WEBVTT

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And… As we're landing in the space, Today… Inviting in…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): a moment of reflection on Ahimsa, on how you're caring for yourself.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Maybe how you're caring in your community.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And the kind of beautiful tension that exists between Ahimsa

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): and Satya, right? Some of us might relate to this as…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): When you're speaking, you want to be truthful.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But you also want to be kind.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, how do we marry… Or blend, or bring together our truth, And… non-harming.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): uplifting.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That's… Just a little inquiry today, it's like, what is true for you?

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And how can you bring kindness?

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): for yourself with your friends.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): In your… in your community. And so, invitation to drop in the chat

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Maybe how you're caring for yourself today, or if you haven't yet, how you plan to, or a truth that you're…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You're…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): kind of sitting with, or being with, or that is very clear to you. So, a little different than our usual drop-in, but invitation to share…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): practices of Ahhimsa, how you are caring for you, your community… our world.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Oh.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Well, let me make sure that goes in the…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): There we go.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or… a truth.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That you are… present, too.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Right now.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, invitation to begin there.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We'll take just a minute.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): By the way, I'm drinking green water, so if you're like, what is Susanna drinking? It's water with chlorophyll in it.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Laura feels kind of like… A binder, like, activated charcoal, if ever…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you know, to something you can look into, but I'm using it because I'm going through a digestive system, kind of, like, re…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): orientation, my digestion has been a little off, and so sometimes… I need…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): a support. And that is one way, concrete example, of a way that I am practicing ahimsa, and then also in exploration of the truth of, like.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Not really sure, still, exactly what is going on in my body, but exploring that, rather than, like, over… needing to over-fix it, or…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Just kind of seeing what… what unfolds.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Shivara Morning Riverside Meditation, and reading the words of Audre Lorde.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And Cesar Chavez.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): as a guidance for these times. That's powerful. If there's any quotes or anything that stood out, please feel free to share with us.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Brooke stuck with my morning rituals today. Today is a rest day, so I made butternut squash soup and danced to Olivia Dean while cooking. Nice.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Kendra, being here is my self-care today. Wonderful.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Louise taking time, being slow.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): For my students, allowing more time before class to settle, more time to land in savasana, more time to tend to my own needs, unfurling rather than reacting.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Hmm, thank you.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yes.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare. Audra Lord.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Heather, coming to you.

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Heather King: I think the question for me brings up, like, caring for myself, And caring for my community.

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Heather King: which…

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Heather King: in some ways, oh, I just felt this wave of emotion, feels like very different things, like caring for myself is…

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Heather King: My… my practice, like… Which is… isn't, for me, isn't necessarily based on asana, like.

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Heather King: That's not my practice. Or… it's not the totality of my practice.

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Heather King: But in… The idea of, like, non-harming my community.

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Heather King: I… the studio I go to to teach and to practice in. I am the only person of color.

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Heather King: And I am trying to weave things

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Heather King: In, that are not in other classes.

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Heather King: But there is this feeling of… harm?

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Heather King: Kind of to myself and to that community, and to the community of the people that have practiced there for years, because it is so different than what

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Heather King: They're used to, and… They've never heard a land acknowledgement.

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Heather King: They've never heard a… A reminder of where these practices come from.

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Heather King: And so I think I'm actually, like, struggling with… am I causing… Harm by disruption, am I,

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Heather King: like, in caring for myself in the practice, and wanting to share the practice, like, am I also causing harm? And, like, that's… it's a real place that's… it feels really sticky for me right now.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Heather, I have a question. Do you mean harm to yourself?

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or do you mean, like, sort of, like, disrupting the harmony of the community?

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Heather King: I mean, both. Disrupting harm to…

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Heather King: The… the community that is practiced in a… in that… in a different way.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): for…

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Heather King: years. Like, everybody that practices at that studio, they've been there for 10 years, and they're not used to this being

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Heather King: kind of like… I don't want to say infiltrated, but it feels very infiltrating. And so…

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Heather King: there are people that have expressed that they appreciate it, and there's people that are like, I don't know about this. And so that kind of feels like…

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Heather King: the question of, am I… am I causing harm?

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): This is a great question. Are you open to me sharing my thoughts?

