’re there. You’re right, there’s not nearly enough. Different people are working on different aspects of this, but it is encouraging to see this kind of small community of voices emerging.JessicaI also I want to give a shout out to accessible yoga, specifically to Jivana Heyman, who has done a tremendous amount for bringing yoga to all people and that recognition that any body and everybody, regardless of shape, size, color, ability, disability, so on and so forth, can practice yoga in a meaningful way. I also want to mention Yoga for Eating Disorders which is an online school that I’m on the faculty of. One thing that we didn’t touch upon, which is a whole other conversation is that not all yoga is good yoga. Yoga and its intertwining with diet culture has been harmful and in the perpetuation of disordered eating and development of eating disorders. Not all yoga is good yoga for all bodies and for all people, especially those suffering with issues of disordered eating and eating disorders. At yoga for eating disorders we teach in a way that is safe is trauma-informed and is available to help heal the relationship with the body in a way that is neutral and supportive. VirginiaIt’s so important to have that safe space. Butter For Your Burnt ToastVirginiaWell, Jessica, we always wrap up, as you know, with our butter for burnt toast segment, so I would love to know what is your butter for us today?JessicaI’m so glad you asked! Because it’s summertime, and there’s nothing better in the summer than ice cream. And I’m talking about real ice cream. I’m not talking about Tasti D-lite. I’m a former New Yorker that thought that Tasti D-lite was a good thing. Now is the time on a beautiful sunny afternoon or a rainy afternoon like I have today here to go and enjoy a bowl of ice cream, cone of ice cream, whatever it may be. I just can’t think of anything better. VirginiaIt really is one of the most perfect things about summer. I’m gonna do a plant recommendation for my plant obsessed listeners. My butter is the Great Umbrella Plant, Darmera Peltata. Okay, so Darmera looks like a giant rhubarb. It has a very round umbrella shaped leaf. It’s a garden plant, not a house plant. I should have started with that. It’s native to the Pacific Northwest but it grows really well in shade gardens if you have enough moisture. I’ve just put some in and they get huge and they put up these really pretty pink flowers in the spring. And then you get these giant leaves for the rest of the season. So if you’re looking for a good plant for a shade garden, check out Darmera. It’s like an alternative to a hosta but even more giant big leaves. Very cool.All right. Well, thank you so much, Jessica, for being here! Where can we follow you and learn more about your work?JessicaYou can find me on Instagram at @withhealthandgratitude and that’s also the name of my website, with health and gratitude which has all the information for how to work with me for nutrition therapy. I teach weekly online yin yoga classes which are accessible for everyone—there is no previous experience required. Links to my classes are at yoga for eating disorders. I have hundreds of recipes on my website, original recipes—I used to do work and recipe development and culinary education. So my website has lots of information regardless of what you’re looking for. There’s something for everyone. VirginiaWe will link to that. Thank you so much for being here!Thanks so much for listening to Burnt Toast! If you’d like to support the show, please subscribe for free in your podcast player and tell a friend about this episode.Consider a paid subscription to the Burnt Toast newsletter! It’s just $5 a month or $50 for the year you get a ton of cool perks and you keep that’s an ad- and sponsor-free space.The Burnt Toast Podcast is produced and hosted by me, Virginia Sole-Smith. You can follow me on Instagram or Twitter.Burnt Toast transcripts and essays are edited and formatted by Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, an Instagram account where you can buy and sell plus size clothing.The Burnt Toast logo is by Deanna Lowe.Our theme music is by Jeff Bailey and Chris Maxwell.Tommy Harron is our audio engineer.Thanks for listening and for supporting independent anti-diet journalism. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiasolesmith.substack.com/subscribe

Do you feel as if it might be too late to take your yoga business online? Are you wondering if online yoga is just a 'pandemic trend'? In this week's episode, Kelly speaks with yoga teacher, social justice activist, author of the international best selling book, Yoga for Everyone and the leader of the Yoga for All movement, Dianne Bondy. Dianne talks about her journey of taking her yoga business online and gives insight into common myths that can hold yogipreneurs back from doing the same. If you've been thinking about moving your yoga business online but are holding yourself back from doing so, this episode is a must-listen. This episode covers: How you can niche down authentically Why it's still not too late to move your yoga business online  How to get creative and counteract the Zoom fatigue  Why growing an email list is important for your yoga business The importance of investing in marketing for your yoga business Join the Digital Yoga Academy Facebook community The Digital Yoga Academy Facebook group is a community of thousands of yoga teachers all over the world. There are weekly live trainings with Kelly McHugh, our founder & CEO, business talks with inspiring yoga teachers, daily educational content and loads of support. Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our Youtube channel Like us on Facebook

Dive into a deep topic with Dianne Bondy and Selam Debs as they dive into a conversation around anti-racism training, experiences they've had as Black mothers, and talk about action around anti-racism training vs. systemic change. Learn how to properly become an ally to marginalized voices, and use your assets to the advantage of others. What place can anti-racism take in your well-being and the promotion of well-being to others? How can you begin to include this into your practice of well-being daily? What questions should you be asking yourself and seeking the right answers for?

Listen as Anana Harris Parris and Dianne Bondy discuss self-care, why it's important for black women, how it's done and how Anana has been changing the narrative. Hear about what products they use, what they do to help well-being, and how you can incorporate some things to help you start your own journey to self-care and well-being.

