Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm really looking forward to our pilgrimage in Puja today, and I know for some of you, this might be your first
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): One, and so generally, what you can kind of expect is a bit more of a practice.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We'll do a practice together, and it'll connect to…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A theme, could be a theme in this moment, could be a theme… often it'll be themes connected to yogic…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): culture. And so we are actually at the… we just had the equinox, and we had our first night of Navratri. And Navratri is the sacred time of the goddess.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And it's a time to honor Durga in all of her many forms. Durga is, like, a fierce protector, a mother goddess, also a warrior, a fighter for justice, and…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So I thought we would do a little bit of a practice.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): there, and it's less… our pilgrimage and pujas are less, a time…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): to, like, ask questions or kind of be in the head, they're more embodied, they're more practice-oriented. And so, if you would like, if you have a candle and a place to put some water, you can also just, like, have water that you're drinking. Invitation.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): To pour your water into the… The container that you're using.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So I've got a small little…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You can have… doesn't have to be big, right? You just have your… your water, water that you're drinking.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then, if you've got a candle, To… light your candle.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And if you don't have a candle or water, it's absolutely fine. You can just connect to this energetically. Part of the power of
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): yoga is the internalization of ritual, right? So, understanding that any ritual we do outside, including asana, mantra, meditation, all of these, mudra, the sacred gesture, sound.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): meditative practice, it's all… As a form of internalization of the sacred.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so, we'll take a moment to, if you have a candle, or if you're looking at this one, I know it's not quite the same, let me see if I have it better.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): candle that I can light for you to see.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But we'll take a moment and gaze into… That flame, there we go.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And gazing into… The flame, that inner… An outer spark light.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And this is a practice of tratec.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): candle gazing, and there are two ways to do tratec. You can…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Gaze at the light, at the flame.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): and blink, like you normally would, or you can gaze at the flame unblinking, and if you gaze unblinkingly, you might notice that your eyes start to water, it's like a cleansing kriya, and so you'll begin to,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): to see that, or experience that. And I'm gonna spotlight myself, but you're welcome to, if you prefer, go to gallery view.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, invitation to stare into the flame, or another option is to close your eyes and visualize the flame.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm breathing in… I'm breathing out…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): This flame, I'm noticing, is flickering and dancing so much.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And as you contemplate this flame connecting to the light of yogic wisdom that has been passed down.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Through time and space and form.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And if you'd like, you can place your flame down somewhere where you can see it, obviously remembering to…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Put it out later.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm just putting out the first one.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We'll bring our hands into a mudra. This is a byproduct mudra, so one hand up, and the other hand, and I'll stand just so you can see, is down. So one hand is up like this, and the other hand is down, pointing forward. So this is, like, the sacred no. We explored this a little bit.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): earlier, and it's in Yoga Changemaker Magazine. It's a really powerful mudra. Sacred No and the Sacred Yes.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Right, like, stop.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And I am here to serve. I am here to help.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so, finding your mudra, I'm breathing in… And breathing out.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm connecting to… The story and arc of Novratri.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): each phase reflects an aspect of Durga, and also the…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The triune form of creation, preservation, destruction, transformation.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The first three nights of Narati are Durga in her fierce form, remover of ignorance, fear, and obstacles.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): These are the Knights of destruction.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Not as harm, but, like, clearing away. And it could be… you could visualize it like your nervous system releasing.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Trembling, discharging, howling, moving.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So if there's anything you want to do here, maybe shaking your hands, moving your body.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Deep breath in, and exhale with the sound.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then the middle three nights, an invitation, if you'd like, to come back to the same mudra, but different sides, so now opposite hand up and the other hand out, like this.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The middle three nights of Novaratri belong to the goddess
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): In her form as Lakshmi. Creation, nourishment, abundance.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): When you've let go of what holds you back, you plant the new seeds, right? You can begin to kind of create…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so nervous system here moves into regulation, harmony, balance, grounded energy, and you might like to sway, or maybe move in spirals, whatever feels like your expression of this.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): shape.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): this.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): form.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then exhale, and you can keep your hands in this major… or just rest them down on your body in any comfortable, easeful shape.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The last three nights belong to the manifestation of the goddess as Saraswati, wisdom, clarity, preservation, transformation.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And it's here that we integrate…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That we bask in the joy of our creations.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The fun of… All that we are.