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Heather King: Absolutely, absolutely.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah there's a huge difference between harm and discomfort, right? And so, white…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Any kind of privilege, whether that's cishet privilege, or, you know, class privilege, or white privilege,

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): often, that privilege of comfort comes at the expense of the people who are targeted or not in the privileged class. They're actual suffering, harm, and pain, right? So, for example, like.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): take women, right, who are told to, you know, dress a certain way, act a certain way, if violence is perpetrated against them, it's their fault, right? Versus the perpetrator, who so very clearly, it's actually, like.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): our discomfort… women's discomfort.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Protects men's comfort.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So it's easier to see there, right? In a way. It's the same thing in the yoga studio, actually, because the comfort that that group may feel, and it's so hard, too, when it's, like, the dominant culture, and everyone's just like, this is the way we do things, but it's all built on…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Norms, systems, structures that implicitly extract from

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): continually extract from people of color, from, you know, perhaps yoga, from… and so…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): is not the same, you know? Like, it's not an equivalent. Their being uncomfortable is not the same as you or other people of color being harmed. So…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That is so hard, though, when we're the only one, because they create… it creates this culture of, like, this is the norm, and this is just how we do things, and this is the way it's always been. Oh, you're making us uncomfortable, that's harmful. But it's… it's often not. So the bigger question

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): For me, is… Are you okay?

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Right? Protecting your…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): piece, honestly. And if you work there, like, your ability to work there, your paycheck, all the other things.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): By being in a… A culture, a context that

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Is perhaps, like, mismatched with the values that you know.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): What do you think about that?

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Heather King: No, I think it makes a… I think it makes a lot of sense, and it's… it's something that, like…

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Heather King: For me, it feels very, like…

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Heather King: you know, I do have to take care of myself, but it also feels like…

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Heather King: I want to put myself in spaces

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Heather King: that I want to be in, but I also want to represent.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Authentically.

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Heather King: Those… those places, like… And so it… it feels kind of like this push and pull.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Between…

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Heather King: mean.

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Heather King: Or a dance, it's more like a… it feels like a dance between bringing, you know, what is

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Heather King: deeper, and what is not fitness, and what can really change someone's life perspective, the way they interact.

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Heather King: I'm… I feel like I'm sprinkling seeds in a little subversive kind of way, and that feels really… that feels really powerful and empowering.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Mmm, that's beautiful. Yeah, I love that. So, it's like…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You are finding a way to work within that culture.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And still preserve your own power, and kind of, like, share the authentic power of yoga and other things that…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, so that… I so resonate. I feel like a lot of the work I do in different organizations is that dance, you know? Like, oh, we're gonna go a little bit over there, and then I have to pull back, you know?

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, the other part of the dance that I'm often checking in with is my own capacity, you know, unlike how I'm doing. And it does help to have allies, accomplices, you know, they don't have to be other folks of color, but white folks who, like, get it.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): in the studio, or, you know, students or colleagues that you can be like, hey, can we process about this? And you may or may not have that, but, like, building towards

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): that. And then this space is that, right? Where you can come and update us, like, this happened, you know, and I want to process it and talk it through. Because it's not easy. Doing that dance is powerful, and it is empowering, but it… I would… for me, at least, it's not easy. It's a lot of labor, including emotional labor.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, Heather. And I'm just curious, anyone relate to the situation Heather's in? I would imagine a lot of people here, even if you're of different identities, right, relate to this.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, seeing head nods and, like, thumbs up.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Anyone want to come in and talk about it? Their experiences?

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): I'll pop on, yeah, I've actually been so,

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): impatient and, like, put off by people not accepting this work, that I can't go to most studios anymore. I don't teach at any in-person studios because it…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): Feels harmful to me, even… I mean, I'm a white person, and I'm frustrated that other people aren't…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): More open to this work,

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): And even, like, I just did a sound bath for…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): An event with a friend of mine.

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): who I had worked with in… over the summer, and then, like, I just kind of had to, again, like, step back, because I just feel…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): Yeah, I feel really upset that more people aren't, like…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): Also, like, yoga, like, when you're doing yoga, people talk about…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): these, like, awakenings and this… like, I don't understand how people can be doing these practices, even if it's just physical asana, like, you're moving energy, like, I don't… I'm just… I'm so baffled, and upset, and…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): And shocked that more people aren't,

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): So I've had to step away completely, so I just, like…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): not that you need… like, I, like, I applaud you for still being there, you know, and, I mean…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): I work as a pet sitter now, because, like, I can't work as a yoga teacher in studios. It's not… it's really upsetting for me. But what I wanted to say was that, oh yeah, I did this…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): I did this, event with a friend of mine, and I was just responsible for the sound bath, and…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): I usually always do a land acknowledgement before, and then a lineage and teacher acknowledgement after, and I've, like, been dealing with my voice being lost, so… and it was, like, more her event, and so I didn't… and she didn't make a land acknowledgement, and I had meant to ask her before, like, if she would.