https://www.drgailparker.com   Dianne Bondy Intro: (00:08) Hey everybody, Dianne Bondy here. And I'm really excited because today I am talking to my mentor, my yoga teacher, uh, my spiritual advisor, an incredible educator doc, Dr. GA Parker. And you know what? I've had an ongoing relationship with Dr. Gail Parker for probably pretty close to a decade. And, uh, how I met Dr. Gail Parker is I used to practice yoga, uh, in Michigan, in Detroit. And I never saw yogis of color or teachers of color. And until I was in a class with, for Gale Parker, and I was trying to figure out how to meet her. I didn't want to invade her space, but I started, you know, reading her blog and following her. And initially, maybe stalking her a little bit. We were both in the on sour world together. So a lot of times we would be in class together, but we wouldn't have any real interaction.   Dianne Bondy: (00:58) And then we went to a workshop at the Comar center in town, town, Detroit. We were seeing a very famous yoga teacher and I, I was in the change room and I saw Dr. Gal in the change room and nobody else was in the change room. And I thought, this is my opportunity. Cuz every time I would see her, she would be in conversation or she would be around other folks. And I would never get a chance to talk to her. And with all my excitement and exuberance, if you're not familiar with me, I tend to be excitable. And Asub, uh, I ran up on Dr. Gail Parker and she was like, whoa, she didn't know I had been stalking her. And that I had read written or sorry. I had read a, a blog about her the week before and I got a chance to meet her.   Dianne Bondy: (01:35) And that's how we came in contact with each other. And she was often one of the educators, my 200 hour teacher training program when I added a restorative yoga con um, component. And so we have been in each other's sphere for a long time. She has, uh, recently written a book called restorative yoga for ethnic and race based stress and trauma. She has lectured on this. She's been she's um, talked about, you know, mental health and wellness as a psychotherapy for over 40 years. She's been on Oprah like six or seven times. Like she's very accomplished and I'm excited to call her friends. I'm gonna read a little bit about her bio. She is a C certified, um, international yoga teacher. She's an, she's a C I A Y T. So she a yoga therapist, an author, a psychologist, and a yoga therapist, educator. Uh, she's the author, of course of the book.   Dianne Bondy: (02:27) I just showed you, uh, restorative yoga for ethnic and race based stress and trauma. This book came out last year in 2020, which was really helpful cuz we knew all that was going on in 2020 around race based stress and trauma for the black community. Uh, she is the current president of the black yoga teachers Alliance, uh, board of directors, board of directors, her broad exp expertise in behavioral health and wellness includes 40 years as practicing as a psychologist. Dr. Parker is a lifelong practitioner of yoga and is well known for her pioneering efforts to blend psychology, yoga and meditation as an effective self care strategies that can enhance emotional balance and contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of, uh, their practitioner or its practitioners. And so I'm excited to have her on the intentional well out being podcast. And she's gonna talk about how yoga, meditation and healing for race based stress and injury is going to help. Not only people of color, not only black and brown folks, but all of us on the path to healing and intentional wellbeing. I can't wait for you all to hear and meet my friend, my colleague, my team, Dr. Gail Parker,   Dianne Bondy: (03:47) Hey everybody. Hello everyone. Welcome to the intentional wellbeing podcast and I'm very excited, excited, excited, excited to share with you my mentor, my friend, my teacher, uh, my spiritual sister, Dr. Gail Parker to the podcast today. One of the first people, I guess, along with my mom who introduced me to being intentional in our practices around wellness and gave me a really interesting perspective on how to use yoga as a self care practice. And also as a peace practice, which I thought was really helpful to me because before any of this, I was always about power yoga. How can I get into a handstand faster, all those kinds of things. And I, I really did a 360 or 180, um, around some of the belief systems around yoga after practicing with Dr. Gail and reading her work. And I wanna welcome her to the podcast today. Thank you Gail for being here   Dr. Gail Parker: (04:47) Thank you for inviting me to be here. It is always a pleasure.   Dianne Bondy: (04:51) I love it. You and I, over the course of the last, I wanna say maybe 10 years or so have had different conversations. Like if you go to my YouTube channel, there's a conversation way back, maybe eight years ago on YouTube, uh, on other podcasts that I've done, you know, we've spoken, I've always referenced your work. I quote you weekly. I'm just grateful to have you in my life. And uh, I wanted to start with the big question I ask all my guests. What is the difference between wellness and wellbeing? What does that mean to you when you talk about the difference between those two things?   Dr. Gail Parker: (05:25) So I think that, um, wellness, when, when I think about wellness, I think about in terms of health and health has traditionally been defined as, um, the absence of disease or wellbeing is part of health. And it's certainly part of wellness, but I think wellbeing is when every aspect of ourselves, our physical body, our breath body, as we say, in yoga, our mental, emotional body, our, um, intuitive sense of being and our spiritual wellbeing are all in alignment when they are, when we're in harmony on that level. That's when you experience wellbeing, how often does that occur? Mm, yeah, because, because it's, it's wellness is constantly changing. It's not a static, um, place. It's, it's a dynamic place. And so our wellbeing is dependent on our ability and our willingness to adapt to external changes and the internal changes that are always ongoing. Wow.   It's like being in balance. So this is one of the reasons I love, um, the yoga practice because, uh, if you're standing on, uh, one foot, for example, if you lift a leg and you're standing on one foot and in yoga, we might call that tree position. , uh, where you have your, the soul of, of, of the lifted foot is on your inner thigh while you're trying to balance. If you'll pay attention to that balance is not static. You're not, this is not what is happening here. what's happening here is the continual adjustment to maintain that sense of equilibrium, that place of harmony. So that's what wellbeing means to me when we're, when we're paying attention to that sense of equilibrium and making the adjustments and when we fall because when we, we will, as we will, that doesn't, it doesn't even mean then that there's no wellbeing. It means that that's that's though, when you, when you, as my mother would say, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again. Mm-hmm but we have all of these practices within the yoga, uh, uh, uh, Pantheon, I guess, of practices. For example, I'm thinking child's pose now where this is, this is an embodied experience of beginning again. Mm. I love let's begin again. I love it. So it's that, it's that, it's that emotional, mental, physical flexibility, and willingness to go to go with the flow.   Dianne Bondy: (08:20) I think that's all hard for a lot of people to go with the flow. I think that was the, one of the biggest lessons that I learned, especially being a practitioner of Vinyasa yoga was the E and the flow, how it moves with the breath. And I've never thought of wellbeing as that balance. What a great analogy to be kind of teetering as I often do in tree pose and looking for that center. And I've always thought of that as the spinning plates, right. Or a spinning top, a spinning top looks balanced and steady when it's spinning at its fastest and the minute it starts to slow down, it gets that, you know, that oblong kind of yeah.   Speaker 2: (08:56) Walk you wobbles.   Dianne Bondy: (08:57) Yeah. Yeah. But it's still in balance, but it's just trying to find its way back to that, that equilibrium. So what do you think are some of the obstacles for people, um, in accessing wellbeing and accessing, you know, that balance, what keeps people from pursuing that, especially especially black folks and people who have been historically excluded from most practices?   Dr. Gail Parker: (09:22) Well, I would say that I'm gonna give you the big answer here. I'll the big answer. Then we can narrow it down. The big answer for me is, is I think that awareness is medicine of health and wellbeing. Mm   Dianne Bondy: (09:39) Yes. Brilliant.   Dr. Gail Parker: (09:41) And without awareness, we don't have that experience because without awareness, you, you don't necessarily know when you're wobbling or when you, or that, or that being still in one place optimal. It isn't, you know, it's so it's, it's our awareness, especially our internal awareness. So most of us I'm assuming know what's going on around us, but as a psychologist, what I learned over and over and over again, and it always surprised me is the lack of awareness of what's going on within us and how that influences what's occurring around us. Mm wow. So I think the cultivation, and, and when, when I teach again, it's, it's one of the reasons I love yoga because this is now an embodied experience. It's not something that you're talking about or reading about. Mm-hmm , you're having an actual experience of awareness. Mm-hmm oh, this is where it hurts. Oh, this is where it's relaxed. Oh, this is what wellbeing feels like, oh, this is what being tense and tight feels like. And with our awareness, when we can cultivate our mind as a tool of awareness, not a, not just a storehouse of information now we're approaching wellbeing. Nice. Yeah. And that's, I mean, that's how I see it. And that for me, transcends race and ethnicity and culture, that's just a human capacity. Hm. To cultivate self awareness, particularly. That's what I'm, that's where my focus always is self awareness.   Dianne Bondy: (11:25) And I think that was the biggest lesson that I learned from yoga. It's amazing to me how we can kind of just float through or T trudge through wherever you are in your life through life and have actually no self-awareness of how we feel, what our breath is doing, how people are reacting to us. You know, if we need to step more fully into our life, if we need to pull that prior to jumping on the call, you and I were talking about clearing our schedule and minimizing our calendars a little bit, and how excited, you know, you were, and I was for you to have a calendar where you're not fully committed all the time. And I think for me last year, right after George Floyd was murdered, I spent the majority of my summer in conversation, mostly through workshops and all kinds of stuff in conversation with people who had no, no self-awareness of their place in the world and no bigger awareness of how people who are historically excluded or marginalized or underestimated have been moving through the world. So we both of us, because this is a lot of our work intersects. A lot of those places, both of us were like constantly on calls, constantly doing workshops and not, you know, I think for a long time, I wasn't aware of how that was making me feel. And I felt like this summer was the summer of like, whoa, right. I'm gonna take a little bit of a step back and observe instead of constantly being a, in the mix.   Dr. Gail Parker: (12:56) Yeah. And, and it's that awareness that allowed you to   Dianne Bondy : (12:59) Do that? Yeah, it was, it was time it's, it feels weird because I feel like, am I stalling? Should I be doing more? Like, it's, it's that constant training, I guess, of the world that we need to be doing something, doing something, something, doing something. And one of my favorite, uh, quotes from you is actually relax and do nothing just because you're not doing anything doesn't mean that nothing is happening. And I, I just remembered that, especially when you were teaching restorative yoga. So can you tell us for the listeners how you came to be, uh, a yoga teacher and especially how you came to this modality? And in the introduction, I mentioned that, uh, Dr. Gale has a wonderful book, restorative yoga for ethnic and race based stress and trauma. This is the first installment, the first volume. And there's a second volume coming out November, right?   Dianne Bondy: (13:55) November mm-hmm yeah. In November. And we're gonna talk a little bit about this book, life changing. My favorite chapter in this book, um, around self-awareness is chapter four. And I think if you could really like dive into chapter four, it will give you great perspective. If you are not part of, um, this culture or part of this ethnicity that we're talking about, what are some of the stressors that lead us to need a practice like this? So how did you come to do this work? How did you become a yoga teacher, a therapist, like what inspires you to do this work?   Dr. Gail Parker: (14:25) So, as you know, I've been practicing yoga my entire adult life. And when I started practicing yoga, which has been for, uh, gosh, over 50 years, really? Mm. When I started practicing the, there were no such things as yoga studios. I stumbled upon a class at, uh, the Detroit Institute of arts, where I was living at the time being taught by a man, if we could screen share, which I know we, we can't, and we don't need to, I would show you his picture, Mr. Black, his name was Mr. Black. And he wore a black suit and tie to teach us yoga. So we were not practicing the kind of yoga that is currently being taught clearly. Right, right. But it was a full practice. It was a complete practice, meaning it involved very gentle physical movements, mindful physical movements. Um, it involved breath, it involved, um, self-awareness self realization.   Dr. Gail Parker: (15:14) It involved, um, uh, there was a, a deep spiritual component. So that was how I was introduced to the practice. So in, or, and I, and what ended up happening for me right away is I, I felt the sense of inner P that was very powerful. And that's what kept me going back. And the class I only met once a week. And, um, so I kept going back to the class. Um, and over time I just continued the practice. I continued to teach myself how to do yoga, because that's about all you could do with, and those days I think the class lasted for a year. And then I don't know what happened to Mr. Actually, Mr. Black went up to Northern Michigan and founded a, a, uh, a, a retreat center. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Song of the morning retreat center, which is in Vanderbilt, Michigan, which is interesting.   Dr. Gail Parker: (16:08) Anyway. Um, so I continued to, to teach myself yoga and continued the practice on my own until yoga studios began to proliferate, which was, I think, in the nineties. Mm. Yeah. And I was the first one at the door and enjoying these very active, uh, athletic, physical practices. Mm-hmm so it's not that I did not do those practices. I did, uh, until I couldn't anymore, which is only, only fairly recently. Right. And enjoyed every minute of it. I like many people I decide I was so intrigued by the experience and what I was, I felt inside myself, I wanted to learn more about what was going on. So I took a yoga teacher training and in that yoga teacher training, I was introduced to restorative yoga, which is, um, for those of you who don't know restorative, uh, it is, it it's a, a receptive form of yoga. It's not an active form of yoga where you are using props to support your body and holding postures, stillness, and quiet for extended periods of time. It's delicious and revoke the relaxation response, which is a real physiologic response. All right.   Dr. Gail Parker: (17:33) So I didn't know that at the time I'm just doing it. And, and, and what was interesting is my yoga tea, the woman who introduced me to, uh, restorative yoga would come, uh, while I'm, I'm supposed to be being still in one of these poses, I'm fidgeting. I'm Mo you know, cause it was hard to be still. Mm. It was really hard to be still. I have that problem too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember one time she came over and she just put her hand on me, she said, stop it so, but I, I appreciated the practice. I got it. I really got it. I thought, for example, had she not put her hand very gently on me and said stop it? I don't know that I would've noticed I was fidgeting. Mm. I mean, I knew I was, but I didn't know. It mattered, you know what I'm saying? I'm just fidgeting.   Dr. Gail Parker: (18:26) And, and so it, it just continue to bring me into deeper inner awareness. And I, and all of a sudden the light bulb went on, went off, I'm a psychologist. I have clients who don't know that they are, that, that they don't have this awareness of the inner self. They may, until like I did, but they haven't physically felt it. And I thought this is a perfect practice to invite people, to come into that level of awareness that is beyond thought and beyond language and beyond talking. So I never saw it as an either or proposition that you either do talk therapy or you do, uh, yoga therapy, for example, the yoga for a therapeutic reason. So I began to combine both. Um, now my clients were never coming to me to learn yoga. So I was not teaching them how to do yoga. Wasn't teaching them yoga postures, but I understood the philosophy.   Dr. Gail Parker: (19:34) I understood the, the potency and the impact and how breath and movement and just your body language are impacting what you're experiencing. And so I would, you know, invite people into that practice in that way. So somebody comes in, their shoulders are up here. Their eyes are bugging out. You, I say, how are you? They say, I'm fine. yeah. I say, okay, well, let's come on in, let's have a seat. And before we get started, let's take, let's just do a little bit of breathing. I'll do it with you. And so we would do that. And then I was, how are you feeling? Oh, I feel so much better. Mm mm-hmm oh, well, you know, that's always available to you to, you know, when you notice that you're feeling a certain way, you can always come to your breath mm-hmm and, and, and you can feel better. So that would be the way I would introduce it. And then over time, you know, I, I began to do, you know, and do more things like that. Um, and, and so it's just powerful. It's just effective. It was a beautiful addition to the therapeutic work I was already doing. Mm.   Dianne Bondy: (20:43) I think it's, it's amazing. I run into so many, um, psychotherapists, like in the eating disorder world, they'll be at a conference or, or what have you, and I'll be invited to do some kind of practice. And because we're in a conference room or, you know, we're in a ballroom and everybody's sitting on a chair, I will do something a little bit more restorative. I'll do, I'll start out with something really gentle so that people can get out of their heads and into their body. And then we'll dip down into something that's super restorative. And the amount of people fidgeting is always really interesting. I always take note of that, cuz I tend to be a bit of a fidgeter myself, which is why, um, I think the active practice spoke to me for so long. Cause it just like got all the fidgets out and then I was able to like, you know, really come deep down into that awareness, but it was amazing to me how many clinicians would say to me that, wow, this was really powerful in my own, you know, awareness of self.   Dianne Bondy: (21:35) And I just thought to myself, this is a practice that maybe all clinicians should be, at least doing personally. And I always would make reference to you. And I said, you know, you know, a friend of mine, a very close friend of mine is a psychotherapist. And she uses these principles in her therapy with great success because we are like, I think perpetually disconnected from our breath and our body. I can't tell you many times, you know, I look in the back of my hand and I see a cut and I'm like, what did I do that? Or I hit my elbow and there's a bruise. I'm like, when did I do that? Like just so completely preoccupied with everything else in the world that I have no space for my own self-awareness mm-hmm . And I think through this practice is the only way I've come to realize that.   Dr. Gail Parker: (22:23) Yeah. I mean, I, I agree. And that's, and, and it's more than, and the real is an embodied experience of it. Mm-hmm , mm-hmm, , it's not a thought. Yeah. It's, it's a real physical experience of what we're talking about and that can't be, you know, you can't, you can't describe that to someone, you, you, you have to do it. You, you have to actually engage the practice.   Dianne Bondy: (22:53) And I think people are maybe a little bit of, it's afraid of being still a little bit of afraid of, you know, dipping down into their self-awareness. I'm watching a lot of social justice activists, um, out there in the world, doing all the things, all the things, all the, all the things. And I'm just wondering if they slow down and stop and take a few breaths, what will happen? Like what are they afraid will happen if they take their foot off the gas for a minute?   Dr. Gail Parker: (23:20) That is a good question. Right? That's a good question.   Dianne Bondy: (23:24) Yeah. Like just for a second, if you took your foot off the gas and that's kind of where I'm at this summer, you easing back, which brings me to your book, tell me the process, what inspired you to do this incredible, great piece of work? And I will link to it in the show notes where you could buy it and where you can. Pre-buy the next book I've already, um, I've already, pre-ordered my, my book. I need to have the box set because I, I think there might be a third , uh, it's just such great work!   Dr. Gail Parker: (23:53) You know, I'm like for the I'm I'm looking away because I'm looking for some notes that I took, not really for this interview, but that I think are relevant. Um, I'll, I'll , I mean, it, it, it started before this, but in, um, 20, when was it? When, when in 2014? Mm, Michael Brown was murdered. Yes. Yes. Michael Brown is the young man in, from Ferguson, Missouri. For those of you who need a reminder who was shot in, killed and left in the street for hours before any shot and killed by a policeman, uh, he was an unarmed young black man mm-hmm before anybody, um, came to even recover his remains. You know, it was pretty traumatic for everyone. Prior to that, we had been through Trayvon Martin's murder. We had been through, uh, I think tare rice mm-hmm , uh, was murdered the same year as Michael Brown, uh, Jordan Davis, who, uh, was shot in his car for playing his music too loud.   Dr. Gail Parker: (25:02) Mm-hmm , um, and murdered. And, and, and it was so Michael Brown's murder, was it, it, it just made me realize I have to do something. I have to engage in this work, um, to support people who are just overwhelmingly traumatized by what's going on, um, to support them in finding a sense of wellbeing. See, here's the thing, even in the face, and this is what our yoga teaches us. And I've had the experience, even in the face of chaos, confusion, trauma, we can, there is a place within us that we can access that is that place of wellbeing, believe it or not. Yes. Believe it or not. Now we don't, when you're in the midst of trauma and you've never done this before, this is not a good time to find that place, you know, so, which is if you've had years of practice, what ends up and you know, that place, then that's, that's your refuge.   Dr. Gail Parker: (26:11) That's where you can go when everything is just seems so overwhelming. All right. So anyway, I was at, actually, I was at a retreat, a yoga retreat, uh, not a physical retreat, but it was a philosophical retreat. And the professor who was leading the retreat was enraged about Michael Brown's death and murder. And he was on a rant. He's a college professor. Also, he was on a rant about it and how, how offended he was by all of it. And I, I was the only black person in the room and the professor was white as well. And I'm looking around. And these were people that I, that I knew and had been involved with for a long time, everybody's on their cell phone, or, you know, run through this or kind of looking, you know, you could sit waiting for him to finish, so they could get back to talking about, um, the mythology of, you know, what we were there to talk about is that yeah.   Dr. Gail Parker: (27:15) Right. And I realized in that instant, I thought, you know what? This is my, I have to, I have to do something I have to do, so they don't have to do anything. I have to do something and I have to bring it into the yoga world and community that I associate with, because these are practices that black and brown people deserve to know about and be introduced to and share. Right? So that was where it started. Mm-hmm in 2018, I was asked to be a keynote speaker at an international, uh, yoga therapy Alliance conference.   Dr. Gail Parker: (27:54) About two months before that the Starbucks incident occurred where the two young men who were sitting Starbucks, mining their own business, waiting for a business associate to arrive were arrested for not ordering anything while they waited. And I remember using that in this presentation that I made, and it was a very powerful presentation. And after the presentation, um, actually, and, and the title of presentation was white as a color too, because this organization was a 95% white organization. And at the time I wanted, I thought, you know, what, if I'm gonna talk to white people about this, I want them to understand first that number one, this is a necessary conversation for us to have. That is the yoga world and actually the entire, but the yoga world becomes more racially and ethnically diverse. Mm-hmm we need to be able to have the conversation.   Dr. Gail Parker: (28:50) Mm-hmm non defensively. Yes. That's the word? Non defensively. Yeah. Non defensively and constructively. And so, um, and I thought that in order that, you know, in a racialized culture, which is what we live in mm-hmm, white people don't include themselves. Yeah. As a race. Yes. I found that too. So I'll get up. Let me just, this is a sidebar here about the DEI initiatives. Yes. Diversity. Yeah. I think inclusive inclusivity should mean white people should include themselves in this stuff. That's I don't think it means that white people should include black people. We know white people need to include themselves. That's the inclusivity agreed that, oh, I'm a white. Oh, I, oh, oh. I'm I'm part of this conversation. I'm a racialized being too. All right. Yes. Oh my relationship to my own race and ethnicity, not how do I help? Not, not, how do I understand you? Black people or brown people and help you, but how do I understand me and my own and help me and my own   Dianne Bondy: (30:04) Agreed. I think that's   Dr. Gail Parker: (30:05) Brilliant. Yeah. All right. So we all have our work to do. Yes. Anyway, after this presentation, I was approached by a publisher who said, you need to write a book. I said, a book said the talk, she a   Dianne Bondy: (30:20) Book. Yeah, yeah. Like, pardon me?   Dr. Gail Parker: (30:22) Book is a book. I said, nice. So I thought about, I was afraid actually. Yeah, yeah. To do it for a variety of reasons. It's a lot of, um, but largely because of that ex my experience of the indifference to the topic that yes. A lot of in my experience, white people have displayed. Yes. And that is painful to me. Yes. Because it's an important topic to me. Yes. It involves my experience of myself, my identity. Um, and I just didn't wanna, it, my feelings hurt, you know,   Dianne Bondy: (31:04) I really valid, valid. Nobody wants their feelings hurt. I realize   Dr. Gail Parker: (31:08) Not, you know what? Yeah. You know, grow up, you know, you do this, you've been doing it forever. Cuz I had taken a break from all of this for a while. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You've been doing it forever. You know, just write the book. So I did. Um, and it was, it was, it was challenging. I, what I learned about writing books you've written. So, you know yeah. What I learned about writing books is that the, for me, anyway, the hardest obstacle I had in overcoming my resistance was that fear of criticism that yes, fear, it's very, I'm gonna say the wrong thing. that I'm going to, so I had to dismantle my own internalized, um, critical thinking. Mm-hmm about kind of going off the farm to write this book that may not be well received. It was hard. It was really hard. I feel that, yeah,   Dianne Bondy: (32:06) I get that. It's it's almost like a little bit of an internalized imposter syndrome. Who am I to be writing about this? What, this is what I believe. What if other people don't believe it? Are they gonna like burn me an effigy on the internet? Like all the things, right? Well,   Dr. Gail Parker: (32:20) Mine was a little different. Mine was, I don't know if you, uh, ever saw the, uh, documentary they did on Tony Morrison just before she died. It was beautiful. Anyway, one of the things she talked about was how she and James Baldwin who were good friends, used to get together and talk about having to, having to fight what she called the white gays. And she said, you know that little white man who sits on your shoulder and criticizes everything you do. Yes. That that's what it was for me. Mm. That, you know, that internalized critic that this isn't good enough. Now one aspect of race based rest in trauma is the internalization of not being good enough. Mm-hmm you see mm-hmm so I had to bump, I bumped into my own and I think I write about it in chapter one where I say, I think that part of the reason, this was scary for me, the, the, the first chapter of the book is called, uh, the wounds heel, but the scars still hurt.   Dr. Gail Parker: (33:19) Yes. And I think, I, you know, if you don't mind, since we're on the topic, it's said, um, we retain a memory of our injuries, whether they are physical or psychological, even after the injury has healed and scarred over mm-hmm, where scar tissue has formed. We from time to time be reminded of the hurt. This is especially true of our deepest emotional wounds, writing on the topic of race based stress. And trauma is like that. For me, it scares me some maybe it's because it brings up old wounds from my past that are healed, but scarred over, maybe it's because I'm afraid an afraid of countering wounds that have yet to be healed. Racial wounding is painful and approaching these wounds risks, reopening them because race based stress and trauma linger, but our emotional scars are the marks that tell a story of times when life really hurt us, but didn't break us.   Dr. Gail Parker: (34:19) They're in indicators of our strength and our resilience. We need not be afraid to approach them or show them true. Healing comes when you learn to face your wounds, not hide them. Yoga as a therapeutic healing, modality has an important role to play in helping us face and heal our emotional wounds. That is for black to brown, white, indigenous, Latinx people, Asian people, all races, all cultural identities and ethnicities. This is not just for black people or brown people. And that's how this book was written. That also, that's also what made it challenging to, right, from my perspective, as an African American woman, um, who is sometimes racially ambiguous mm-hmm , by the way, people don't, especially when I was younger, people did not always see a black person when they looked at me and may not now. Yeah. Um, because black for lot of people, um, carries within a color. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This space yeah. Or yeah, not this space. And so that's also part of my identity that can be, has been wounding for me not being recognized. Mm-hmm , which I think is everybody's wound, you know, but that absence of recognition of who I am and, um, on, on, on, on, you know, deeper levels of, of being so anyway, so that's how I wrote the book, why I wrote the book. Um, I was absolutely stunned and gratified by how well received it continues to be.   