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And rest.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So it's like our nervous system at ease.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And whatever that ease might feel like in this moment for your body, maybe it's just, like, relaxing, leaning to one side or another, placing your head in your hand, placing a hand on your heart.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Hmm…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And we'll move into a practice… a movement practice in a moment, but I want to take some time to…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Come into, journaling, actually, first.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And… so I'll put the prompts in the chat, but keeping the focus kind of inwards, and then outwards just to move into writing for yourself.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And, as we're exploring, you know, trauma-informed yoga and, like, connecting our nervous systems to these practices.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Invitation to reflect on.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): What in you needs…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): destroying, right? It's, like, doesn't have to be, like, truly destroying, but it could be, like, letting go.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A pattern, a thought, a fear. What in me wants to be nourished or created? What wisdom is ready to be integrated?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And how might your nervous system reflect the same arc, from activation to balance, to then, like, rest and joy?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And perhaps… oops.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): share that, put that in the chat. And perhaps if you're more, like, in one place, like, many of us may be just in the activation space, right? Not really…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): In a place to think about, rest, and joy.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Then just reflect on that.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And if you are more in, like, a… like, want to reflect on the seeds, then explore… explore that. And we'll take about…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): 4 or 5 minutes, I like to play some music with no sound.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And, and then we'll move into the next phase of our practice. And you can write in…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The chat, you can write in your journal, wherever you would like.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Let me share a nice sound.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, just taking a minute more to finish up your thoughts.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And as we share, I just want to kind of talk about,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You know, as we're exploring our nervous systems, there's this…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Way that we get, like, habituated to…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): a survival response, right? And… and… we feel…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or we can feel like we have to…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Protect, or stop, or, you know, like, not do a certain thing because it's not safe, or it's not okay for us.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That may be true in the moment, but later, once we're through and out the other side, right, the experience isn't right there.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): present.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): we can then create and kind of titrate at the level our nervous system is comfortable, what are called disconfirming experiences, right? Or another way of putting it is, like, confirming of our power.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so by that, I mean, if something happened where we had to feel like we couldn't be our full selves, like, say, in our family of origin, right? Like, I think about this a lot. As I parent my kiddo.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Who, like, wow, I catch myself being like, you're being too much right now, you know? And it's like, right, do I really need to say that in that way?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And… in my own home, or family of origin, right? Like, that feeling of…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): too much emotion, or too much this, or too much that. And some… some people may not have had that, but many of us have, and so we feel like we can't be our full selves, or we can't be seen.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so, of course, sometimes it's just practical to have your camera off and not be seen, but part of what we're exploring with disconfirming, right, or reconfirming, depending on which way you like to explore that.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's like, we get to confirm our power, our ability to be seen. And so, you can do whatever is most supportive, right? The pace and the way that your nervous system feels.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): like, it wants to move into it. But, for example, if you generally don't share out in a group, perhaps it's…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): okay, you know, taking the mudra, the mudra of power and fearlessness, I'm safe enough in this moment to try sharing. Maybe I'll just share in the chat. Maybe I'll share, you know, a little bit of information, about myself or about my process there.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or maybe I'll have my camera on, right? For 5 minutes, I'll explore what that feels like.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): To be seen, to be perceived, right? And is it okay in my nervous system? And how does that feel? Because, for example, if we're wanting to take up more space, or wanting to move into things where we need to be seen or viewed, then we can…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): explore what that can feel like in more contained and caring settings. And so.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): this whole year of exploration together, I'll invite you into those kind of experiential practices of fearlessness, right? Durga, the warrior,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): is also the shy, the hiding, right? Like, it's not that we're one thing, we're all things. And so, how can we move into those states that we want to play with and explore?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Okay, so…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Would anyone like to share their reflections on any of the questions before we move into a bit more of a practice, or just also inviting in any questions, kind of on the container in general?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Because I know there might be… there might be some. And the one other piece I want to let you all know is our next…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Office hours.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm… which is in 2 weeks, on Wednesday. I want to go through the kind of whole exploration of our nervous systems, and then in each office hours, we'll…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): kind of build our toolkit for how we resource ourselves. So that… that's something just to invite you in to look forward to.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Know that you… there's, like, that care there, right? You're gonna be held kind of like tending in a garden, like your garden.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, would anyone like to share?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Out loud, or in the chat. And of course, no one has to.