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): And I… in the way that I… I mean…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): just because we're, like, sharing… The way that I dealt with it in that moment was, like.

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): I was saying a land acknowledgement to myself.

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): in my head, like, right before I was doing the sound bath, I was, like, repeating the land acknowledgement, like…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): So at least, like, energetically, it was there. Anyways, I…

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Caitlin/Rosie (she/they): I just, I struggle with it a lot, and I don't know how to show up in yoga spaces because of it, so that's basically what I wanted to share. I want to stop and leave time for everybody else.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you so much for sharing. Yeah.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Very relatable. I feel you.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And I really also, also appreciated, Rosie, the thing that you said about, like, even if the external context doesn't allow for it, we can continue to have that internal sovereignty by practicing internally.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Shivara.

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Chevara Orrin (she/her) (shuh-VAH-rah): Hello, everyone. I am Shivara Oren. My pronouns are she, her, and first, thank you so much, both of you, for sharing… sharing that,

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Chevara Orrin (she/her) (shuh-VAH-rah): I felt every word of that, and one of the things that I bring into, and not just yoga spaces, I was actually at a practice this morning, and I'm going to one this evening at 6, is I simply model what works for me.

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Chevara Orrin (she/her) (shuh-VAH-rah): And without, even inviting others to join me, like, in a verbal way, so…

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Chevara Orrin (she/her) (shuh-VAH-rah): for example, the cards that, that I received through the certifications that I'm getting, Susana, with you, and the… right? So I take those to practice with me, and I have 3 of them every single time, and no matter at the end of practice, when instructors, for example, are inviting us to whatever movement they are inviting, I am holding those cards. If we are asked to bring our thumbs to our forehead, I am holding

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Chevara Orrin (she/her) (shuh-VAH-rah): my card, bringing it to my chest. And inevitably, after every practice, someone comes over and they ask me. I also take oils with me. I have 3 different oils, and I have a whole ritual. And so what ends up happening is people will, just out of curiosity, I don't say anything, I don't offer it to anyone. People now fight to be next to me, because they really do like the patchouli, and they like that lavender and the bergamot that I bring.

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Chevara Orrin (she/her) (shuh-VAH-rah): And what I will typically say is, and I kind of preface it with, you know, the journey that I'm on, or what works for me, or the way that I am choosing to practice.

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Chevara Orrin (she/her) (shuh-VAH-rah): And I spent some of the holiday in India, Bhutan, and Senegal, and practiced at all three places. So what I did a week and a half ago when I got back is I just sent out an email to the person who manages the studios that I go to, and just offered… I said, you know, these are some of the things that I learned while I was traveling the globe in various practices.

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Chevara Orrin (she/her) (shuh-VAH-rah): might you consider sharing them with instructors? I mean, so I just offered it in that way. It helps me not to feel the harm if someone is so defensive, which happens in a lot of these commodified, westernized.

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Chevara Orrin (she/her) (shuh-VAH-rah): practices. I live in Florida, so South Florida was kind of the bastion of that. I see Susanna nodding her head, right? So…

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Chevara Orrin (she/her) (shuh-VAH-rah): That's how I choose to also create the type of

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Chevara Orrin (she/her) (shuh-VAH-rah): barrier for myself, so that I am not over… over capacity with how I am trying to… how I am trying to be in a practice for myself, but also be in community. Don't know if that's useful, but that's just how I am choosing to navigate in this moment.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, I love that, Shavara, like… It's so often…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That just being it ourselves, as opposed to telling.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And that brings people in, you know, to the… the inquiry. And sometimes…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): it's possible, I think, and sometimes because the…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): contrast between our values and what's happening is so high, for me, I can't just, like, be in the practice, you know, in those spaces. It's like… it's too much work.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So yeah…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Attracting rather than promotion. Yeah, exactly. And that, again, is that dance of, like, checking in. It's… what I hear from you is you are very, like.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): self-contained and, like, have that, you know, presence where it's not… and maybe the spaces you're in, the tension isn't so great outside, but just to give an example, like, when I've gone to yoga classes near where I am.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): there's, like, a lot of sun salutations, not options, mentions of bikini bodies, and I'm like…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Me just practicing in my own practice here, like, it is labor, and it is stressful, and it's exhausting, and it's like…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): people might get, like, some question of what I'm doing and why, you know, particularly if I'm, like, resting on my back while everyone else is doing 40 sun salutations.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But, for me, that dance, at this stage, and this point, and right now, is not worth it, and for my energy. So, just naming that.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, and Brooke, I think I saw, yeah, coming to you.