Dianne Bondy: (36:10) It is quoted probably weekly in my feed pictures, on my Instagram feed. People talk about, I quote it on the regular. I think it's a very important book. I am grateful you are writing a second chapter or a second volume or you're continuing the work. Yeah. I think it's so useful. And you and I have done a couple of, I have workshops like you, you used to come in and do the restorative part of the 200 hour teacher for that. I ran and now you've done part of the 300 part. Um, I remember we were at Greentree yoga one time and it was in the beginnings. You hadn't read the book yet, but you were doing these workshops. And we were at Greentree, um, yoga in California, uh, together mm-hmm . And I remembered, uh, we were doing this workshop and what ended up happening is that I think it was intended for brown folks and black folks to really get some deep restoration.   Dianne Bondy: (37:03) And then we had a few white folks sign up and then there was that conversation. Do we pull back the conversation that was intended for a black or brown audience only? Or do we honestly put that information out there and see how it lands? And I loved how you very much, um, you know, engage the white folks in that room. But I remember initially the little bit of hesitancy we both had because we were like, oh, we had thought that this was going to be a space like that was going to be majority black in which it was, but we did, I think had three people who were white in the class, which I never usually have. It's usually the flip, the classes, all white folks. And then there's three black folks. And one of the black folks is me. I've often been the only black base in a lot of places.   Dianne Bondy: (37:48) And it's in a lot of, um, yoga spaces where, you know, we speak about, oh, it's, nonjudgment, you know, it's no judgment here. It's welcoming here, everybody's welcome here. And you step into these spaces and it's evident that you, you are not welcome here, that you are not part of who's on the floor and it might not be the teacher or the staff behind the desk that treats you like you don't belong here. It might be the other students rolling out their mats next to them. And that disembodied understanding of the yoga practice, where you can come and roll out your mat in a classroom, but can be completely hostile or indifferent to the person of color who's in the room next to you. And to just have that, almost a feeling of open hostility, that yoga spaces or white spaces,   Dr. Gail Parker: (38:34) Or, um, and I've had this experience and I'm sure you have too, or have seen it, or someone will you're in, you're in the yoga space and it's predominantly white mm-hmm and a black person comes into the room. And, and then let's say it's crowded. Yeah. And a lot of space. Yep. And a black person comes to the room and nobody moves. Yes. Nobody move their mat. And the teacher doesn't facilitate it. Whereas when the white person came in, just before everybody moved to make the space and the teacher facilitated it, it's that. Yeah. You know, it's that lack of awareness and re on the part of the teacher mm-hmm that this person is not being supported mm-hmm or, um, I love this story of, I sent a client, uh, to, uh, a yoga studio that I thought, you know, where I had practiced.   Dr. Gail Parker: (39:34) I said, I think, and she loved you yoga. And I, and wanted to learn more. So I said, well, go to this studio. I'm sure it'll be fine. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. She shows up in her brown skin. Mm-hmm her full body. Mm-hmm with her little yoga outfit on and her little yoga mat on her shoulder. And is green did at the reception desk with, are you here for yoga? Oh no. I'm here to get my hair done. Yeah. you know, it's and, and now, so, and, and, and to challenge that, number one, you don't wanna have to number one. Yeah. Number two, it always comes as a surprise. It's never anticipated. You just don't and you know, you just don't. Um, and it's not the only time it happens. No. And you recognize it for what it is. What do you do about that?   Dr. Gail Parker: (40:30) What do you say? You know what I mean? It's, it's, it's, it's, it's hard, it's difficult. And so part of the, the, the, the book is written to, to support people in understanding that what you're experiencing is real. It really is your experience. You're not making it up. Yeah. You know, when you are being discriminated against or treated differently differe or feared, or, you know, whatever that is, the person who's doing that may or may not be aware mm-hmm may or may not be aware, which is the eye in inclusivity, in that DEI. Exactly. You're talking about. Yeah, exactly. And so I was, it was funny. I was talking to somebody yesterday who wanted me, who wants me to, uh, teach in her program and, um, and she's white. And so I asked, I was saying, well, what's the racial demographic, because when I'm teaching this aspect of the practice, you know, for ethnic and race based stress and trauma, first of all, nobody is coming to yoga to deal with race based stress and trauma. Yeah. True. They're not, that's not why they're coming. Yeah. Nobody is right. However, yes, because of the transformative nature and sub nature of yoga, your stuff is gonna come up. Yes. Big time. It's gonna come up. Yeah. And if you're black, let's say let's okay. Let's pretend you're the person who comes in. Nobody makes room for you. Mm-hmm it hurts your feelings. Mm-hmm it makes you feel horrible, but you decide to stay anyway. Yeah. And let's say the yoga teacher comes up to you afterwards and says, how was it?   Dr. Gail Parker: (42:20) Can you be honest? can you be honest? Yeah. Can you be honest? Am I, you know, should I be honest? Do I dare risk being honest? Yeah. That in and of itself creates kind of stress. It's not that the teacher shouldn't ask that. Right. It's that? So in the person who has felt mistreated, misaligned, MIS misunder, not recognized mm-hmm , you know, it, it, it, it, it brings stuff up. Yeah. So the teacher has to be prepared to hear the answer to that question. And I would argue that's part of their awareness. Yeah. So, so you have as, as, as a white person for exam, not all yoga teachers are white, I'm talking. Right. But as a white person, if you're going to you, you have to be prepared. Mm-hmm to hear some things that you, that may be unfamiliar mm-hmm , that may be shocking.   Dr. Gail Parker: (43:17) Mm-hmm that may cause you to feel defensive mm-hmm . And am I able to stand in my own awareness of self and be present for you in your time of need mm-hmm you need to be honest with me. Yeah. Can I receive your honesty? That's that's the work, um, instead of getting the pushback and the, I didn't need, no, it didn't happen or explaining why you made that up or, you know, all of those things that, that we do, um, as , I mean, that that's, that's the work, you know, that's the work and it's, and for, uh, the person who's been, who feels, who has experienced being othered. Yeah. Injured actually treated differently. Mm-hmm , um, um, injured, injured in that moment. Yeah. How do I, how do I deal with my own internal experience of what has occurred? Do I ignore it? Mm. Do I keep on pushing? Do I, um, withdraw and sink into a, a, a place of immobility? You know, H how am I responding to my own internal experience of the injury and what is, and how do I find my wellbeing in that moment, when you, when you're racial stress and trauma are so common in this culture that we learn to ignore it, we learn to adapt. Right. We adapt.   Dianne Bondy: (45:02) Yeah. How else would you survive?   Dr. Gail Parker: (45:04) Yeah. And some of our adaptations are maladaptive.   Dianne Bondy: (45:09) So just to backtrack a little bit, we talked about that adaptation we make, when we encounter that initial, you know, othering, or I called it that injury, like to me, that's injury. Right. I, um, my friend, Keisha and I, as to, um, very black women show up to, uh, a yoga class was running a little late, cuz she was coming from work. I was ahead of her. So I rolled out my mat and I didn't put a place folder next to me because I wanted to see, and this was a really busy class prior to the pandemic. I wanted to see if anybody would roll out their mat next to me. And the class got fuller and fuller and fuller. And yet that space next to me remained unclaimed. And then when she ran a little late, like for Keisha running a little late means she's only five minutes early.   Dianne Bondy: (46:01) Generally. She's like 20 minutes early, like running late for her five minutes. And it was about two minutes after the, um, the start of the class, the class started at seven 30, it was about 7 32. Uh, and then finally at 7 32, this person came in and rolled out their mat next to me. And I could say to them, I'm actually saving that space. But it was amazing to me that in 2020 or 2019 at the time that this was still going on, that people didn't wanna roll out their mat next to me and were fully, I think, unaware of that in a yoga space. And you know, I seen people like get physically uncomfortable. Like I don't know what people think is gonna happen practicing next to a black person.   Dr. Gail Parker: (46:42) Well, I, first of all, two things, I'm not sure that people are unaware of that. I think they would've claimed that they were unaware of that. Mm-hmm I don't think people are unaware that. Hmm. I really don't. I just the claim they're yeah. And number one, number two. I think that these are conditioned responses. If all, as my brother put it many years ago, if all you knew about black people is what you saw on televis. Yeah.   Dianne Bondy: (47:15) Yeah.   Dr. Gail Parker: (47:16) It's true. You live in segregated communities. Yeah. If you are not engaged black people are most of the time. Yeah. So many of us are, so we know that culture. Yeah.   Dianne Bondy: (47:31) Yeah. We D know us. It's true.   Dr. Gail Parker: (47:34) And my question is, are you willing to get to know us? Yeah. You know, frequently the question is asked, how do I get more black people to come to my   Dianne Bondy: (47:44) Yoga classes all the time? That's the number one question   Dr. Gail Parker: (47:48) Into the communities of people that you claim you want in your space.   Dianne Bondy: (47:54) Yeah.   Dr. Gail Parker: (47:55) Do you engage? You know, just because you want, um, black and brown people around you. Okay. That's nice. How do it, it, it doesn't happen by magic.   Dianne Bondy: (48:10) Yeah. Or osmosis   Dr. Gail Parker: (48:12) It, it it's intentional. You have to make efforts to, and, and advertising about it. Isn't the effort. No. Be willing to engage the, the people in the community. I mean, I, I,   Dianne Bondy: (48:28) It seems obvious. Yeah. Yeah.   Dr. Gail Parker: (48:30) Yeah. It seems obvious. And if you're not, you don't have to be. I mean, if you, you know, if you don't want to that's okay too. Yeah. But   Dianne Bondy: (48:37) Don't expect people to come to your class then like don't initiate that conversation. The number one conversation I get in any of these diversity equity trainings is how do I get more diversity into my studio? I'm thinking, how are you engaging these other communities? And are you showing up with the white savior trope one for two a, you know, authentically, why do you want more diversity in your yoga class? Do you want it in your yoga class? Because this is a personal project for you. Like this is a person self, a project I'm going to better myself by engaging in other communities. And then have you done the work so that when you do show up in that other community, that you're not further traumatizing that community, that seems to be the issue. Do are people of color going to feel safe enough to relax in your space because when that brown person or that black person walked into the space and know nobody moved their mat to make room for me, I'm holding onto that feeling for the entire practice.   Dianne Bondy: (49:37) I came in here for a healing practice. The first three minutes into the practice I'm traumatized because nobody is willing to make space for me, um, to be in the room. And I'm just supposed to what adapt, ignore, or figure that stuff out on my own. And my mat then after class, the teacher comes up to me and goes, oh, welcome to the space. How was it for you? And I'm almost compelled in this moment to say, oh, it was a wonderful practice. I loved the way you did whatever, as opposed to it really hurt when I came into the space and nobody moved their mat. And you didn't say, cuz what I usually say in these situations is there everybody move up because the minute you get everybody to move up space seems to magically find a hole in the center or off to the side like that.   Dianne Bondy: (50:21) You didn't have the awareness to see that I was, you know, struggling in this moment and come to my aid, which is basically your job as a teacher. When I'm looking out into the studio space, I'm looking at how I can make this practice as interesting and adaptable and inclusive and equitable as I can. And you miss that first pillar, that first calling of nonviolence, by not stepping up and saying, I see a situation happening. I'm aware of the situation happening. Yes, I'm uncomfortable. The situation is happening because that's the job of your yoga practice is to sit with your discomfort, to be aware of it, to notice it and either do something about it. When that discomfort is disrupting the entire essence of the class and not just my own personal experience. And, and you didn't do anything like what's the point of the teacher to stand up there and call out poses because it's so much more than that.   Dianne Bondy: (51:14) Mm-hmm and I, I can't, I can't tell you how I just watched. It was just an observation. I'm not gonna put a placeholder here, cuz generally I'll take a towel or a water bottle and hold space for somebody. I'm not gonna put a placeholder here and I'm gonna watch this. You yoga class that generally has 30 or 40 people in it, fill up and see how many people are actually gonna roll out their mat for me. And it was only under duress that somebody decided to roll out their mat, that they were just running outta space everywhere else. But I'm gonna roll out my mat next to the black person.   Dr. Gail Parker: (51:43) Now here's the responsibility. I think of the person who is being avoided yes. I think we have a responsibility to say something about it. I really do. I mean, I think now we may not be prepared to do that. You know what I'm saying? You just may not have it in   Dianne Bondy: (52:06) You in that moment. Yeah.   Dr. Gail Parker: (52:11) But I really do think that that is that's where the responsibility in healing one's own, um, suffering associated with these kinds of incidents. Mm-hmm important be, cause it's empowering. Mm-hmm and can't, it is an act of, you know, you're you are a social justice activist actively doing that. Mm-hmm I, I am too, I guess, but in a different totally you are a willingness to step up and not have a fight with anybody. No. Yeah. But from a place of that equanimity, that, that balanced place of wellbeing, this is why we cultivate wellbeing so that we can come from that place of wellbeing to express in the moment who, what has occurred. Mm-hmm how it affected me and what I think ought to happen. That's our work. Absolutely. That's hard to do. It is. It's easy to do.   Dianne Bondy: (53:22) It's actually scary for some folks, right?   Dr. Gail Parker: (53:25) It's well, no, it's always scary. Yeah. That's another thing I have with, we have to make a safe space. Well, yeah we do. Except that this is not safe work.   Dianne Bondy: (53:34) Mm   Dr. Gail Parker: (53:36) Yeah. This is courageous work. This takes, yes. It takes courage. Yes. Into that level of vulnerability and often, which by the way, for black and brown people particularly has been and continues to be a dangerous place to be.   Dianne Bondy: (53:53) Yes, yes, yes. Yes. My, one of my favorite quotes is by DL Hughley, the most dangerous place that black people reside is in the imaginations of white folks. Mm-hmm . And so setting aside all of that stuff, right. To actually see the person who's in front of you and interact with the person who's in front of you and see how that person's being treated in that space and step into that. That's and   Dr. Gail Parker: (54:19) That's hard to do if you are conditioned not to do that, if you're color blind.   Dianne Bondy: (54:24) Mm yes, yes, yes. These are the things we have to do as practitioners. This is the self-study work that we're talking about. This is the self-awareness that you mentioned at the very beginning and the onset of this podcast. Yeah. And I think it's amazing we're out there teaching yoga and have a deep disconnection to our own self-awareness I was out for dinner last Friday with a group of, um, my son's, my son graduated from the eighth grade, you know, back in June. And we had like a get together with all the moms whose kids have gone from, you know, SK up to grade eight and you know, and we've been on all the field trips and we've done all the things together and it was kind of like a, it was the last horah for me. Um, I don't know as women continue to meet together.   Dianne Bondy: (55:08) So there are seven or eight of us, all of them, white. I'm the only black person there. And I sit down to dinner and of course there's always a conversation around my hair, which I'm tired of answering. I've been answering questions about my hair since I was probably six years old. I'm 51. I don't wanna have conversations about it anymore, but people don't seem to understand that. Um, and we set, sat down and one of the women at the table said to me, um, Hey, I thought a lot about you last summer when George Floyd died in the black, the rise of the black lives matter movement. Now, do you think everything has changed?   Dianne Bondy: (55:42) And I was like, uh, what exactly has changed? You, you painted in Washington square, wherever it is, black lives matter on the road that keeps being vandalized by fair, that keeps happening to be reinstated and vandalized. There's been no change in legislation. There's been no equity or equitable laws that have been changed to change anything. Uh, just a bunch of performative action. And then she tried to open her mouth to tell me that I wasn't seeing it the way that, um, she was seeing it. And that change actually hap is happening. And I just felt like saying to her, and then when she was opening her mouth to say that, I just said, this has been my experience and my perspective and that closed her mouth because she couldn't, she couldn't say anything to that because I was speaking to my experience. And what is amazing to me is that willful ignorance that we think that these performative I'm embodied actions of social justice actually lead to change because I don't believe that they do. It's only an embodied practice. I think that leads to change. It's only when you can actually see somebody else's suffering and have some kind of awareness of that or feeling of that, that things actually change. What are your   Dr. Gail Parker: (56:55) Thoughts? I think it's actually, I think it's, it's only when you're aware of and have dealt with your own suffering. Mm   Dianne Bondy: (57:02) Yeah.   Dr. Gail Parker: (57:03) Then be present mm-hmm for someone else's mm-hmm mm-hmm see. And, and again, we live in a culture in the United States anyway, where,   Dianne Bondy: (57:14) Oh, here   Dr. Gail Parker: (57:14) Too. Yeah. So the, I think that the underlying belief is that in the dominant culture is that we shouldn't have to suffer.   Dianne Bondy: (57:25) Yeah. I would agree with that.   Dr. Gail Parker: (57:27) And, and so therefore we're always trying to avoid it or be, or we're mad about it instead of recognizing that no suffering is part of life. Yeah. And when we can deal with our own suffering mm. Our own suffering and take a deep dive into that and unpack that. Um, I think now we're making some progress. I yeah. As I'm trying to manage your suffering. Mm.   Dianne Bondy: (58:00) I can't do my own.   Dr. Gail Parker: (58:01) Well, first of all, I can't manage your suffering. All right. Bear, witness to it again, isn't that what our yoga and meditation practices teach us to bear witness, to observe, you know, we teach that a meditative mind. Isn't a quiet mind. It's an observed, it's an observing mind observed mind, you know, I'm paying attention to my own thoughts, paying attention to my own suffering. I'm paying attention to my own indifference to your back. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever that is, you know, um, this is personal work. It's   Dianne Bondy: (58:40) Deep work. It's hard   Dr. Gail Parker: (58:41) Work. It's hard work. It really is. That's why everybody ISN doing it.   Dianne Bondy: (58:47) Yeah. Understood. Like it, it goes back to what my mother always says to me, if it were easy, Diane, everybody would do it. She would always say that to me when we were growing up. So I wanna ask you just, as we're coming up on the hour already, I wanna ask you about your next book. Can you tell us a little bit about how this work continues to evolve in this, in this second volume, if you will.   Dr. Gail Parker: (59:11) So the next book evolved out of the first book and it came, it was an answer to the question that people were asking me over and over and over again in these webinars. Well, how do I do that? Right. Apply what you have learned. Yeah. And I'm say, yeah, yeah. How do, how do I do that? How do I shine a light on my own, um, pain and suffering, for example, mm-hmm, , mm-hmm . And so I realize I, I, I owed it to people to have an that question. . Dang it. Yeah. I can't keep saying you have to do the practice, right? Yeah. People before I used to have a radio show called as a psychologist and I would, I named it stumped the shrink. I mean, so it was like, kinda that, the answer to that question was, I don't know how to answer that question.   Dr. Gail Parker: (59:59) Right. well, I took some time and I thought, okay, let me see. I, I, I have to answer this question. So the, the, the second book is called transforming, um, ethnic and race based traumatic stress with yoga, because I think it's, I, I think it's important that we begin to change the narrative. Mm-hmm that not only that we don't remain stuck in our trauma mm-hmm mm-hmm , but we, that we recognize that it is possible to access that place of wellbeing in the midst of trauma. That's the, that's hard to do, because why, because first we, you have to go through really a darkened eye of the soul to get there, to get on the other side of that, to get to digest and process what has happened. I heard yet, you know, it was interesting yesterday. I was listening to some, one of the, um, black police officers who was, um, uh, traumatized and, uh, the capital, you know, uh, insurrection that we, yes, I'm trying to see if I wrote it down.   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:01:10) It was so profound. Uh, what he said, he, but basically what he said is he said on top of I was being beaten and trying to save other people's lives. People were calling me the N word. He said, you, you can't process that kind of trauma in the moment it takes, it takes, it takes a while. It takes some distance to be able to process it. Mm-hmm he said, and to unpack all of that in, and, and to have to deal with being called the N-word while I'm trying to save these people's lives, he said, it's, I, I barely have words to explain. Oh, I can only imagine that is. And so, but, but, but he's willing to unpack it. That's what I found most interesting. This second book, it tells us how to do that. Mm-hmm this is how do, how do I learn to process? And I, the, the pain and suffering that I have not been able to heal that keeps me stuck in trauma. Mm-hmm keeps me stuck in maladaptive responses to these race related events. Mm. And, um, so I tell stories about how to do that. And then I, and then I about, about why it's important and what it, what constitutes race based stress and trauma mm-hmm . And then I, you teach how to use various and affirmations to support the reclamation, for example of innocence, huh? Black and brown children lose their innocence so early.   Dianne Bondy: (01:02:48) Yeah.   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:02:48) So early you have to grow up fast when you're grow, you know, racially hostile environment, and your parents know it. And you know, you, you, you have to teach your kids to grow up fast. So the reclamation of innocence can be found, I think, embodied in child's pose.   Dianne Bondy: (01:03:06) Yes. And when   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:03:07) You say affirmations, that support that, you know, I feel innocent. I feel free, you know, while you really that's how the book is written. So I, I think I offer 10 postures and 10 possibilities for reclaiming self-worth mm-hmm , um, self love. How to, how to practice patience, uh, transforming consciousness. I have all of that in there. It's good. I like it a lot.   Dianne Bondy: (01:03:34) I love it. I can't wait.   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:03:36) I just got the final proofs, uh, yesterday. So I'm re reading it before I send it in and it'll be printed pretty soon. Um, yeah, it's re it's nice. It's a nice companion guide to the first volume. The first volume is more, it, it, it lays out the theory and the science of talking about mm-hmm and this is the application of yes. All of that. And so it's nice.   Dianne Bondy: (01:04:02) Uh, it sounds divine. And I mean, having taken a couple of classes with you while you were in the process of writing the second volume, I see how that works and, you know, I, it, it, it's very powerful. And I would, I would tell my, our listeners, if you haven't had an opportunity, a to get the first volume of the book, buy it, any race, any ethnicity, any culture, I, it, it all applies. You will pull something out of it that will help you, you know, reconcile some feelings for yourself, help you understand your own, uh, humanity and your own feelings better. And then the second guide I, I feel is a must, because I think it gives from what you explain, it gives us really concrete practices that we can do on the daily. Not even if we're in a restorative post, but we can relive or revisit that place on the daily.   Dianne Bondy: (01:04:56) When we are smacked between the eyes often, it's often you, you don't see it coming, right. You don't coming. No, it hits you between the eyes and you need that. You need that voice in your head. to help you go, okay, this is how we're gonna process this moment. Right. And I think that companion guide that second volume is gonna be a must. I think both pose if, if you're a practitioner or a teacher, I think both books are, unless, especially if you're interested in this work, you can't, you know, you have to learn about it. Yeah. You do. You have, you have to be in it. Right. And   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:05:28) You have to learn about it from your own perspective, regardless of your own race and ethnicity. And that's how both of the books have been written. It invite it's written from my perspective, cuz that's every book is, that's   Dianne Bondy: (01:05:40) The only one you can write. Yeah.   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:05:42) But I make that clear, but all of this is applicable you. So if you can, as I said, the, the, the art is the application of mm-hmm, what you're learning and the skill and   Dianne Bondy: (01:05:55) That's beautiful. I can't wait I'm I preordered mine. So I'm excited. So I wanted to ask you a couple of rapid fire questions. So our listeners can get to know you, um, a little bit more personally, there's nothing really personal in there, but I just, I wanted to do this little rapid fire. I did this on a podcast and I thought it was kind of fun. So I'm just gonna throw a, a there. And you, you just tell me, tear coffee, coffee,   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:06:21) Coffee.   Dianne Bondy: (01:06:22) All right. Sweet or salty.   Dr. Gail Parker: Both. Both.   Dianne Bondy: I love that ocean or mountains,   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:06:29) Mountains.   Dianne Bondy: (01:06:32) I all about that? Resting or active?   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:06:38) My   Dianne Bondy(01:06:40) Yik. I know. Right? That's a hard one   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:06:43) To be on active. I like active.   Dianne Bondy: (01:06:46) I do. I active, like, you know, as the balance of stillness, right. Mm-hmm like, I don't think you can truly appreciate stillness a hundred percent unless you know what, the other side of that coin kind of thing. Right? What is your favorite quote?   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:07:04) My favorite quote, if you haven't.   Dianne Bondy: (01:07:05) Oh God. Yeah. If you have one. Oh   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:07:07) No. Oh my goodness.   Dianne Bondy: (01:07:10) What is a quote you've heard recently that you thought, huh? Well, that's interesting.   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:07:16) Stump the shrink.   Dianne Bond7: (01:07:18) Iwin!. Yes. There you go. And I just did it. I just did it. I get a prize. Um, what's your favorite book or what book are you currently reading? One or the other? Um,   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:07:30) I love my favorite book is the Alchemist. And I, I love that book. I've read it many, many times and I just read a book of core is the name I cannot remember right now because I just read it,   Dianne Bondy: (01:07:43) You know? Right, right, right.   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:07:44) Yeah. Yeah. Actually it's the scientific, um, it's, it's a therapeutic approach to, to alchemy how Al yeah. Yeah. It's, it's good. It was good.   Dianne Bondy: (01:07:54) Interesting. Interesting. I love it. I like, I like alchemy. And do you have a mantra? Is, is there something that you say to yourself on the regular and you, I mean, you don't have to share the exact mantra, but is there like a, something that lifts you up when you're feeling like, oh, today's gonna be a long day or I just need something to calm my mind in the moment. Is there something that you say to yourself that helps you? I   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:08:15) Think, I think one of the things that I say all the time is growth continues.   Dianne Bondy: (01:08:20) Ah, I got that from you. I like that one. Yeah. I   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:08:23) Remember a client. You, my clients used to come, uh, to see me when I was doing psychotherapy. And again, I'd greet them at the door. How are you? And said, people would say it's been a growth week.   Dianne Bondy: (01:08:34) We know that we know what that means. Yeah. Yeah. It's been my, my favorite Gale quote or mantra that I use is when I'm running late. I'm like I have all the time in the world. That's the one I use a lot that you say, and yes it is. It's in the new book. Yeah. It must be. I'm always like that. Yeah. I have all the time in the world. Yeah. So that's   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:09:02) Why say that? What difference does it make   Dianne Bondy: (01:09:05) A huge difference? And what's really miraculous. Is it opens up time and space. I don't know why putting it out there. All of a sudden I'm not as concerned with, because I feel I have time and I always show up on time, even though I'm running late. I know. Isn't, it's amazing. It's amazing. I know. I think it just like, I feel my shoulders peel away from my ears. I feel my grip on the staring wheel, relaxed. I feel the tension in my body ripped out a couple of deep breaths and I repeat that mantra and it takes effect in such an amazing way. And I show up on time. I'm not early, but , I show up on time.   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:09:44) That's the alchemy. So, you know, alchemists, the old alchemists used to turn lead into gold.   Dianne Bondy: (01:09:51) Wow.   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:09:53) That's our work.   Dianne Bondy: (01:09:55) Come on.   Dr. Gail Parker: (01:09:56) Our lead into gold. That's that place of wellbeing. That inner place that we all have, we just have to figure out how to, how to find how   Dianne Bondy: (01:10:10) It's like it's deep and we have to get at it. Yeah. Well, I wanna thank you for this beautiful conversation. I am always in such awe, every conversation I have with you, I learn something. Uh, I am grateful for your teachings, your presence. And I loved seeing you on the front of yoga journal. I know you can't still get that copy, but it was yeah. Show us the copy. Um, I have mine. I actually framed that. I framed, I pulled off the front age and I framed I'll take a picture of it and send i