Franny (they/them): I'm sure.
Franny (they/them): Camera is off, and I'm gonna leave it off, but I don't mind sharing.
Franny (they/them): Wonderful.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Oh, and Ida, I actually can't see who is sharing, what your name is.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Say it again?
Franny (they/them): Frann.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Frannie, wonderful. And Frannie, your, audio is a little bit in and out, so just to… I don't know if there's a way to make sure that it's, like, strong and clear how your Wi-Fi is?
Franny (they/them): Yeah, give me one second, you might be hearing my fan in the background.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Now you're clear.
Franny (they/them): Oh, okay.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah.
Franny (they/them): Okay.
Franny (they/them): So, the first question…
Franny (they/them): What in me needs destroying, and the first thing that came to mind was the need to be
Franny (they/them): Tolerable to those who refuse to see my humanity, or those who
Franny (they/them): refuse to co-create emotional safety for me so I can show up as I am.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, Fernie. Yeah.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Celebrating that, and supporting that. Boundaries, the clear no.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The sacred no that is an affirmation of your wholeness.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Your fullness. Yeah.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Anyone else?
Margaret Graham she/her: Hi, my name's Margaret. I will share what I wrote.
Margaret Graham she/her: I let go of the fear of what people think of me. I let go of how other people process truth, shame, or guilt.
Margaret Graham she/her: I let go of helping everyone else move through a family secret.
Margaret Graham she/her: The only person I am responsible for during this time of processing and integration is myself.
Margaret Graham she/her: I release a pattern of doubt or fear around my truth so that I can completely heal my inner parts.
Margaret Graham she/her: I need nourishing in my ability to know intuitively my truth.
Margaret Graham she/her: To honor the connection I have with my higher power, who knows my truth and has access to all truths.
Margaret Graham she/her: I am ready to integrate the wisdom of all of my parts and ages, and to know how they felt, and help reparent them so that we are integrated and one, and move forward in life with focus, clarity, strength, and success.
Margaret Graham she/her: My nervous system reflects this by allowing me to feel guilt, shame, and anger, and sadness when I am safe and when it's appropriate, to rest afterwards when I feel emotionally drained, and to work hard in between to secure the future that I want for myself and my family.
Margaret Graham she/her: I work towards using my healing to help other people heal, too.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, Margaret.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Affirming.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): All of your… Vision and share.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Mmm.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): God, I saw someone else.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Have their hand up.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yes, Carolyn?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Hi.
Caroline (they/she): Hi.
Caroline (they/she): Oh, I just… just want to kind of just honour that last year. Just… I'm just taking a moment of just how…
Caroline (they/she): Deep, that was, really.
Caroline (they/she): Thank you. I was writing about, like.
Caroline (they/she): just for specifics. So, I'm specifically letting go of a memory of a disciplinary, because it was over 10 years ago, and that it was something that I learned my lessons from, that I grew from, and that I can no longer need to anchor.
Caroline (they/she): so much to it, you know, that it was such a long time, I'm now back in practice, back in frontline work, and I'm finding my nervous system still very attached to those memories. So just releasing that,
Caroline (they/she): we all… and just kind of thinking about, like, we all look back on our younger professional selves and see things we'd like to have done differently. That means that we've grown as professionals. If we didn't, we weren't, you know, we wouldn't be evolving. And that life is one long experience of making mistakes, or trying and evolving, and to try and really
Caroline (they/she): Integrate that.