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Brooke Monaco: Yeah, I just wanted to share my experience, because I feel like, you know, as a cis white woman in these spaces.

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Brooke Monaco: Who had a really difficult, or a really different approach to this. But I… I have, like…

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Brooke Monaco: worked at a nonprofit here in Omaha, Nebraska, called Black and Pink National.

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Brooke Monaco: We work with people who are system impacted and currently on the inside, LGBTQIA2S plus individuals and people living with HIV and AIDS.

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Brooke Monaco: I am the only person there that does not have the lived experience, and I have created incredible relationships with members, staff, everybody there.

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Brooke Monaco: turn around, so, like, I teach in prisons, and I teach in transitional homes and places like that, and then I turn around, but I also managed this, like, rich West Omaha boutique

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Brooke Monaco: yoga studio. And, with… with… I was there…

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Brooke Monaco: Gateway to, people of color, to people of marginalized,

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Brooke Monaco: Backgrounds and identities, and they tried to use that access a lot.

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Brooke Monaco: Without even asking what I did at this nonprofit, they just, like, made this, like, announcement that they were gonna start, like, helping, or, like, start, like, supporting Black and Pink. And then a week later, we had a meeting, because they wanted to know more about Black and Pink, because they were on fire for a post that they had made, during the George

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Brooke Monaco: Floyd situation, and it turned… and then, fast forward a year later.

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Brooke Monaco: you know, they've been asking me to, like, build events for Black History Month, and so I get, like, our executive director, who is, like.

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Brooke Monaco: flying back from New York City that night. I get, like, you know, a bunch of these really incredible, incredible individuals. Like, I got a bunch of small Black-owned businesses there, I was like, yes, like.

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Brooke Monaco: We're gonna support them, they're gonna be known, we're gonna have speakers, they're gonna have shopping, like, all of this stuff.

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Brooke Monaco: Two days before the event was supposed to go on, they still hadn't promoted it. So I have all of these black and brown individuals with small businesses.

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Brooke Monaco: You know, my executive director is flying back, and not one person is signed up. All these small business owners are, like, working really hard to have juices and clothing and all this stuff ready, and not one person at this studio fucking knew that we were having this.

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Brooke Monaco: So, that led to me, like, I had taken years of, like, kind of trying to be like, hey, this isn't right, hey, let's do it this way, hey, let's do it this way. And it turned into a blow-up fight where, like, literally me and the owner were screaming at each other, because it's like, she refused.

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Brooke Monaco: to understand, and I was like, this is not conducive to the end goal. I'm very protective of the people that I work with, and I…

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Brooke Monaco: I'm not gonna put these in these situations that they're gonna show up and nobody's here to support them at this rich, white yoga studio. And, I ended up leaving.

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Brooke Monaco: And I want to recognize, you know, like, I am married, so I didn't have to worry about, like, health insurance, and stuff like that. And I live in Omaha, so, you know, prices are a little bit different here. So I left, and I started my own yoga studio that is actually doing really well, and I'm, like, getting,

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Brooke Monaco: Like, I…

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Brooke Monaco: I just… I started my own studio. It's a social justice yoga studio, the ACLU of Nebraska. It, is a huge partner of mine, along with the city of Omaha, the mayor.

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Brooke Monaco: And, you know, it's a lot different approach than, you know, other people had said, and like I said, there's a lot of things that led me to be able to do this.

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Brooke Monaco: But that was my experience, and that was my reaction.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Wow, Brooke, that's so hard! It's like extractive saviorism to the extreme. What happened to those businesses? Like, did they ever get an event? Did people come? Like, I just… I'm like, oh…

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Brooke Monaco: Oh, I know, it was a fucking nightmare. So what we did was we ended up…

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Brooke Monaco: recording the people who came to, speak, and then they put it up on their platform for people to watch for free. And then, all of the people who had brought goods…

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Brooke Monaco: We're able to leave it there throughout the weekend, and, you know, hopefully, students, as they were coming over the weekend, would buy things.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Hmm… yeah.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, I think this is such a great example of how not to do

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): service, right? And CEBA and community resourcing work. And this is something, you know, there's some new folks here, and I'm so excited that there are, and if you've been in… coming to office hours for a while, you might have heard me say this before.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But I always think it's a great reminder of…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): we don't have to build new things, particularly if we're not part of the community that we're building for. It's usually so much more effective to go and see what's already there. They don't even have to be yoga studios, right? Could be nonprofits, could be other, you know, community centers. And then.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): listen to what folks are saying they need, and see what we can do to help meet those needs. The other thing I look for in myself