In this episode, Larissa & Elizabeth discuss what play and getting curious have to do with liberation. If we could sum up this episode in one sentence: How we create a better world is by creating opportunities for people to play together, and to enjoy being together.Stuff we mentioned:Honorée Fanonne Jeffers' book, ‘The love songs of WEB DuBois''Cloud cuckoo land' by Anthony Doerr.Stuart Brown TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/stuart_brown_play_is_more_than_just_fun/transcript?language=en#t-758879Summary of Brown's work by Larry Maguire-- Larissa found this while googling for a list of the properties and it's just very concise.Willy Wonka and the Chocolate FactoryWe mentioned, but did not quote, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's work on flow.Dianne Bondy & Amber Karnes, Yoga for AllMusic by ZakharValaha from Pixabay Music by ZakharValaha from Pixabay

In this episode, Larissa & Elizabeth discuss what play and getting curious have to do with liberation. If we could sum up this episode in one sentence: How we create a better world is by creating opportunities for people to play together, and to enjoy being together.Stuff we mentioned:Honorée Fanonne Jeffers' book, ‘The love songs of WEB DuBois''Cloud cuckoo land' by Anthony Doerr.Stuart Brown TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/stuart_brown_play_is_more_than_just_fun/transcript?language=en#t-758879Summary of Brown's work by Larry Maguire-- Larissa found this while googling for a list of the properties and it's just very concise.Willy Wonka and the Chocolate FactoryWe mentioned, but did not quote, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's work on flow.Dianne Bondy & Amber Karnes, Yoga for AllMusic by ZakharValaha from Pixabay Music by ZakharValaha from Pixabay

In this episode Kelly McHugh speaks with Dianne Bondy about how she grew her business from teaching face to face classes to an online yoga business.  Dianne shares her experience on how to grow your business online and shine by listening to your students, following your passion and learning from your mistakes and successes.  She shares her tips to grow your online community, connect through social media and find a niche that you love. Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement.  Her inclusive approach to yoga empowers anyone to practice—regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability. This episode covers: ▪️ How to take your business online ▪️ Effective ways to grow a following on social media ▪️ How to use your current community to grow your business ▪️ The power of your email list ▪️ How to discover your passion and niche ▪️ The power of listening to your students & discovering what they really need ▪️ Creating online courses & workshops & strategies on how to launch them Join the Digital Yoga Academy Facebook community The Digital Yoga Academy Facebook group is a community of thousands of yoga teachers all over the world. There are weekly live trainings with Kelly McHugh, our founder & CEO, business talks with inspiring yoga teachers, daily educational content and loads of support. Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our Youtube channel Like us on Facebook

This episode felt like a Kiki with a girlfriend! We talk activism, boundaries and of course, yoga! Follow her on IG @diannebondyyoga --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In this episode, Gillian shares her journey and how she shifted her yoga teaching and health coaching to be more inclusive.She shares:

Kat regales Justine with the tale of John Friend and his many misdeeds and how she herself drank the kula aid back in the early aughts.Yoga Teacher Resource Podcast episode where Kat and Dianne Bondy share their Anusara stories: https://yogateacherresource.libsyn.com/yoga-where-you-areSources:Scandal contorts future of John Friend, Anusara yogahttps://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/scandal-contorts-future-of-john-friend-anusara-yoga/2012/03/28/gIQAeLVThS_story.htmlhttps://www.anusarayoga.com/JOHN FRIEND: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE YOGA KINGhttps://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/john-friend-man-who-would-be-yoga-king-2288855.htmlKarma Crashhttps://nymag.com/news/features/john-friend-yoga-2012-4/John Friend: The Man, The Myth, The ‘Yoga Mogul'https://web.archive.org/web/20120407132823/http://www.yogadork.com/news/john-friend-the-man-the-myth-the-yoga-mogul/The Yoga Mogulhttps://web.archive.org/web/20120418165714/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/magazine/25Yoga-t.htmlJohn Friend, Head of Anusara: The Accusationshttps://web.archive.org/web/20120413091551/http://www.yogadork.com/news/john-friend-head-of-anusara-wiccan-leader-sexual-deviant-pension-withholding-homewrecker-the-accusations/John Friend Anusara Scandal: Inside the Wiccan ‘Sex' Covenhttps://www.thedailybeast.com/john-friend-anusara-scandal-inside-the-wiccan-sex-covenRunning Timeline of Anusara Controversy, Updates and Teacher Resignationshttps://web.archive.org/web/20120321065246/http://www.yogadork.com/news/running-timeline-of-anusara-controversy-updates-and-teacher-resignations/John Friend's Wikipedia entryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Friend_(yogi)Anusara Pension Documents and Timeline Support Claimshttps://web.archive.org/web/20120406040936/http://www.yogadork.com/news/anusara-pension-documents-and-timeline/Letter From John Friend to Anusara Yoga Teachershttps://web.archive.org/web/20120412023601/http://www.yogadork.com/news/letter-from-john-friend-to-anusara-yoga-teachers/Second John Friend Letter to Anusara Teachers: Assume Forgiveness, Resume Business As Usual; Letter from Interim Committee Reflects Discordhttps://web.archive.org/web/20120412015123/http://www.yogadork.com/news/second-john-friend-letter-to-anusara-teachers-assume-forgiveness-resume-business-as-usualUpdate: More Anusara Teacher Reactions; Noah Maze, Bernadette Birney and Others Continue Wave of Resignationshttps://web.archive.org/web/20120405135121/http://www.yogadork.com/news/update-more-anusara-teacher-reactions-noah-maze-bernadette-birney-and-others-continue-wave-of-resignations/The Anusara Yoga Scandal: Can a $6 Billion Industry Salvage Its Image?https://web.archive.org/web/20120406111024/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stewart-j-lawrence/anusara-yoga-scandal_b_1272471.htmlLetter From John Friend: Stepping down, taking ‘leave of absence' from Anusarahttps://web.archive.org/web/20120406042905/http://www.yogadork.com/news/letter-from-john-friend-stepping-down-taking-leave-of-absence-from-anusara/Yoga Mogul Turns Out to Be a Total Scumbaghttps://web.archive.org/web/20120411150630/http://jezebel.com/5886795/yoga-mogul-turns-out-to-be-a-total-scumbagYoga and Sex Scandals: No Surprise Herehttps://web.archive.org/web/20120502122839/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/health/nutrition/yoga-fans-sexual-flames-and-predictably-plenty-of-scandal.html?_r=2&pagewanted=allNew CEO Moves to Save Anusara, Buys 50 Percent Stake in 50/50 Partnership with John Friendhttps://web.archive.org/web/20120402162618/http://www.yogadork.com/news/new-ceo-moves-to-save-anusara-buys-50-percent-stake-in-5050-partnership-with-john-friend/Douglas Brooks: Anusara Inc. Must Cease to Exist to Avoid Further ‘Irreparable Harm'https://web.archive.org/web/20120402162607/http://www.yogadork.com/news/douglas-brooks-anusara-inc-must-cease-to-exist-to-avoid-further-irreparable-harm%E2%80%9D/John Friend Cut From Wanderlust Festival 2012 Lineuphttps://web.archive.org/web/20120418143725/http://www.yogadork.com/news/wanderlust-festival-cuts-john-friend-from-2012-lineupJohn Friend and Sridaiva: A primer on his new yoga programhttps://www.westword.com/news/john-friend-and-sridaiva-a-primer-on-his-new-yoga-program-5897015History of the Bowspringhttps://bowspring.com/history/John Friend Opens Up About The Sex Scandal That Shook The Yoga Worldhttps://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-15635/john-friend-opens-up-about-the-sex-scandal-that-shook-the-yoga-world.html

Join in listening to this insightful conversation that I had with Shanna Small. During our conversation Shanna shares her passion for teaching yoga in a way that fosters listening, safety and interactive instruction that can make yoga accessible to all.Visit her website: ashtangayogaproject.comFollow her on IG: @wellness_yoginiShanna Small is a writer and Yoga teacher who speaks to the intersectionality of Yoga and social justice.  She has practiced Ashtanga Yoga and studied the Yoga Sutras since 2001. She has studied in Ashtanga in Mysore with Sharath Jois. Shanna studied Sanskrit, the Yoga Sutras and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika with Laksmish in Mysore, India.   Shanna's finds joy in making the Ashtanga practice accessible for all.  She studied with Amber Karnes and Dianne Bondy and is Yoga For All certified. She is a regular contributor for Yoga International, OmStars and the Ashtanga Dispatch.    She teaches diversity and inclusivity, Yoga Sutras as well as accessibility trainings and workshops. She is a founding member of Yoga For Recovery Foundation, a non-profit that helps those recovering from addiction, trauma and systemic oppression.  Shanna is also certified in the Trauma Conscious Yoga Method.Shanna is a graduate of Georgia State University and holds a bachelor's in business with a concentration in marketing. Before becoming a full time yoga teacher, Shanna was a recruiter and ad account executive. For information on workshops, please e-mail shanna@ashtangayogaproject.comIf you have any feedback about this podcast we would love to hear from you! New Student Livestream Special ~ Try 2 Weeks of Free Unlimited Livestream Yoga Classes  at Native Yoga Center. Sign into the classes you would like to take and you will receive an email 30 minutes prior to join on Zoom. The class is recorded and uploaded to nativeyogaonline.com ~ Click Here to join.Thank you Bryce Allyn for the show tunes. Check out Bryce's website: bryceallynband.com and sign up on his newsletter to stay in touch. Listen here to his original music from his bands Boxelder, B-Liminal and Bryce Allyn Band on Spotify.Visit us at www.nativeyogacenter.com

Natarajana / King Dancer / Lord of the Dance Pose, more commonly referred to simply as “Dancer,” is an iconic and challenging yoga pose that invites us to discover our own courage and compassion. Shiva-as-Nataraj is classically depicted standing atop a mischievous gnome as he dances and plays a drum. A cobra winds around Shiva's neck, his dreadlocks swirl around his head, a ring of fire encircles him, a flame also burns in the palm of his hand. Dancer is a standing one-legged balancing shape, where one foot is lifted behind us, grasped by the hand as we tip forward and reach the other arm forward. It can be a very confronting but rewarding pose and today on the podcast, on the blog, and in the accompanying YouTube video I provide some variations and modifications to help you find dancer pose that allows you to experience all of its benefits. I'm Blythe Stephens, and that's what we're exploring today in episode 64 of the A Blythe Coach Podcast providing weekly dance education & coaching to move through life with balance, grace, & power! What yoga poses or movements do you find especially challenging? What emotions come up for you in these times of challenge? What modifications or variations can help you access the potential benefits of these poses? How can I support your practice? Stay tuned on my YouTube Channel and Blog for more about living a luscious life!! Blythe Stephens, MFA she/her or they/them A Blythe Coach: Dance Education & Coaching move through life with balance, grace, & power DISCLAIMER: A Blythe Coach recommends that you consult your physician regarding the applicability of any recommendations and follow all safety instructions before beginning any exercise program. When participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury to yourself. Sources Myths of the Asanas: The Stories at the Heart of the Yoga Tradition by Alanna Kaivalya, Shiva Rea, and Manorama Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get On the Mat, Love Your Body by Jessamyn Stanley Teaching Yoga: Essential Foundations and Techniques by Mark Stephens and Mariel Hemmingway Yoga Where You Are: Customize Your Practice for Your Body and Your Life by Dianne Bondy, Kat Heagberg, and Jes Baker

Shanna Small is a writer and Yoga teacher who speaks to the intersectionality of Yoga and social justice.  She has practiced Ashtanga Yoga and studied the Yoga Sutras since 2001. She has studied in Ashtanga in Mysore with Sharath Jois. Shanna studied Sanskrit, the Yoga Sutras and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika with Laksmish in Mysore, India.   Shanna finds joy in making the Ashtanga practice accessible for all.  She studied with Amber Karnes and Dianne Bondy and is Yoga For All certified. She is a regular contributor for Yoga International, OmStars and the Ashtanga Dispatch.     She teaches diversity and inclusivity, Yoga Sutras as well as accessibility trainings and workshops. She is a founding member of Yoga For Recovery Foundation, a non-profit that helps those recovering from addiction, trauma and systemic oppression.  Shanna is also certified in the Trauma Conscious Yoga Method. Shanna is a graduate of Georgia State University and holds a bachelor's in business with a concentration in marketing. Before becoming a full time yoga teacher, Shanna was a recruiter and ad account executive. 

Dianne Bondy and I met years ago at a photo shoot for Gaiam. Their focus was to portray different body types, and people of color, and show the world that yoga (asana) isn't just for skinny white women, but indeed, for every body. It was about time, and frankly we still have a long way to go. Dianne Bondy is, as she calls it, an interrupter, and man is she good at it. She has so much insight and so much wisdom, and is not afraid to speak her truth (satya). You don't want to miss this one. Let's get to it. We discuss:Body image in the media, and yoga spaceThe intersection of social justice and spirituality Why speaking your truth is so marvelously important How healing and accountability go hand in handWhy we need community now more than ever, and more...Dianne Bondy is the founder of the Yoga For All movement, a body image advocate, body positivity and social equity warrior and believes in self-care, self-love and self-acceptance as a practice. Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement. Her inclusive approach to yoga empowers anyone to practice—regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability. Dianne is revolutionizing yoga by educating yoga instructors around the world on how to make their classes welcoming for all kinds of practitioners.Dianne is the author of the international best selling book, Yoga for Everyone (DK Publishing, Penguin Random House), co-author of Yoga Where Yoga Are (to be released in December 2020), and a frequent contributor to Yoga International, DoYou, Yoga Girl, and Omstars. She has been featured in publications such as The Guardian, Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, and People.Dianne's commitment to increasing diversity in yoga has been recognized in her work with Pennington's, Gaiam, and the Yoga & Body Image Coalition, as well as in speaking engagements at Princeton, Duke, University of Buffalo and UC Berkeley on Yoga, Race, and Diversity. Her writing is published in Yoga and Body Image Volume 1, Yoga Renegades, and Yes Yoga Has Curves. You can find Dianne online at diannebondyyoga.com, yogaforalltraining.com and yogaforeveryone.tv. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement. She was a guest speaker during our 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training and we loved her talk so much, we decided to interview her for you. She shares with us about how her mother introduced her to yoga from an early age, how she began teaching yoga and her journey into becoming an activist in the yoga community. Dianne started teaching as she felt excluded and alienated in typical yoga classes, so decided to do something about it, and start a movement to teach people in all bodies how to practice yoga. She is a leader in the Yoga For All movement and is making big waves in the yoga industry. If you enjoy listening to our podcast and would like to support us, check out our Buy Me a Coffee page: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jippodcast Our website: https://justinterestingpeople.com Follow Dianne on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diannebondyyogaofficial Check out Dianne's website for her books, upcoming trainings and more info: https://diannebondyyoga.com Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinterestingpeople https://www.instagram.com/rosieandre_com https://www.instagram.com/jeremieandre_fr

Dianne Bondy: Yoga is for Every Body Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement. She was a guest speaker during our 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training and we loved her talk so much, we decided to interview her for you. She shares with… The post JIP 064: Dianne Bondy appeared first on Just Interesting People.

The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast 219: Yoga for Abundant Bodies with Dianne Bondy   Description: In recent times, yoga has become a very exclusionary practice that's limited to the privileged few - wealthy, thin, young, flexible, white and able-bodied people. However, yoga has benefits for people in all bodies, regardless of shape, size, age, ethnicity or ability. In this episode, Dianne Bondy shares more about how we can be more inclusive in yoga spaces towards people in larger bodies.   Dianne Bondy is Founder of Dianne Bondy Yoga, and a firm believer that Self-Love is a Revolutionary Act. She is a speaker, social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement. For more than twenty years, Dianne Bondy has been empowering students to come to the mat as they are, educating teachers on the need for inclusivity in yoga and how to bring that into their classes, and leading systematic change within the yoga industrial complex. Dianne is also the author of the international best selling book, Yoga For Everyone: 50 Poses for Every Type of Body and co-author of Yoga Where You Are: Customize Your Practice for Your Body + Your Life.   Dianne shares some really important insights about the harm we can cause with our words by inadvertently using offensive terms when referring to people in abundant bodies in our yoga classes, or other yoga spaces. She explains how to be more mindful of the words we use and choose, and how to ensure that we hold space for the bigger people in our classes in a way that is respectful, welcoming and non-judgmental. Dianne also has tips on what to do when students who aren't aware come into our yoga spaces and cause harm.   This episode is an excellent complement to episode 218 on body positive yoga, and is a must listen for every yoga teacher who wants to create inclusive and safe yoga spaces.   Key Takeaways: [6:02] Shannon introduces her guest for this episode - Dianne Bondy. [8:17] Dianne shares a bit more about her latest book, Yoga Where You Are, as well as her previous book, Yoga For Everyone. [10:52] What is the work that Dianne does? [12:06] What are Dianne's thoughts on using words like "obese" and "overweight" in yoga spaces? [15:27] We are used to hearing such language on the news, or being used by medical professionals, and we think this language is acceptable. Dianne talks about the impact the language medical professionals use has. [20:04] Shannon and Dianne discuss using the word "fat" to describe people in larger bodies. [22:40] Language is so powerful in our interactions with other people. [23:30] How else can we think about making someone feel welcome and safe in our yoga space when they come in in an abundant body? [27:05] How can yoga teachers address other students who may not be contributing to a safe and inclusive space for people in abundant bodies? [30:43] What tips does Dianne have to call out unkind comments about people in larger bodies that we may encounter? [33:00] How can we take the "food and diet" language out of yoga? [38:54] Find out more about Dianne's work on her website, and on Instagram. [41:25] Shannon shares her key takeaways from this interview.   Links: The Connected Yoga Teacher Facebook Group Dianne Bondy Yoga for Everyone Yoga For All Training Yoga Where You Are: Customize Your Practice for Your Body + Your Life, by Dianne Bondy and Kat Heagberg Yoga For Everyone: 50 Poses for Every Type of Body, by Dianne Bondy The Connected Yoga Teacher Facebook Group The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 210: The Future of Yoga with Amber Karnes NEDA NEDIC Health at Every Size, by Lindo Bacon The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 218: Body Positive Yoga with Gillian McCollum   Gratitude to our Sponsors Schedulicity.   Quotes from this episode: "We don't get to determine who is overweight and who isn't. We don't get to determine who is healthy and who isn't. We don't get to determine who is obese and who isn't." - Dianne "Your intention doesn't matter as much as your impact in these spaces." - Dianne   "[Larger people] is one of the groups of people in the world that we get to openly discriminate against, and language is one of the number one ways we discriminate." - Dianne   "Language has the power to elevate. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to connect. But on the flip side of it, it has the power to shame and humiliate and other people. So we need to decide - How are we going to use the power of language?" - Dianne   "The struggle is part of the practice. It's not called yoga perfect, it's called yoga practice." - Dianne   "Everybody's body is doing the best that it can. Can we not just celebrate that?" - Dianne

Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement.  Full episode with video and transcripts available at: http://bit.ly/yoga-Dianne Her inclusive approach to yoga empowers anyone to practice—regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability. Dianne is revolutionizing yoga by educating yoga instructors around the world on how to make their classes welcoming for all kinds of practitioners.