Caroline (they/she): Letting go of looking good at doing the job, and…
Caroline (they/she): letting go of the embarrassment of being slower. I am just thorough. I need to go at the only pace that I can go at.
Caroline (they/she): And being more… the wisdom of just being more rooted in myself, and trusting in my way of doing the job.
Caroline (they/she): And… Yeah, and just feel more grounded.
Caroline (they/she): Thank you for the space to write that.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you so much.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Hmm.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And for folks who are sharing, there's lots of hearts and love.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): being shared.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): People are dropping their reactions.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): R.
Raphaëlle (she/they): I'd like to share, but I couldn't see where to raise the hand.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Oh, that's okay, it's in… for future, it's under the little heart that says React.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So…
Raphaëlle (she/they): Okay, maybe when I… Okay.
Raphaëlle (she/they): Okay. But, yeah, just, the question, about the wisdom ready to be integrated. I'd like to share, that.
Raphaëlle (she/they): Because, I feel at the moment that,
Raphaëlle (she/they): what is ready to be integrated is really trusting the process, and not trying to rush into the process, not trying to, control any outcome in the future, and seeing when I let that go, that things just fall into place, the way they…
Raphaëlle (she/they): Yeah, in the right way, also. And… yeah, letting go of, trying to control what will happen.
Raphaëlle (she/they): Because it only… I mean, to me, it creates mostly fears or anguish about what could happen, but when I let it go, and just be in the present and try to do
Raphaëlle (she/they): just do my best. Then things happen, and, in a great way. So, I'd say that's, the wisdom for me at the moment.
Raphaëlle (she/they): Thank you.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, Raphael.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And I want to just note, folks, in the chat, Naomi, activation for me is being busy, unable to be still, holding tension, living with high adrenaline, that on… nervous system on state.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Even though when I've cultivated a practice of rest, yeah…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And Dani Sinan says, self-doubt needs letting go of false beliefs that I am incapable, inexperienced, or not enough.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And nourished my roots, my soul, my mind, body, and spirit, creating space for abundance, pathways to liberation.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And what wisdom is ready to be integrated? Ancestral wisdom, experiential wisdom, sacred study, and sacred.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Experiences.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): how our nervous system reflects this arc, leaving space for more reflection here. Yes, can we unpack together what this might look like? Absolutely.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I think we'll go there. And then… sorry, we were having a little,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We're having a little bit of, conversation in the chat, and there's a lot of things…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Happening at once, so just naming that, that's…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): we have the syllabus to support us, and sometimes I'll do a better job, because I'm, like, a… I'm a divergent thinker, in that I'm, like, sort of here, and not always, like.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): on the details, and so occasionally, this is why part of what I've learned is always have someone here to support me with the logistics. So thank you, Juliana, for being here and for that.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, we actually don't have an office hours call in 2 weeks. On the 8th, we have a call on the 16th.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And that call is, both with me and Blair Armani, so it'll be a two-hour call. This is for folks in Trauma Informed.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yoga, social justice, certification, and there's the syllabus. If you're not in that, and you're just in Yoga class curator, please just reach out to us at, hello at Ignite Be Wealth if you're… if you have questions, so…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then also naming that there's…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): There's an inquiry and attention around,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Kind of, like, the both-and of being in a space.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Where we're talking about healing our nervous systems and caring for ourselves.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): At the same time that there's so much harm happening in the world, and the impacts of that.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): heightened… are heightened for queer folks, for trans folks, for folks of color, for disabled folks, right? Neurodivergent folks.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And… So, part of what we're…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We're moving into is a time and a way of, like, Holding that tension.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Where it's on white body folks, folks with privilege, to explore our…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): privilege, right? And what it can look like to both heal ourselves and our lineages and our families and our communities, while also caring for the impact that we're
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): we may be having inadvertently on other folks, just by not, you know, not being aware of our privilege. And then, for folks of color.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): For us to…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): in that way that I was talking about, kind of titrate into, like, in a space like this that's a mixed space, right? What can it look like to center our experiences, and center our pain, and center our joy, and our growth?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That's part of the…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): opportunity for practice, and it is going to be messy, and it is going to be challenging and activating, because these things are, you know, they are that way. And this is, like, I think of Durga with her…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): her weapon, right? Riding it on a tiger to slay the demon… the demon Maheshwara, who had…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Taken over and was oppressing the world, the universe, and, like, using up resources for only the privileged few.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And Durga came in to try to right that imbalance, you know, that… to try to move
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): the universe back into harmony and balance. And she had to take many forms to do that. She took the form of the warrior, she took the form of a, you know, a sweet, innocent princess, she took the form of a fearsome,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): powerful goddess, the goddess Kali, and…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): No one gets to tell you…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And particularly, I'm thinking of for folks of color, right, or folks impacted by systemic oppression, what form