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): is… am I putting Susanna Barcutaki… like, is this the Susanna show? Is this important for me to get my name out so I can be seen doing this thing for people, or is this, like…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): lift up the community, and I can be behind, right? Not… again, there's nothing wrong. Sometimes it is the Susanna show. Let's be real, right? Like, I am…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I love to do things like teach, and in those moments, if it's a teaching moment, sure, it can be about me or whatever the concepts are that I'm passionate about.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But if it's a service-related thing, I need to check myself on if all of a sudden it's… I'm starting to make it into the Susanna show, versus, like, the organization or the cause.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And that takes Vadhyaya, and it's sad how few yoga studios practice that, because what I've noticed when studios do fundraisers and things is they often put… it's like, it's a marketing opportunity, right? Rather than putting the,

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): the actual cause or the organizations forward. So, yes, I struggle with the idea of saviors, too, during this. Yeah, and and so I think one of the things we can ask ourselves and our colleagues if they're doing it, or our studios, is like.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): we can have multiple bottom lines, right? But if it's an actual true… I've been thinking about this a lot, if it's true, Seba.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): If it's really about service.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): then, sure, we may end up getting press, good press, or, like, students from it, but it's not really about that. It's about the actual service itself.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And, and then, is it…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): relating to folks on their own terms, right? Supporting folks on their own terms. I have a whole thing that I can share on this, which I will if we have time, but I want to make sure we get to the questions that came in, because they're really also very thought-provoking, and I want to address them.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, we'll circle back to, like, how to…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Kind of yogically in a decolonized way.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): work in service… save our relationships, service relationships. So this is a question that was asked in a way that wanted… that gave a number of qualifications around it.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And including that it's personal, but it also could, like, felt like the group discussion could be really helpful. So, inviting in folks' perspectives.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm aware that this is a rather personal question.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But I feel like discussing as a group could be beneficial. Okay, I'm a white woman from the U.S. who has been practicing yoga with intention for 5 years.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Last year, I earned my RYT200 in Rishikesh in India, and have recently started teaching.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I've chosen Soul Search, or SOL, and I think Juliana is or will put this, like, the summary of the question in the chat, so you can see it, as my business name, inspired by my Instagram handle, which I've had since I created my Instagram as a teen.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The pun being SOL, S-O-L, son in Spanish, and it sounds like soul in English.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah. I've spent the past 7 years traveling and living in foreign countries, most of them Spanish-speaking. I'm fluent in Spanish, having lived years of my life.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Submerged in the language and various line cultures to varying degrees. These experiences have shaped me into the person I am and are part of my identity. However, it is not my heritage.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Having started this course, I'm now questioning using this handle, and more specifically, bringing it into my yoga brand. Is it appreciation or appropriation?

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I am currently located in the US, and I'm not looking to make money from my yoga classes. The studio I rent is reasonably priced, and I'm able to offer classes on a donation basis.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So far, I've put 100% of the revenue into renting the space, and if I can get my cost numbers up, have the idea that if there were ever extra money, my students and I would decide together what to do with it while giving back to the community.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): investing in Bolsters props, but we would decide together.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I feel that since I'm not profiting, it's okay, question mark. But is it really? Question mark. I'd love to explore this and gain some insight from others. And I don't think the person who asked this is here, but I just really want to appreciate you for asking

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you know, a question that I think a lot of us

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): either come across this situation, or we have thought about it ourselves, right? So it's a… it is a personal question. I think it's a very tender question when it's connected to, like, a handle we've had since we were young.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): a big part of our experiences.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I definitely have some clear thoughts about it, but I want to open it up to see what… what folks think.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And Juliana, thank you for, dropping the question in the chat.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): If anyone would like to share their thoughts.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Heather, yeah.

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Heather King: I think two things stand out for me. One is, I think that intentionality matters in whether something is appropriation or whether something is appreciation. And I could absolutely be wrong, but I think that intention… I think intention, matters, and I think to the degree that, like, this is also

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Heather King: like, her lived experience.

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Heather King: I think that that… that does play a role in kind of delineating between, like, appropriation and, and appreciation. I think when I think of appropriation, especially, like, I think of people in certain circles that have access to, like,

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Heather King: culture, like, Shapibo tribes.