The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast 210: The Future of Yoga with Amber Karnes   Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world upside down, and the yoga industry has changed dramatically. Studios have closed, some permanently, classes and YTTs are online, and for many of us in-person classes and trainings are not possible. All of these changes have a lot of yoga teachers asking - What does the future look like for yoga? And what does that mean for yoga teachers? Amber Karnes shares some insights.   Amber Karnes is the Founder of  Body Positive Yoga and the creator of the Body Positive Clubhouse. She is a big proponent of the Health At Every Size approach to wellness, focusing on joyful movement, intuitive eating, and self-care. Amber is also the co-creator of the Yoga for All Teacher Training with Dianne Bondy, and she also leads trainings for Accessible Yoga. In her work, Amber is dedicated diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, and helping empower people live life without shame or apology.   With yoga classes and teacher trainings being moved online, what will happen when the pandemic ends, and people can be together in person again? Amber shares her thoughts on how being online has shifted expectations around yoga, and talks more about how this shift has made yoga more accessible for some people. She also highlights some of the barriers that marginalized populations may face at an in-person studio. Shannona and Amber discuss what online classes are lacking and how we can address those shortcomings, as well as what yoga teachers can do to create community in online yoga classes.   If you are looking for insights and perspectives on how to navigate the current situation, as well as explore ideas around what it really means to teach yoga, this interview is sure to inspire you and give you tools to move forward in a productive and meaningful way.   Key Takeaways: [3:41] COVID-19 has changed the way we share yoga. This episode explores what the future holds for yoga and yoga teachers. [6:48] Shannon gives a shout out to sponsor Schedulicity and reads a review from a listener. Have you left a review yet? [10:05] Shannon introduces her guest for this episode - Amber Karnes. [11:43] Shannon does a check-in with Amber. [13:43] What is helping Amber get through the upheaval in the world these days? [16:54] What is the future of being a yoga teacher? [23:42] Yoga has become more accessible to people because it is now being shared online. Amber shares more about the accessibility of yoga, fitness and movement practices in this time. [32:15] How has moving yoga online impacted some groups of people like children and less tech-savvy seniors? [35:54] What are Amber's thoughts around new yoga teachers getting certified to teach yoga online and going on to teach classes online, and only working in the online space? [38:00] We have an opportunity to reset the expectations around what a yoga class looks like, and to really examine what it means to teach Yoga. [43:59] There are thoughtful ways to change and tweak how we teach yoga to give the responsibility back to the student to listen to their bodies. [47:49] Teaching yoga online can feel lacking in community. How can we create connections and community online in creative ways? [53:48] Amber shares some thoughts around what could really help yoga teachers right now. [59:51] Shannon reflects on how important it is to center yourself around your "why". [1:00:35] Will Amber ever run for office? [1:02:09] Find out more about Amber and her work via the links below. [1:03:59] How does Amber deal with the pressure of having a large audience? [1:06:33] Shannon shares her biggest takeaways from this interview.   Links: Amber Karnes, Body Positive Yoga Amber Karnes on Instagram and Facebook Accessible Yoga Training Accessible Yoga Conference Body Positive Clubhouse Yoga for All Teacher Training with Dianne Bondy ALIGN Mastermind Program The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 209: Online Yoga Teacher Training with Jivana Heyman What Does the Future Hold for Yoga Teachers? Live with Amber Karnes Michelle Cassandra Johnson What is the future of 200-hour Yoga Teacher Trainings? - Post by Amber Karnes on Facebook Francesca Savero The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 203: Do Politics Belong in Yoga? with Chara Caruthers & Maria Kirsten The Connected Yoga Teacher Facebook Group Pelvic Health Professionals   Gratitude to our Sponsors Schedulicity and Sukhasana Chair (Code: TCYT10).   Quotes from this episode:   "I think a lot of folks are going to change the way that they are practicing yoga in community going forward." - Amber   "This moment is a unique opportunity for us to be imaginative, as both yoga practitioners and teachers of how we can reset some of the expectations around 'What is a yoga class?'." - Amber   "We can look at what the opportunities are coming out of this to create classrooms and teaching spaces and community spaces that are more equitable for all of us." - Amber   "When we approach [teaching online], we have to start to approach it as if it were a viable alternative and sometimes, a preferred alternative for some of our students." - Amber   "With accessibility, the question that I like to encourage teachers to ask is 'Where does the power live right now?'." - Amber   "Yoga is a personal practice that we do in community." - Amber  

Accessible yoga, teacher training standards, and red flags of high demand yoga styles are just a few of the topics we touch on in this wide ranging conversation with Yoga Where you Are authors Dianne Bondy and Kat Rebar (Heagberg).  Episode Highlights:  How we can teach accessible classes that are still challenging  Evolving definitions of spirituality  How we can do better in the realm of training yoga teachers as a community  What it was like to be part of a yoga cult How we can honor the roots of yoga in our classes Links & Resources Become a patron of the Yoga Teacher Resource Podcast to support weekly ad-free podcast episodes and get bonus resources each month. Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group  Follow YTR on Instagram @yoga.teacher.resource    Enter the “Yoga Where You Are” book giveaway Purchase “Yoga Where You Are” from your local bookseller or use this website to support local bookstores Dianne’s Website @diannebondyyogaoffical - Follow Dianne on Instagram Kat’s Website @katheagberglar - Follow Kat on Instagram Yoga International  

Join us for our last episode in this Pleasant Pastimes season as Kristia shares about her love for yoga! We have loved getting to share with you about the things we love and enjoy doing. Hopefully it's given you some ideas for a new hobby to try or a new appreciation of a pleasant pastime of your own! SHOW NOTES Teachers I enjoy learning from: Dianne Bondy: https://diannebondyyoga.com/ Jessamyn Stanley: http://jessamynstanley.com Kathryn Budig: http://kathrynbudig.com Folks doing good social justice/representation work: The Yoga and Body Image Coalition: http://www.yogaandbodyimage.org/yoga-and-body-image-coalition/ For at Home Yoga: Yoga with Adrianne: https://m.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene Yoga International (subscription): https://yogainternational.com Yoga Glo (subscription): https://www.glo.com *Kristia uses this one. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In this episode of The BEYOND YOGA TEACHER TRAINING Podcast, Sandy has a conversation with guest Shanna Small about the impact of structure and discipline within the yoga practice and our lives. Shanna Small s a writer and Yoga teacher who speaks to the intersectionality of Yoga and social justice. She has practiced Ashtanga Yoga and studied the Yoga Sutras since 2001. She has studied in Mysore with Sharath Jois. Shanna finds joy in making the Ashtanga practice accessible for all. She studied with Amber Karnes and Dianne Bondy and is Yoga For All certified. She is a regular contributor for Yoga International, OmStars, and the Ashtanga Dispatch. She teaches diversity and inclusivity as well as accessibility training and workshops. She is a founding member of the Yoga For Recovery Foundation, a non-profit that helps those recovering from addiction, trauma, and systemic oppression. For information on workshops, please e-mail shanna@ashtangayogaproject.com https://ashtangayogaproject.com/blog/ IG: wellness_yogini --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sandy-raper/support

From climbing up snow-capped mountains in our boxers to running marathons with no training, one of the core pillars of Yes Theory is seeking out the big heart-pumping, mind-bending physical experiences that force us beyond our limits. But what’s the point of doing all this? Are big challenges effective at helping us build daily exercise and wellness habits? Or is it more for show?  The science -- of extending past our physical limits -- is layered and complex. But at the most basic level -- the real reason we take on challenges outside our comfort zones is to prove to ourselves that we can. When you do something you thought you couldn’t do, you get to tell yourself a new story about who you are. And that story is priceless, or more precisely the cost of pushing through the challenge itself.  In this episode, we hear from Matt, Thomas, and Ammar about various experiences they’ve had -- pushing themselves physically, and committing to daily habits -- in the pursuit of re-writing their own stories. For each of them, the scope and nature of the challenge is different, and it provides a unique perspective into the obstacles we face in our physical lives.  We also hear from Dianne Bondy, an acclaimed yoga teacher and social justice activist, who shares how Western culture impacts the way we think about physical discomfort, and helps us question some of our most basic assumptions. And Aaron Ferguson, a decorated celebrity physical trainer, shares his experience training and competing in an Ironman alongside Matt. He helps us question when we’ve gone too far, and what the purpose of the pursuit really is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In episode 10, Jivana welcomes Dianne Bondy to talk about how she has created her platform, grew her career, and built a global yoga community. Dianne talks about how she leaned into the virtual space early on and gives advice for folks looking for tips on how to build their own platforms. This time with Dianne gives great insight into best practices, tools and things to remember as we teach virtually. Jivana and Dianne both talk in depth about the importance of making sure that our virtual offering spaces are accessible to all. Dianne also talks about the responsibility we each have to dismantle white supremacy and the importance of understanding the place of social justice and advocacy in our yoga spaces and personal practice. How travelling less has create more ease for her and revealed how tiring her complex travel schedule actually was prior to the pandemic How the power of manifestation in creating the career she desired How she began her career and grew her global yoga community How she leaned into virtual teaching spaces against pushback from other teachers and folks in the yoga community How to create impactful work during these new normals because of social distancing and virtual offerings How to best set up lighting and positioning for teaching virtually How to secure the tools you need to teach virtually How to make your virtual space accessible to all How race and racism are ignored and dismissed in our wellness spaces How we have a deep moral responsibility as space holders and teachers of this sacred path The responsibility of white teachers and the yoga community to understand the social impact of yoga Today's inquiry 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 invite you to reflect on this question: What are you doing to connect your yoga practice to your social advocacy? Get a transcript, links to resources, and show notes at accessibleyogatraining.com/podcast.

In episode 10, Jivana welcomes Dianne Bondy to talk about how she has created her platform, grew her career, and built a global yoga community. Dianne talks about how she leaned into the virtual space early on and gives advice for folks looking for tips on how to build their own platforms. This time with Dianne gives great insight into best practices, tools and things to remember as we teach virtually. Jivana and Dianne both talk in depth about the importance of making sure that our virtual offering spaces are accessible to all. Dianne also talks about the responsibility we each have to dismantle white supremacy and the importance of understanding the place of social justice and advocacy in our yoga spaces and personal practice. How travelling less has create more ease for her and revealed how tiring her complex travel schedule actually was prior to the pandemic How the power of manifestation in creating the career she desired How she began her career and grew her global yoga community How she leaned into virtual teaching spaces against pushback from other teachers and folks in the yoga community How to create impactful work during these new normals because of social distancing and virtual offerings How to best set up lighting and positioning for teaching virtually How to secure the tools you need to teach virtually How to make your virtual space accessible to all How race and racism are ignored and dismissed in our wellness spaces How we have a deep moral responsibility as space holders and teachers of this sacred path The responsibility of white teachers and the yoga community to understand the social impact of yoga Today's inquiry 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 invite you to reflect on this question: What are you doing to connect your yoga practice to your social advocacy? Get a transcript, links to resources, and show notes at accessibleyogatraining.com/podcast.

In episode 10,  Jivana welcomes Dianne Bondy to talk about how she has created her platform, grew her career, and built a global yoga community. Dianne talks about how she leaned into the virtual space early on and gives advice for folks looking for tips on how to build their own platforms. This time with Dianne gives great insight into best practices, tools and things to remember as we teach virtually. Jivana and Dianne both talk in depth about the importance of making sure that our virtual offering spaces are accessible to all. Dianne also talks about the responsibility we each have to dismantle white supremacy and the importance of understanding the place of social justice and advocacy in our yoga spaces and personal practice.    How travelling less has create more ease for her and revealed how tiring her complex travel schedule actually was prior to the pandemic  How the power of manifestation in creating the career she desired  How she began her career and grew her global yoga community  How she leaned into virtual teaching spaces against pushback from other teachers and folks in the yoga community How to create impactful work during these new normals because of social distancing and virtual offerings  How to best set up lighting and positioning for teaching virtually How to secure the tools you need to teach virtually How to make your virtual space accessible to all How race and racism are ignored and dismissed in our wellness spaces How we have a deep moral responsibility as space holders and teachers of this sacred path The responsibility of white teachers and the yoga community to understand the social impact of yoga   Today’s inquiry 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 invite you to reflect on this question: What are you doing to connect your yoga practice to your social advocacy? Get a transcript, links to resources, and show notes at accessibleyogatraining.com/podcast.

There has been a phenomenal uptick of rising yoga and wellness influencers posting anti-racism sentiments on social media. Yet in stark contrast to the important message of bringing light to police brutality against BIPOC, or tackling underrepresentation of coloured folks in wellness spaces, these feeds are filled with white, thin, able-bodied, cis-het women striking yoga poses on beaches. Are these influencers for real?In this episode:The current phenomenon of performative activism in yoga social media, and why it comes across as disingenuousHow white yoga and wellness influencers can leverage their privilege to do betterMy personal experiences of racism growing up, how these pale in comparison to those of BIPOC, and how I'm responding to racial injusticeThe damage done by sentiments like, “No One Is Superior”, "We Are All One", or "I Don't See Colour"Spiritual capitalism and the ways white supremacy manifests in real-life white yoga studio culture3 tactics of defence and dismissal used by white wellness influencers to deflect accountability around racismPeople who are doing excellent work in allyship, de-centering themselves, raising the voices of BIPOC, and/or speaking out as BIPOC wellness and yoga influencers themselvesResources mentioned:Dianne Bondy on challenging racism and spiritual bypassing, on the triyoga podcastAcknowledgment of Country by Georgia Mae Capocchi-HunterCasey's article on The Spiritual, Sexy, Successful Woman IdealTranscript of this episode with links to posts mentionedYoga is Dead podcastSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/nondietyogi)

Do you feel more pressured to exercise during quarantine? You may find yourself forcing a workout because you’re scared to gain weight or see your body composition change. Today, we’re talking with social justice activist and accessible yoga teacher Dianne Bondy about finding joy in movement, especially during stressful times. In This Episode We’ll Cover: • Ways to make movement more inclusive and enjoyable • How to separate weight loss and unrealistic body expectations from exercise• Things people who don’t enjoy exercise can do to get moving in a more joyful way• How to incorporate body respect into our movement routines + MORE! 3 Ways You Can Support This Podcast: • Rate• Review• Support our sponsors using our unique ‘HOOKUP’ codes below For our resources and shownotes, visit foodheavenmadeeasy.com/podcast. Produced by Dear Media

Today Louise sits down with Dianne Bondy: social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher and the leader of the Yoga for All movement. Together they discuss dieting and body image along with racism and white supremacy - both in our culture and in the wellness industry. Dianne shares her experiences as a black woman to expand our understanding of white supremacy and racism so we can walk forward together, in hope of a better world. Dianne is also the founder of the Yoga for All app and author of the book of the same name.