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You need to take at any given moment, including in a space like this.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, it's that opportunity to care for yourself and get what you need, right? And ask, like, you can message me, you can message Juliana, and we'll do our best to provide that care and that support. You can also, the other thing is, so Juliana and I are both folks of color, and
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Part of the care, and we have another, supportive
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): person in the space to Nicole, who's been in YTTs with me for a long time, right? And we'll set this up a bit more formally, but when we're in the space together, you can always message
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Juliana, Nicole, or I. I'm, since I'm leading the space, may not immediately be able to respond, but you can always move into a breakout room. We can move you into a room with a supportive
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Space holder, so you have that time and space to process, because activations are being activated, or being,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): triggered, right? That's part of…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): being human, and part of being alive, it's not that we can avoid those things.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And, in a way, I think part of what it is to do the work of trauma-informed work for social justice is to
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): acknowledge that we are going to be activated, and then how can we move through it, right? And, so I'll just pause there to see if anyone has,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): has any.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): comments or questions?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yes, the chart.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Like, moving through, right, our… our nervous systems, and I actually… so…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm like, in this moment, I kind of want to,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I want to do two things. I want to practice…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And I actually want to share a little more about the nervous system, because I think it might support us.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): in… This movement, and this learning, and this, growth.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And this time, so let's move into a practice, and for that invitation, you know, it'll be a seated practice, but of course, you can always do it lying down, standing, you have… you have those options.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And… We'll begin…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): it'll be a gentle practice, also, just naming, but there will be an opportunity for a little bit of… of heat, right? So…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Beginning with expanding, stretching our arms up any amount away from our bodies.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then, doing the same with our legs. So for me, if I'm sitting in a chair, that means I'm sitting my legs out to the side, so my legs are kind of, like, in a V, kind of like my arms are in a V. And then wiggling your fingers and your toes.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Inhaling, expanding.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Exhale, gentle forward fold, so like a wide leg forward fold coming down over your body. An option to, if you're sitting, maybe lean to one side to stretch through.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): One side and then the other. If you're standing, same option. If you're laying or sitting on the ground, perhaps it's like you're leaning over into
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A stretch along your leg, alongside your own.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): One leg or the other.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And we'll connect to the power of Durga through the mantra.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): the seed sound for Durga is doom. Doom. Kind of like…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): the heartbeat. So, on your next inhale, coming up, and you might drum, right, as on your own body, maybe even on your heart, as you say, and we'll say it 9 times.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Doom.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Doom… Doom.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Doom.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Inhale… Exhale… And her full mantra.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): is… Translates to, say, salutations, respect, honor to the goddess.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): to Durga.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Namaha.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And you can repeat that, if you would like, in your mind, in your heart, to the goddess, the warrior within.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Maha.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Oum Dum Durga Maha.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Oum Dum… namaha.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): No… Letting that Sacred Heartbeat continue.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Perhaps you like the seed syllable DOOM, and you can let that repeat.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Is you move, and with your breath, or maybe it's a word, like power, or fearlessness.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We're grounding…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And we'll inhale into a cat and cow shape, so inhaling, arching your back, sending your head up.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Exhale, rounding any amount in your chair, on the floor, as you stand.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Inhale, doom. Exhale, doom.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I really like… This seed sound, because it anchors me…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): In the power of my heart, the goddess or form, of… Empathy, of compassion.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That flame at the heart.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And as you move and stretch.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Letting your shoulders open, widen, letting your heart open as much as you feel comfortable.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then as you exhale, widening your shoulder blades, stretching the back of your heart.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Inhale now, shoulder blades come together.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Kind of like you're hugging the back of your heart, and I have my hands up like cactus arms, you might like to do this.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Exhale, coming forward, a gentle hug, I'm rounding.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Inhale.