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Heather King: And… and how people practice in some of those things. It's very consumer. I'm gonna go to the jungle, I'm gonna do this thing, and then I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna… I'm gonna wear all this jewelry that I saw. And I think that that's appropriation. Like, you're not…

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Heather King: there is… I think that's consumerism, and that's appropriation, but if, you know, you're being immersed, and that is a part of your identity, I think that is more appreciation. But I also think that the… the other part that is, that for me stands out is the idea of reciprocity and collaboration. I think that that also kind of plays

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Heather King: A role in whether something is appropriated to create an appearance of

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Heather King: spirituality or, you know, whatever, whereas, the practice of collaboration, the practice of recipro… of recipro… why can't… why can't I get the word out? Reciprocity. There we go.

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Heather King: I think that that, that has… I think that at least implies, some honoring.

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Heather King: of… culture and heritage, and I think it is adding… adding to…

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Heather King: Like, the richness of that, rather than building something off of a power structure that you have consumed.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, thank you, Heather.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Anyone else?

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Have thoughts.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I will say… Just in the very way the question was asked.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): like, sometimes, when we're relating to something that's not ours, there can be a little doubt, right? There can be… and so it's like, if this is your brand, and your name, and you're going full force with it.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): can you change it to, like, soul, S-O-U-L underscore searcher, right? Number 3, or whatever, like, if you have to add a number, because there's already a soul searcher.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And when it comes to appropriation, right, we're always going back to, and you can look in the

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): in Embrace Yoga's Reads The Course, it's power imbalance and harm.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): harm to the culture, to the people. And it gets a little iffy if someone who is from a dominant culture is benefiting

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): from something from a target culture, especially think about the context right now in the U.S. with ICE raids, right? Like, and that level of oppression. And so, just a personal example I'll give.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): In 2001 to, like, 2015, I was part of an intentional community in LA. It was multiracial, multi-age, queer folks, trans folks. We were, like.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A group of folks that came together to support one another.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): While people were getting kicked out of their house for being queer, while we needed to raise money for bail for someone's sibling who was dealing with, like, the criminal justice system, mental health stuff.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And we would connect those issues to bigger political issues. We had a name that I wouldn't use now. The name that we used was Tribe of the Diasporas, because it felt so right. We were, you know, Black folks, and Indigenous folks, and Indian folks, and white folks.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But I'm not part of a tribe.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so, even though that name felt true for what we were.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): it… the group kind of went away, right? It became a number of other things, actually. Some of the folks who were within it started Black Lives Matter, right, in 2011 to 2013, and then it came onto the national scene in 2015, 2018, 2020.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And that name, Black Lives Matter, and that…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): split, where, like, I'm not… I was able to support the folks that eventually became Black Lives Matter, but I was not in that group.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Because I'm not Black.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Right? And there's no way that I should be in that group, or, you know?

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): very clear. Much more clear. And so, in that same way.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I think my question for this is, like, are there ways that are inequitable, right? That…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): as a white person who's gotten to travel, who may be very immersed, even, you know, one day maybe we'll marry or have kids from those cultures, right? But, like, for me.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm not Black. I'm not… you know, Latinx, and so I can't know for sure

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): how folks who are Latinx would feel about me using a word in Spanish.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): as part of my brand, or part of my… even my service. And so, for me, personally, I would want to change it to represent something

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): that I could, like, go 100% with, right? Like, full force without, like, having that question. So, because I really think it's not, like, wrong, like, I think with these things, it's very often… sometimes it is very cut and dry, and we're like, nope. But this is like, well…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, and I guess I also just want to bring forward

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): are there any Latinx folks who have thoughts on this, right? Because again, it's tricky with cultural appropriation. It's hard to speak for someone else. It's also, honestly, really hard to speak for your whole, like, people and culture. So, no pressure, but…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I do think…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I think there's, like, nuance there and ways of being really sensitive. I also love the intention of the giving back and the, the fundraising and deciding as a group.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But if it isn't specifically being given back to Latinx folks, if you're using

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): utilizing and kind of, like, benefiting from an aspect of the culture, then maybe not, right? Like, yeah. So, thoughts there. Karen, coming to you.

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Karen McMillan: Hi, whoever asked the question, thank you for it.

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Karen McMillan: At first, I thought, oh, I can't relate, then I realized, oh, thoroughly relate.

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Karen McMillan: I recently changed my brand.

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Karen McMillan: Totally, as a matter of fact, I have to now go and change the, email. I have been…

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Karen McMillan: Okay, let me just go backwards so I don't take too long. Not being of the heritage became what I was uncomfortable with, and if I was to say one thing to the person, I would say, if you're not comfortable, you can't communicate comfort.

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Karen McMillan: Period.