In Part 2 of this interview, Dianne Bondy, activist, author, accessible yoga teacher and leader of the Yoga for All movement, discusses notions of race, racism, and calls for action both within and outside of the yoga industry. Throughout the interview Dianne juxtaposes her experience as a yoga instructor and practitioner with that of her experiences as a Black woman and mother. Dianne Bondy can be reached through her website www.diannebondyyoga.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/beingsocialjustice/support

This episode is my very first live interview for this podcast and I'm joined by Dianne Bondy. Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement. She has been loud about the intersection between wellness and social justice since 2011, becoming an "accidental activist" by inspiring many folks to find strength and resilience in their body regardless of size, skin colour, gender identity, ability, religion or any other marker that might be under represented in the wellness world. We talk about what inspired Dianne's work, the parallels between creating inclusive environments in yoga spaces and in the world at large, the difference between bigotry and racism and how we are all charged to amplify empathy. Learn more and support Dianne's work here: https://diannebondyyoga.com/

In Part 1 of this interview, Dianne Bondy, activist, author, accessible yoga teacher and leader of the Yoga for All movement, discusses notions of race and racism both within and outside of the yoga industry. Throughout the interview Dianne juxtaposes her experience as a yoga instructor and practitioner with that of her experiences as a Black woman and mother. Dianne Bondy can be reached through her website www.diannebondyyoga.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/beingsocialjustice/support

Today’s episode features three guest hosts, Dianne Bondy, Maite Onochie, and Rocky Heron, all guides on the yogagirl.com platform and voices from the Black community. Coming from different global perspectives, they share their views on how they see the world right now - and how the world has seen them. Offering up their deep wisdom on everything from white supremacy, complacency and allyship, this episode will help you question your own attachments to race, and align your inner values with your outwardly behavior.  Dianne is a Canadian yoga teacher who focuses on inclusivity, diversity and accessibility on and off the mat. She is the author of the book, ‘Yoga for Everyone’ and offers online courses and workshops at diannebondyyoga.com. She also has two sons, and shares on this show her fears for them, the pushback she receives when she affirms that her life matters - that Black lives matter - and how we can all show up, as spiritual guides and as good human beings. Maite was born in Nigeria, grew up in Spain, and is now living in Costa Rica. She has a background in social anthropology and a specialization in international development which led her to work for different organizations around the world, including the United Nations. She is now about to birth her first daughter, and shares in this show the world she envisions her daughter growing up in - a world where she can be her authentic self, feel safe in her own skin, and see no limitations to her dreams. Maite speaks on growing up in a predominantly white society where she was left not feeling represented, beautiful or enough. To continue the conversation with Maite and learn about her current work as a yoga teacher and doula, follow her on Instagram at @maite_yoga. Rocky Heron is a musician and yoga teacher. He grew up in California with his mother, and shares his unique view of being a person of color raised in a white culture and how that forged his identity and allowed him to see multiple perspectives. With a passion to always continue learning, Rocky expresses the need for Americans to educate themselves on the history of their country, and demand more from leadership. You can find Rocky on Instagram at @rockyheron. Tune in to listen from the heart to voices that need to be heard, now, and always.

George Floyd's brutal murder has sparked outrage on American streets. Many in the yoga community has expressed solidarity with the protests, and in this special triyoga talks podcast, we speak to Canadian yoga teacher and activist Dianne Bondy about the harm caused by spiritual bypassing, about how the yoga community can challenge the racist status … read more The post Dianne Bondy on challenging racism + spiritual bypassing: triyoga talks episode 34 appeared first on triyoga.

This episode airs during the 11th week of quarantine here in the US, and tensions are high. This interview with (seriously one of my favorite teachers & mentors) Dianne Bondy is timely as she is a champion for providing access to yoga & mindfulness for ALL people. She has been a leading force in changing our language and approach to inclusivity in the yoga world and has been featured internationally as a voice for people of size, people of color and people with differently-abled bodies, reminding us that people are PEOPLE & to stop the "othering" that leaves so many people feeling left out. This particular episode has lots of nuggets of info & free resources AND includes an asana + pranayama + mudra practice accessible to all bodies. Support the show (http://www.venmo.com/indigogrrrl)

Today's guest has been leading a yoga revolution for the past twenty years through empowering students to come to the mat as they are, educating teachers on the need for inclusion in yoga and leading systematic change within the yoga industrial complex.  Her inclusive approach to yoga empowers anyone to practice—regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability.  In this candid interview, she talks about the need for inclusion in the yoga industry and how she became an accidental activist, changing the lives of many people across the globe.  Here is what you’ll learn in episode 34:  Dianne’s journey towards becoming a successful social justice activist and the leader of the Yoga For All movement What yoga actually looks like – and the need for diversity and body positivity How she is revolutionizing yoga by educating yoga instructors around the world on how to make their classes welcoming and safe for all kinds of practitioners For all of my Patrons on Patreon, you have the chance to go deeper with Dianne and get her Santosha Journal as a special gift for supporting the Wild Wisdom Podcast. Click here to access now>> Plus, ENTER TO WIN Dianne's book, Yoga for Everyone! Want to support the podcast and gain opportunities to go deeper with guests and our topics, plus freebies twice per month and more? Become a Patron now for as little as $2 per month>> Links mentioned in this episode: Dianne Bondy's website Yoga for Everyone TV ENTER TO WIN Dianne's book: Yoga for Everyone Buy Yoga for Everyone on Amazon Buy Yoga Where You Are by Dianne Bondy on Amazon Get Access to Dianne's Santosha Journal {Patrons Only}

This episode of The Yoga Inspiration Podcast is especially inspiring for me because one of my very own mentors is here as my guest. Dianne Bondy is a disruptor in the yoga scene. She is a social justice activist who paved the way for more inclusive yoga studios and practices, and I sought out her mentorship when I wanted to make my classes more accessible to yoga students from all walks of life.  Inclusive yoga is more important now than ever, even as we’re squinting through our computer screens on Zoom. Being a yoga teacher in the digital age of COVID-19 means we are seeing more and more new yoga students picking up the practice. That’s why I brought Dianne onto the podcast.  Dianne is teaching more yoga now than ever before - go figure! Not only does she have more time to do yoga with friends, but she’s also helping new yoga students start this spiritual journey for themselves. For her, without the spiritual journey of yoga, she would be “going off the handle,” as she calls it. With all the uncertainty in the world, a spiritual connection between mind, body, and soul can be very grounding. This is what makes the spiritual journey particularly important to new yogis. How can a spiritual practice help you keep your sanity? Just breathe. Dianne wants us all to learn to breathe again. Because yoga isn’t about mastering impossible poses. Yoga is about breathing, and if you’re brand-spanking-new to yoga, tuning in with your breath is the first thing you should be doing with your practice.  Just. Breathe. Breathing can ground you. Breathing helps you notice when you’re in your head and overlooking the bigger picture - the bigger energy - you are a part of in this big, crazy world. It can really soothe the jagged edges around your nerves and bring you a sense of calm. Dianne shares her favorite breathing exercise for beginners, and we discuss how taking this time to breathe can bring a calming pause to your life - a pause that is not so unlike “The Great Pause” this pandemic has caused for all of us.  The Great Pause. That is how Dianne refers to our global situation on this episode, and it’s inspired me to think a bit differently about how I look at and approach my own yoga practice. We’re all going to have to relearn how to live in this world again, but rather than focus on the anxious energy - take a breath, and take a pause. We’re all going to see each other on the other side of this. If you’re a practicing yoga student with an inspiring journey, please share a bit of your yoga journey with me and my listeners. Send me an email at info@kinoyoga.com and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor! Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST

Yoga Talk Special: Live with Dianne Bondy by Yoga International

On this Voices of Yoga (voicesofyoga.com)podcast we are talking with Dianne Bondy, Yoga Teacher, Trainer, Author, public speaker and activist for Yoga for all, based in Canada. Voices of Yoga is about sharing insights and inspiration from Yoga Teachers and yogis around the world. Enjoy and be inspired. Disclaimer: Yoga is for everyone. However, it's important that to ensure you are ready and able to practice any type of yoga practice in a suitable and safe way that's appropriate for you. And where necessary you check with your medical practitioner/doctor to gain approval. It is recommended that you consult your physician before beginning any new exercise program and that at any time during a practice you feel nauseous, dizzy or in pain you stop and seek medical advice. We accept no liability whatsoever for any damages arising from the use of Voices of Yoga Podcasts and whilst Voices of Yoga Podcasts uses reasonable efforts to share accurate and up-to-date information it may contain some technical or other mistakes, inaccuracies or unintended errors. Voices of Yoga Podcasts cannot be held responsible for these. We will not be liable to you in respect of any personal injury or other aspect that you may suffer or directly or indirectly as a result of listening to our Voices of Yoga Podcasts including liabilities arising in contract, tort (incl. negligence) and for break of statutory duty. You may have your own opinion or experience which may be different and that is to be welcomed as part of being curious about yoga and the journey we are all on. If you have any reason to believe Voices of Yoga podcasts content is slanderous, illegal, promoting dangerous acts or in violation of copyright law, please contact us at: voicesofyoga@mail.com Namaste Lindsey & Emma - co-founders of Voices of Yoga and its predecessor YEDTalks.

On today’s show I talk with Dianne Bondy.Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement. Her inclusive approach to yoga empowers anyone to practice—regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability. Dianne is revolutionizing yoga by educating yoga instructors around the world on how to make their classes welcoming and safe for all kinds of practitioners.Dianne is the author of Yoga for Everyone (DK Publishing, Penguin Random House) and a frequent contributor to Yoga International, DoYouYoga, Yoga Girl, and Omstars. She has been featured in publications such as The Guardian, Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, and People. Dianne’s commitment to increasing diversity in yoga has been recognized in her work with Pennington’s, Gaiam, and the Yoga & Body Image Coalition, as well as in speaking engagements at Princeton and UC Berkeley on Yoga, Race, and Diversity. Her writing is published in Yoga and Body Image Volume 1, Yoga Renegades, and Yes Yoga Has Curves. On today’s show, Dianne and I discuss:Why representation matters in yogaWhy businesses need to adapt to inclusivity & representation in order to surviveDianne’s vision for the future of yogaDianne’s tips for making your yoga class more inclusiveHow you can leverage your privilegeI hope you enjoy the showFIND DIANNEDianne’s WebsiteDianne’s InstagramDianne’s FacebookDianne’s BookFIND CORACora's WebsiteCora's InstagramCora's NewsletterYou can find full show notes, and links to resources mentioned in this episode at www.corageroux.com/podcastepisodes/episode5

Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author of Yoga for Everyone, yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement. She teaches yoga from a body positive, life-affirming perspective and educates yoga instructors around the world on how to make their classes welcoming and accessible for all kinds of practitioners. She also serves on the advisory board for the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH). On this episode, Dianne joins me to discuss HAES® principle 5: Life-Enhancing Movement.  More from Dianne:  Yoga for Everyone Dianne Bondy on Youtube Dianne Bondy on Instagram Dianne Bondy on Facebook More resources:  Association for Size Diversity and Health Weight Inclusive Nutrition and Dietetics  (WIND) Learn more about Weight Inclusive practices by joining a WIND event, or registering for our webinars! Stay tuned for episodes diving into each principle of HAES®, and follow along for updates @RDRealTalk (your host, Heather Caplan), and via theRD Real Talk from the newsletter.  Have you left a review on Apple Podcasts yet? If not, please do! Click here and tap the stars. Questions? Reach out: RDRealTalk @ Gmail.com and your question may be added to our HAES® Q&A episode at the end of the series! This podcast is produced by Liquid Sound Studios.

Dianne Bondy is a social justice activist, author, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement. Her inclusive approach to yoga empowers anyone to practice - regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability. Dianne is revolutionizing yoga by educating yoga instructors around the world on how to make their classes welcoming and safe for all kinds of practitioners. In this interview we talk about : - Dianne's yoga journey - How a body-shaming father led to an eating disorder - How yoga helped in her recovery - How diet culture keeps us from knowing our true selves - Why we lie to ourselves - How we can live our truth

Dianne Bondy is a yoga teacher on a mission. A mission to tear down the walls of the yoga industrial complex to make space for people of colour, older people, disabled people, transgendered people and people of all shapes and size. Never one afraid to confront and call out injustice or exclusion, Dianne is a … read more The post Dianne Bondy on activism + inclusion: triyoga talks episode 24 appeared first on triyoga.

The Love You Give talks to Dianne Bondy about  body positivity, what health means and the lack of inclusivity in the yoga industrial complex and how to make it more welcoming for all. @diannebondyyoga www.yogainternational.com/diannebondy

Dianne Bondy, yoga entrepreneur, returns to the Sparkle Hour for this Happy Holiday Minisode! Dianne encourages us to spend a little time in nature and gives us permission to "eat the damn cookie".

Episode 1 of Beyond Asana features Dianne Bondy, a yoga teacher, activist, and social media phenom, who invites us to consider the incredibly important topics of privilege, spiritual bypassing, and accessible and inclusive yoga. Dianne doesn’t hold back, but she isn’t here to attack anyone. She calls in all people—yogis of all sizes, colors, creeds, and backgrounds—to consider how we can create a world where yoga truly is for all. Read more about Dianne’s work.Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/beyondasana)

Welcome to the You Call This Yoga podcast with your host Howie Shareff, founder and executive director of the nonprofit You Call This Yoga based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. In these episodes, taken from their internet TV show, Howie will be joined by informative and inspiring yogis to discuss the many yoga practices that are accessible to all regardless of physical ability.

Dianne Bondy is a celebrated yoga teacher, social justice activist and leading voice of the Yoga For All movement. Her inclusive view of yoga asana and philosophy inspires and empowers thousands of followers around the world – regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability and we are so lucky to have her offering her wisdom and inspiration on The Mentor Sessions podcast today! In this episode you'll hear: How to make yoga spaces that are supportive of marginalized populations that have been traditionally left out of the modern western yoga world. What changes we hope come to the yoga world over the next several years. Some of Dianne's favorite ways to create inclusive and innovative warm-ups. How to teach hands free vinyasa flows. What we teachers can do to help students to trust their experience and take full agency over their bodies all the time, but especially in their yoga practice. About Dianne's upcoming book, Yoga is For Everyone: 50 Poses for Every Type of Body, including why this book needed to be written and what she hopes it brings to the yoga world. Learn More From Dianne: Find her on Facebook and Instagram.