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): 1, 2, 3 more like this.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm exhaling with fire, with power through my…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Mouth, you can breathe in and out, if you would like, through your mouth or through your nose.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Now, we'll move with our arms in this cactus, and if you want to take a moment just to roll your shoulders back and down, kind of keep your,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): the length of your neck open. This can be a little tricky. If you're sitting in a chair, option to keep your feet on the ground, or lift your feet off the earth, or tap your toes on the ground, because that engages our core. And then exhale, twisting to one side.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Inhale, back to center. Exhale, twist to the other side. So, sometimes people are under the illusion that chair yoga is not…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): power yoga, where it can't be heated, but you'll see, as you breathe, I'm already getting out of breath. Breathing, moving with your breath, inhale.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Center. Exhale, twisting to one side. Inhale.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Can raise a lot of heat.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And you can keep your hands right here, or if you'd like, stretch them out so they're long. Inhale, they come back to cactus. Exhale, they stretch out for even more heat.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So this, for the… whatever you wrote or were reflecting on of what you would like to let go.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): during these heated movements can be a powerful time to imagine you're, like, sending it out, breathing it out. We'll do just one more on each side.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Releasing, inhale, feet come down to the earth, arms come up towards the sky, stretching your arms back behind you, clasping them in…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A bind behind your back, or just reaching or placing your hands.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Whatever feels supportive to you to stretch through your shoulders.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The part of us that we'd really been activating.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Inhale, lengthen through your spine, exhale.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A gentle forward fold, any amount towards the earth.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Inhale, coming back up.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Exhaling, coming into your version of Warrior 2 now. So, if you're seated, that can be with your feet on the earth, maybe sending one leg back to the side, one knee bent, and then arms…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Oh, let me move my… Candle?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Arms out, flipping your palms up to drop your shoulders away from your ears.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Feeling your power here, your fire, right? Om, Dum, Durgae, Namaha.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And if you'd like, you can flow here. Exhale, forward, folding forward, right or left forearm on your right or left knee. Right or left arm, depending on which side you're on, back up behind you. Inhale, Warrior II. Exhale, reverse that Warrior.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Any amount that feels good, moving with your own breath in this fluid motion.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We're in that middle space of creation, right? What does it look like to play, to be creative, to move our energy?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): One more on each side, or flowing as your own body needs and wants.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And exhale, hands come down, maybe pushing into the earth or into your own body as you switch sides. So if you're in the chair, I'm pushing down onto the arms of my chair, and then lifting up, sending the other leg back, other knee bent.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm taking a moment to really anchor into Virabhadrasana, Warrior II, on this side.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Exhaling, palms face up. Also, a gesture of surrender, right? Of, I trust, I trust this process. Exhale, palms can flip over.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Forward fold, front arm on your front thigh, back arm up towards the sky. Inhale, Warrior II, Virabhadrasana. Exhale, Viparita, Virabhadrasana, Reverse Warrior, moving with your own breath.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Using the many tools of breath, Movement, mantra, practice.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): One more each side.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then inhale.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Reverse… Exhale, hands come down.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Finding your Tadasana, your mountain, whether that's sitting or standing, Lying down.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Deep breath in.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Full breath out.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And imagining that your nervous system, your body.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): your soma, right? Like, all of… all of what you are.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): is… like a garden.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And as we practice together, you're tending this garden, you're caring for the garden within.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And the garden of your community.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): If your garden is… Like, mine is, right now, like, a little…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You know, in the fullness of things, that my inner garden is like…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's growing a little wild. There's weeds, there's seeds, there's, you know, there's not a lot of order.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Acknowledging that, noticing that.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Noticing the quality of your garden within. If your garden is…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): more barren right now, in a fallow time, in a time of not really a lot of growth, maybe feeling a bit…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Stagnant.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Empty.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Acknowledging and noticing that.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): There's nothing wrong with these states, they're all part of the way the natural world cares for and tends.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A healthy ecosystem.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So we each have… We all have this garden.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): within us.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And it… Has its own form of balance, its own form of… Harmony.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): As we explore and learn and notice.