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Karen McMillan: And that's what actually… guided me. I was like, if I…

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Karen McMillan: I have been busting my ass doing the Tao, calling it Yenpreneur, only studying with Mandarin, Chinese-speaking people. I was busting my ass to be authentic. But then I said.

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Karen McMillan: Then I started joining… then I joined your course. And then I went and spent time with Dejal, and Dejal Yoga, and I went, if I'm questioning it, it's not… I can't communicate it properly.

287
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Karen McMillan: And then I'm leaning into yoga and decolonized yoga, one, because it's decolonized.

288
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Karen McMillan: But one of the reasons I feel comfort is my grandmother is from India.

289
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Karen McMillan: Mind you.

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Karen McMillan: raised in a Catholic, you know, her parents traveled a lot, and so she was raised a lot by nuns and never spoke about yoga, so it isn't my lineage in terms of learning, but it's my bloodline, which made me feel as though this is a great chance, which is one of the reasons I joined your class.

291
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Karen McMillan: This is a great chance to learn more about my lineage, since no one actually taught it to me. We're… they leaned very much into the West Indian side, but we're multiple blends, like so many other people.

292
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Karen McMillan: But the short of it is, I wasn't comfortable.

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Karen McMillan: I had to stop asking myself the question, or asking anybody else. When I asked others who had been with me for up to 10 years, said, oh, you would never appropriate, you made sure to honor other people, you made it clear that you weren't, and I was like.

294
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Karen McMillan: Yeah, that's not the answer. I'm not comfortable, I'm done.

295
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Karen McMillan: And I have rebranded from Yinpreneur Village and Yinpreneur, which I was at for damn near 12 years.

296
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Karen McMillan: to I'm now breathed sanctuary, and going…

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Karen McMillan: full-on with decolonized yoga and syncretism. I'm bringing in what I learned about the five elements, I attend Ayurveda classes, etc, but I had… I have to be able to sleep with it. It didn't really matter. Any other answers, any other questions.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Wow, Karen, thank you.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, I love your new name.

300
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And people feel, right? Like, they feel the… and sometimes, the name change, it's rough. Like, I have a friend who's just going through a… like a… she had a name called… like, I think one of her programs was Business Witch.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): She got a trademark complaint on that, you know? Like, I got a trademark complaint. The course y'all… some of you are taking, Embrace Yoga's Roots, it used to be called Honor Yoga's Roots. I got a trademark complaint.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You know, sometimes these things happen because we are, like, oh, I'm not comfortable, or sometimes, like, we get called out publicly for appropriation, or sometimes, like, really, you're gonna tell a South Asian woman they can't use the term honor yoga? Okay. You know, like, because… so…

303
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But what I will say about it is, like, the truth that we come to when we really sit with what is this name about, and develop a deeper relationship.

304
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): There's a lot of insight there.

305
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so not… we're not saying we… you have to change the name, you know, but explore. Like, be in… in inquiry and relationship and see what emerges. Anyone else who…

306
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Karen McMillan: would use is transparency.

307
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah.

308
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Karen McMillan: And… which is vulnerability.

309
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Karen McMillan: That's how I got by for a long time.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then I said.

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Karen McMillan: you know, then I started studying with other folks and what felt more comfortable. So I'm not saying that one should do that, I'm just talking about my journey. But transparency and vulnerability was one of my ways of leaning into appreciation.

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Karen McMillan: appropriation. I never said it was mine.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Mmm… that's beautiful.

314
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, which is what I hear in our… the question, right? Is that transparency, that vulnerability, that relationship, right? Sharing the relationship as well.

315
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah.

316
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, it's so interesting.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm just wondering if anyone else… I'm… two things are happening in my brain. One is I want to make sure to share the other question, because we had another really lovely question that relates. Maybe I'll do that, and then open it back up to see if folks,

318
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Have any other thoughts for me?

319
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Pull the other question in.

320
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And perhaps, too, this is like a to-be-continued. Oh, no.

321
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): There it is. Okay.

322
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So this question is about attachment.

323
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): studying Astea, thinking about non-attachment, can you share some practices to practice non-attachment? And maybe some more about how you think about attachment in yoga, and from a decolonized perspective.

325
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Practicing non-attachment while also healing attachment wounds. Like, ugh, really feel that. And practicing non-attachment while also nurturing intentional relationship and attachment.

326
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): This is, like, the heart of what is…

327
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): what it is, this question, I love this question, thank you so much for it. I love both of these questions today.