We're replaying the Best of Heavy Flow while we're on hiatus over the summer! Hit subscribe to get new episodes in the fall. This week I'm talking to Dianne Bondy, yoga teacher, social justice activist and leading voice of the Yoga For All movement. We're taking a break from talking about periods to discuss creating brave spaces, inclusivity and accessibility in the wellness community, how mainstream media and marketing has distorted wellness as something to be bought and sold, body positivity, diet culture and emotional eating. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS Connect with Dianne: Website Instagram Facebook Resources mentioned in this episode: From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces Virgie Tovar Jess Baker Health at Every Size “Lisa Frank BoPo” and Why It's Just Not Enough Ultra Spiritual Life Episode 66: Coconut Oil Kills The Beauty Myth Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History Podcast I receive an affiliate commission from some of the links above. Production Assistance: Vocal Fry Studios

Although our experiences and perspectives are different we all share a connection: our humanity. In this episode, Dana speaks with Dianne Bondy about accessibility, equity, and inclusion. They explore topics such as the insidious role of diet culture in the yoga world, the allocation of resources and wealth in our society and the enormous power of ... Read More about Accessibility, Equity & Inclusion with Dianne Bondy

067: Yoga for Every Body with Amber Karnes   If you've ever wondered how to make your yoga classes more inclusive to those with larger bodies, our guest Amber Karnes, founder of Body Positive Yoga, has an abundance of insight. She's a ruckus maker, yoga asana teacher (E-RYT 200), social justice advocate, and a lifelong student of her body. Her commitment to inclusive, adaptive yoga practice empowers thousands of diverse practitioners around the globe.   Amber was hooked after her first yoga class. She noticed that the negative self-talk that overwhelmed her at times subsided after her first yoga class. She became curious about this effect and went back to repeat the “experiment”. Amber noticed she felt grounded and calm in her body for the first time. The physical aspect mattered to Amber but the internal regulation and tools yoga provided were especially powerful. She found the practice to be immensely helpful in her struggle with depression and anxiety, finding a peace of mind that kept her coming back.   Amber decided to take a yoga teacher training 7 years into her own practice to deepen her personal practice and learn “the rest of yoga” outside just the poses. She had no plans to teach but after immersing herself into the program she saw the need to provide space for women who felt their bodies were all wrong for yoga. Amber has been now been teaching for over 15 years.   Amber feels that it is important to recognize that there are systems of oppression, such as the patriarchy and racism, that try to take away a woman's power. The pressure women feel to conform their bodies to a narrow societal standard distracts women so “we can't do amazing things like change the world and make art or help people that really need a voice, that we can stand up and use our voice to help support and uplift them.”   Amber wants to emphasize that women need to feel that it's NEVER their body that's the problem. If a student struggles with a pose their body is not to blame. There is incredible power in offering modifications and props and being aware of the languaging around cues. She also offers that teachers are  “there for our students and hold space for inquiry to allow the processing of emotion behind the desire to change the body.”   Amber offers workshops, retreats, courses (including Yoga for All Teacher Training with Dianne Bondy) through Body Positive Yoga. Amber is the creator of the Body Positive Clubhouse, an online community dedicated to building unshakable confidence and living out loud. 3:45 Amber's first yoga class   8:15 How yoga teachers can be aware and respond if students express dissatisfaction with their body   Good Principles to Bring into the Classes:   9:55 1) The Body is Never the Problem- It's the asana that's the problem NOT the body, employ modifications or props   11:05 2) Languaging- Embodied or positive physical experience vs. striving and achieving, remove the hierarchy of language avoid saying “full expression of the pose”   12:10 Misconceptions around props: that they're a crutch or cheat, that if you use them you're not as good as the other students. Teachers have the opportunity to remove this stigma and help students see props as positive or neutral.   13:15 Progressive teaching- giving students the opportunity to stay in pose or progress, for example:   Start in Table Top Feet behind, rest toes behind mat Lift leg at hip Lift arm   Offer the student the opportunity to stay at that level or progress, depending on their level of comfort.   16:00 Shannon and her client's experience with coming to the mat to check in. Amber calls it “neutral ground”, a place where she avoids body criticism or shaming with a focus on inquiry and emotional exploration.   17:20 Body neutrality- it's okay to feel neutral about your body without the pressure to love your body and aligns with practicing non-attachment   20:25 Advice for teaching bigger bodies when you don't live in a larger body and how specialized training is very helpful   26:05 Marketing for classes for larger bodies or all bodies   32:50 Yoga images in yoga marketing- including photos featuring a variety of bodies, ethnicities, abilities, etc. will attract a more diversity   35:25 Modifications, props, and cuing: it shouldn't be assumed that any pose it basic for anyone. Questions to ask yourself: What is the point of the pose? How can you make poses more accessible to your students? Can we change the orientation of the pose or change the relationship to gravity? Sometimes it's something as small as adding blocks under the hands, using the wall or chair, etc.   A lot of students don't have body awareness coming into yoga- you can help them move into over time   41:20  Two steps to help students with larger bodies:   1) Widen- Feet two fists width or maybe wider (width of the mat) automatically puts students in a better position which helps them access their breath, avoid feeling compressed or pinched, bodies are more flexible than the body can often express   2) Move stuff out of the way- Take hands to low belly, fold forward and bend your knees, pull your hips back, tuck belly up and back- also great cue for someone that isn't in a larger body (great cue for hinging hips)   43:55 How to assist a larger student without putting them on the spot: speak matter-of-factly and make cues relevant to the entire class: no one wants to be put on the spot whether they're injured or in a larger body, etc.   Make it clear that no one has to be in perfect shape to practice yoga.   48:25 Tools for teachers to offer modifications:   Set everyone up with the same props Take time to talk about how the props can be used Offer alternative spots (chair, wall, etc.) and focuses (shape or balance of the pose)   Empower your students so they can trust their instincts, experiment until they find a position that feels good,  and ask your students how does their breath feels in this pose. Subtle things like language help your students feel good so they can access an embodied experience.   55:10 Issues around consent: do some self-study:  Why I am or am not offering assists or adjustments to my students? Is this necessary? Is it clarifying or nurturing? Cueing over adjusting. Help students make the adjustment for themselves and adjust your student only if they are in a position that may cause injury. If you do make sure to ask for consent and let them know what you are going to do.   1:06:35 How to reach Amber Karnes Links   Amber's Email: info@bodypositiveyoga.com   Amber's website: Body Positive Yoga Body Positive on Facebook   Body Positive on Instagram   Representation Matters: Inclusive and Diverse Stock Photos   Body Positive Yoga: Modifications   Amber's article: Yoga Turned My Body into a Place I Could Call Home   Relevant TCYT podcast episodes:   003: Trauma Training for Every Yoga Teacher with Margaret Howard   015: Consent Cards and Hands-On Assists with Molly Kitchen   Gratitude to our Sponsor Schedulicity   Quotes “Offering modifications offers students agency over their own yoga practice and gives the locus of control back to the students. We want to guide our students into a place of inquiry where they can have an experience in their own body...both on the mat and into areas of their own lives.” ~ Amber Karnes

Kat and Kyle talk with Melanie Klein (co-founder of the Yoga and Body Image Coalition) and Dianne Bondy (founder of Yoga for All) about the new book Yoga Rising, the follow-up anthology to Yoga and Body Image. Melanie curated and edited this groundbreaking new book and Dianne wrote the foreword (and also graces the cover!).

When the honeymoon period is over and we start to fall a little (or a lot) out of love with yoga, how can we rekindle the fire? If you find your practice or teaching is losing its luster, join Kat, Kyle, and Dianne Bondy for some practical advice and lighthearted inspiration.

Dianne Bondy is a leading advocate for positive body image--at any size. She's a celebrated yoga teacher and social justice activist who shares how her personal journey began with negative body image and low self esteem. She shares the tools she used to shift to a positive body image, and how she now helps others do the same.

The tides are turning, and body positivity is on the rise. Thanks to activists and disruptors in just about every industry all over the world, the message is getting out that there is no wrong way to have a body. We are so excited to have celebrated yoga teacher and social justice activist Dianne Bondy on the show today. Dianne started the Yoga For All Movement as a way to make the healing practice of yoga accessible to anyone, regardless of body size, race, or ability.

EB018 Eating Disorder Recovery and Yoga For All with Dianne Bondy  Dianne Bondy is a yoga teacher and the founder of an online Yoga studio called Yogasteya, where she welcomes everyone. Going through her own recovery journey from eating disorder, she has now become a social justice activist and one of the leading voices promoting representation in Yoga.   Dianne joins me today to tell the story of her eating disorder and recovery.  She also shares how the distorted medical community perceived and handled her disorder a few decades ago.   We also talk about her long love of yoga and how it's help her heal her relationship to her body.     “What my yoga has taught me is my awareness of my body, my body as a vehicle of my own divinity and a way to enjoy my life.”    – Dianne Bondy     This Week on the Every Body Podcast:  How Dianne was introduced to yoga  Her relationship with her body growing up  The society’s body preference during the 70s and the 80s  What led her to develop a severe eating disorder  How the medical society ineffectively dealt with eating disorder  How she got back to yoga  What triggered her mission to create a cultural change that yoga is for ALL  Her classes for bigger bodies and bodies with different abilities  What made her visible in the online world and how it has affected society    Connect with Dianne Bondy:  Yogasteya Website  Dianne Bondy Yoga   Instagram  Facebook    Rate, Share, & Inspire Others to Love Every Body         Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!      Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode! 

This week I'm talking to Dianne Bondy, yoga teacher, social justice activist and leading voice of the Yoga For All movement. We're taking a break from talking about periods to discuss creating brave spaces, inclusivity and accessibility in the wellness community, how mainstream media and marketing has distorted wellness as something to be bought and sold, body positivity, diet culture and emotional eating. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS Connect with Dianne: Website Instagram Facebook Resources mentioned in this episode: From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces Virgie Tovar Jess Baker Health at Every Size “Lisa Frank BoPo” and Why It's Just Not Enough Ultra Spiritual Life Episode 66: Coconut Oil Kills The Beauty Myth Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History Podcast I receive an affiliate commission from some of the links above.

Edward Reib discusses Yogasteya, Yoga for All Shapes Sizes and Abilities, Yoga for All Training, Yogaville Virginia and Sri Swami Satchidananda, Bikram and other Hot Yoga, Online Yoga, and Body Positivity with Dianne Bondy.

Welcome to episode 2 of My First Time...at Yoga! This week I had the incredible privilege of chatting with the amazing Dianne Bondy about her two first times at yoga, how yoga has impacted her life, how she brings yoga into the world and so much more! You can find out more about Dianne and her incredible message of Yoga For All all over social media including: www.diannebondyyoga.com www.facebook.com/DianneBondyYoga www.instagram.com/diannebondyyoga Find me on social media here: www.lisasimchison.com www.facebook.com/lisasimchison www.instagram.com/yoga_with_lisa

If you told Dianne ten years ago that she would leave behind her high-stress corporate job to become a yoga instructor and body positive activist, she would not have believed you. She now channels that energy into spreading the message that every BODY, regardless of skin color, size, or ability level, can do yoga. In this episode, Dianne tells us how to overcome the negative messages about our bodies that we receive from mainstream media as well how to respect and love our bodies unconditionally. TRUE WARRIOR FEATURED CLASS How to Connect to Your Life Path and Purpose Using the Ancient Wisdom of the Stars (Enrollment open until August 6th) https://www.truewarrior.fm/life-path-and-purpose What You'll Learn • How the commodification and commercialization of yoga perpetuates the belief that only certain body types can do yoga • The benefits of yoga that aren't related to the physical poses • How pregnancy helped change Dianne's view of her body as something she should overcome into something miraculous • How to recognize and then tune out the destructive messages of diet culture • The importance of incorporating self love into your daily life SHOW NOTES: https://www.recoverywarriors.com/dianne-bondy/

Amber Karnes, creator of Body Positive Yoga, joins J for a talk about making the ends meet as teachers in the new landscape. They are both in the midst of moving and navigating the ways they can make a living and, after canceling a number of times, they jump into a conversation despite not feeling all that up to it. Fortunately, coming together on the challenges they are facing is a welcome release and serves to reaffirm their resolve. They also discuss the origins of Body Positive Yoga and the Yoga for All Training she does with Dianne Bondy. This episode is part of our premium podcast subscription. To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.  

Jasmine and founder of the Yoga for All movement, Dianne Bondy have a heart-to-heart discussion on inclusion, diversifying what we see on the map and self-love. Dianne believes that, “yoga isn’t just for skinny white girls.”

Kat and Kyle talk with renowned teacher and founder of Yoga for All, Dianne Bondy, about the benefits and challenges of online yoga.

Elisa and Jill chat with Dianne Bondy about yoga, feminism, the bullshit of diet culture, and a lot of other fun stuff. http://diannebondyyoga.com/

Yoga teacher and body-positive activist Dianne Bondy shares how a body-shaming father led her to develop an eating disorder in childhood and adolescence, how yoga helped in her recovery, why the yoga industry needs to be more welcoming of all bodies, why body positivity is a social justice issue, and lots more! Dianne Bondy is a celebrated yoga teacher, social justice activist and leading voice of the Yoga For All movement. Her inclusive view of yoga asana and philosophy inspires and empowers thousands of followers around the world – regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability. Dianne contributes to Yoga International, Do You Yoga, and Elephant Journal. She is featured and profiled in International media outlets: The Guardian, Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, People and more. She is a spokesperson for diversity in yoga and yoga for larger bodies, as seen in her work with Pennington’s, Gaiam, and the Yoga & Body Image Coalition. Her work is published in the books Yoga and Body Image, and Yes Yoga Has Curves. Find her onilne at DianneBondyYoga.com and YogaSteya.com. Join the new Food Psych Facebook group to connect with fellow listeners around the world! To learn more about Food Psych and our guest, visit christyharrison.com/foodpsych Join Christy's intuitive eating online course at christyharrison.com/course How healthy is your relationship with food? Take the quiz and get free resources at christyharrison.com/quiz!

Kat and Kyle discuss yoga, social justice, and body image with yoga teacher and activist Dianne Bondy.

Welcome to another episode of The Zen Courses Show! Today my guest is Alan Bondy, the husband of Dianne Bondy from Dianne Bondy Yoga. Alan is the technician behind Dianne's recent course launch. He’s here to share the details and process behind their five figure sales success. Heads up: we dig deep with this one. Enjoy! In This Episode, You'll Learn: How Alan prepares for a course launch Why he chose to do a limited enrollment How he uses psychology to improve his launches The specific channels Alan used to drive his launch How to setup an email funnel for your course launch The tools Alan used to run his course launch The books and resources that helped Alan create his launch strategy Why video was such a key in the success of their launch SPECIAL OFFER FOR ZEN COURSES LISTENERS: Click here to get 50% off Dianne's Yoga Training! References and Tools Alan Mentions: Yoga For All Training Copyhackers Fizzle.co Launch by Jeff Walker Thanks for Listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving an honest review for The Zen Courses Show on iTunes! Ratings and reviews boost ratings & help new listeners find the show. I read every review and I'd love to read yours. Click here to leave a review. And, finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. If you have an Android phone, you can subscribe on Stitcher. Lastly, I want to say THANK YOU to Alan for sharing his launch experience with us on The Zen Courses Show!

Dianne Bondy has become a leader in encouraging greater diversity in yoga. J talks with her about his own blinders, her move from fitness to yoga, drinking the Anusara cool-aid, being DIY on and off the mat, the power of language to either empower or disempower people, and ways in which yoga can move us into fuller acceptance of ourselves and others. They also discuss being a spokesperson and have a lively back and forth about practice, communing in their shared intention to present yoga This episode is part of our premium podcast subscription. To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.  

Ep. 21: Multiracial family advocate and creator of Yogasteya (yoga for all shapes, sizes and abilities - http://yogasteya.com/),  Dianne Bondy (http://diannebondyyoga.com/), talks about her own multiracial family (she's Black and married to a White man and raising biracial children), about growing up in a mostly White neighborhood, her career in fitness training, her battles with body image, which led her to create Yogasteya, and the experience of multiracial families in Canada. For more on host, Alex Barnett, please check out his website: www.alexbarnettcomic.com or visit him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/alexbarnettcomic) or on Twitter at @barnettcomic   Intro and Outro Music is Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons - By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/