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): our kind of inner gardener, right? That's neuroception, the part of us that can…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): sense safety or threat. It's like a special kind of caretaker taking care of you.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Moment to moment.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And sometimes… Those caretakers are… Responding to past storms.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Past challenges.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm checking for if right now we're…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Able to bloom, or able to rest.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, just caring for, knowing that you have this team, this inner…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Like, garden team, caring for your own nervous system.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A system that's as old… Millions of years old.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That we get to steward, and it is interconnected.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): with… The rhythm and the nervous system of the soma, of the whole.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You are not separate.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We are not separate.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Perhaps anchoring in a word, or a phrase, or maybe even…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A particular quality from your garden, and whether you actually see it, right, or you're just bringing it forward, like, maybe it feels really good to…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Be a fallow field, getting watered by rain.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): With a cloudy sky.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Maybe it feels nourishing.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): To be full of flowers, blooming in the spring.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Maybe it feels nourishing to be like, yeah, I'm a wild forest right now. There is no order, and there does not need to be.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Exhaling… As you're ready, coming… Into Final… shape of practice.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A Bhayaprada mudra, one hand up and one hand out.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): feeling… The strength of your boundaries. The strength of your compassion.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): When you're ready, lifting left and right hand up to meet at heart center.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Deep breath in… And full breath out.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Exhaling, gentle bow.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Perhaps, as you open your eyes…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Gazing at your candle, if you have it.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or around you, at the lights, taking in form and color and shape.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so I'll just… Share a little bit.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Invite you to…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): To share in the chat, if there's anything that arose in the practice, anything that you noticed.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I want to share, and I'll kind of go deeper into this when we meet on the 16th, but…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Just begin.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): With this,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Can you see this?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So… just to begin thinking of our nervous system not as a machine, right? A lot of the…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): the ways that I've… when I've done trauma-informed work, talk about our nervous systems as a machine, that we never got the manual, right, for how to operate this machine or drive this car, but…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I don't resonate with that, because I'm not a machine, you know? Like, I'm a wild garden, and I'm sometimes, like, a big old storm, and, you know, it's… from an Ayurvedic and a yogic perspective, the natural metaphors that do not stigmatize
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Are much more… supportive.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so our nervous system needs, and this is what yoga gives us.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A few things, not too much, right, to regulate, to help us harmonize. Context, like a clarity of seeing, viveka, which is what so much of the practice supports and invites us into.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then… Choice?
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): the ability to choose, and you'll notice in my cueing, and we'll get much deeper into this, right? But it's not just, like, if you would like, or… I mean, words are really important, but it's also…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): how are we creating a context for sovereignty, for ourselves, and for our students, especially in a time when there's so much in the world? I mean, it's not new, but there's so much that tries to keep us small, compliant.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then connection, huge. The heart of what yoga is. We are always already interconnected.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so trauma-informed, healing-centered yoga aims to give us all of those things.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Context, choice, and connection.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so our nervous system is like a living garden.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It shapes our thoughts, our sensations, our behaviors, and our relationships, right? And it changes.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): With how we care for it.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so we'll continue exploring.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): what it might look like to tend our nervous systems with this more natural metaphor, this more natural way of being. But I'll just move to, say, like, when we feel
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): out of balance. That's dysregulation, right? And dysregulation can show up
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or disharmony, also, I think I like that word better, in so many ways. But also, it's not a failure. It doesn't mean there's something wrong with us, right? When plants close down in winter, animals hibernate.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's an adaptive shape, and it isn't wrong. Might not be comfortable, but it's not wrong.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): what we'll be exploring together through this journey is that our nervous system is always caring for us, right? And so we'll learn how we can tend it together.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And I'll stop sharing there.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Caroline, yes.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And also just noting that we are at…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): At time, in one minute. So, just invitation to…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Carolyn, to keep your share brief, or if you have a question, I may.
Caroline (they/she): Yeah, it's just…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah.
Caroline (they/she): It was just a really quick question. Could… could you just say a little bit more about context? I didn't quite understand what that meant.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, so… Context is, like, understanding, right? Understanding the…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): like, the rules of a game. Like, when I go, sometimes I have a 12-year-old to play with my kiddo.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): we'll be, like, jumping right in in the middle of the game, and I notice I feel…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): a lot of those feelings that I listed for dysregulation or disharmony. I'm like, I don't understand what's happening, I don't know what the rules are, I'm not really sure, and it's a game, right? So there's a foundation of safety with my kiddo, where I can, like, okay, can we pause? Can…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But so much in my life, and I don't know if anyone else can relate to this, I feel like I'm thrown into a game where I don't understand the rules, or the rules are actually, like, stacked against me, or they're not the same for me and someone else. You know, for example, as a woman, as a person of color, as a queer person.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so, context is… understanding the…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): like, what the situation is, and also those systemic issues that may be impacting some of us differently than others, right? Can feel so confusing to not know, and so empowering to know, even when the rules are not equal and not fair.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I hope that,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, I hope that helps. Yes, we will share the slideshow, a link to the slideshow. Let me actually… I'm not gonna share it yet.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And I'll tell you why, because I'm in the process of completing it, so I want to share it, when it's a little bit more complete, and on October 16th, when we go through, more of it, so just,
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Just letting you know that it'll be coming to you in a little while.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Cause… and part of that is because It's an evolving…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): understanding, so I want to just honor that space for it to… the metaphor to kind of unfold, and me be able to explain it clearly.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The last piece, I want to invite you to, especially if you have a candle lit, right, take the flame, and if you don't, I'll be sending you. So, bringing in that light, that insight, so sending that to you, and if you have one of your own, you can send it here, like a self-blessing.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Imagine that you're taking the light and the insight, because we practice for ourselves, of course, in personal liberation, but yoga is a path of collective liberation, and so calling to mind and heart a person, a place, a community, an ecosystem that needs care, and then sending.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The light. The insight.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Ow.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then, when you're ready…
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Blowing out your candle, if it's time for you to do that, just to ensure safety.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's taking your water, if you have it.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And if you don't, that's okay, you can visualize it. Dipping your right finger into the water right, ring finger.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): As a connection to the earth, and you can place that on your forehead, on your third eye, crown, or your heart.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You can also, if you would like, whisper words into your water, and then drink that water through the day. So you might whisper in, like.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm bringing, like, I'm whispering to myself, I'm bringing strength, courage.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Compassion.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then you have… This to take with you.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And as you receive, Letting that fill every cell.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you so much for your presence. Thank you so much for your practice.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Well, invite us to unmute and to say goodbye, and then I'll see you on the 16th.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): See you all soon. So, October 16th is our next gathering, and we'll begin with a wonderful exploring Courageous conversations across difference with Blair Armani, and then we'll move into.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Exploring our nervous systems more.
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): See you all soon!
Nichole BPN (she/her): Thank you, bye!
Lori Baker: You…
Katherine Sorensen: Thank you.
Raphaëlle (she/they): Thank you, bye-bye.
Amanda (she/they): Thank you. Bye-bye.
Karen O'Lone: Dude.
juliamoore: Thank you, bye.