328
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): it's like the heart of what it is to be a householder and not a monastic, practicing yoga, you know? It's…

329
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): almost harder, I feel like, to be a regular person. Loving, parenting, you know, attached to friends, maybe to family, maybe poly, maybe monogamous, right? Like…

330
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): All of it is, like, a study, and attachment, and relationship, and, like, how to practice that.

331
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): yogically, it's almost easier to just be like, oh no, I'm a monk, I'm a nun. I don't do attachment, you know? Like, honestly, the monks and nuns and, like, sannyasins, they're still attached, of course they are, right? It's a human condition.

332
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So… Yeah, it's just such a… a profound.

333
00:47:15.190 --> 00:47:16.360
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Practice.

334
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'll share a little, and then I want to open it… I want to open it up after I share. So,

335
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So in the yoga sutras, when we're working with Astea and a paragrapha, so Estea non-stealing, a paragrapha, like, letting go.

336
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I think in the West, we can kind of flatten these concepts to…

337
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): not being attached, right? But in India, and I just want to, like.

338
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): again, there's many different schools, but there's… yoga was taught in the context of the four stages of life, which I wrote about, if anyone's read, Ignite Your Yoga, the book.

339
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or is going to read it, the, pristartas, the four stages. And the second stage, the first is studentship, right? When you're a student, you're really learning, and of course, you're sort of attached to learning. The second stage is, like, the householder stage.

340
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:31.830
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you're parenting, perhaps you're working, perhaps you're working on relationships, you know? And that is actually a… and encouraged.

341
00:48:32.340 --> 00:48:36.040
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): stage, right? It's not that it's not yogic.

342
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So… In a way, it's like, how can we be…

343
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So deep, okay? I think I'm gonna give some concrete examples. So… How can, in our relationships.

344
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Like, say, with friends.

345
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I was reflecting on this, I'm 48, right? So, younger than some of you here, older than probably many of you here, and I've had friends that I've had for, like, over 30 years now. And I was spending some time with them over the break, and it's like…

346
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you know, I knew you since you were 16, and I have a certain fixed thought about who you are and what that means, right? And I was trying to wipe that clear, and just see my bestie for who she is right now.

347
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): to me, that's what it is to practice apart, non-attachment. Not to be like, oh, I don't care about her, because I'm non-attached. I love her. I want the best for her, like, she's part of my life, and hopefully always will be. And…

348
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): the ways that I put her in a box without meaning to, right? Even with the best of intentions, I try to, like, wipe those away. Or…

349
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): be transparent about them. Be, you know, hey, I'm noticing I'm feeling a little competitive with you, because, you know, we have that thing where, like, you do this, and then I want to do it too, you know, so I just name it. For me, that's all part of transparency.

350
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I try to do that with my child as well, even just think of how I just said that, my child. What does that mean, right? My child?

351
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Mine?

352
00:50:15.600 --> 00:50:18.199
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or the child that I have the privilege of.

353
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): stewarding through this world, and like, it is a process of any parents here.

354
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Especially with older children, or adult children, oh my gosh. Letting go. Letting go, letting go, letting go. I mean, even with little kids too, right? Like, we think, oh, I'm gonna have the, like, sweet, quiet kid that likes to color. Oh, no, I have the kid that, like, runs across the playground, and I never get to sit down, you know?

355
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): what just happened? Or, for example, me and my partner, like, I talk a lot when I teach, but we can spend, like, 3 hours together in silence.

356
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Not so for our child, who, like, will follow me to the bathroom, even still in his teens, to tell me a story, you know what I mean?

357
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Non-attachment is like, right, I thought I was gonna have that kid.

358
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): who is actually in front of me that I'm supposed to be stewarding is totally different. And can I see them for who they are? And, like, really meet them.

359
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): it's that to ourselves. So I don't know if I'm helping, I know I'm giving, like, more stories than specifics, but let me just, like, bring it back really quick. So…

360
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I think, in yoga, what this is, is, like.

361
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's the merging of Aparagraha and Svadhyaya.

362
00:51:40.630 --> 00:51:43.200
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Because so often.

363
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I notice for myself, I'm putting my expectations on others in a relationship, as opposed to, like, seeing what is true for them, right? So it's actually Satya, too. It's, like, all the yamas, of course it is, right? Because it's a relationship.

364
00:52:00.590 --> 00:52:07.950
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Coming together in a, like, the dance that, was spoken about at the beginning by,

365
00:52:09.270 --> 00:52:16.670
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): by Heather, that dance… it's like a dance as well, of like, oh, okay, let me turn up the truth and the clear seeing.

366
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): let me turn up the letting go, right? And let me turn down the, like, expectation, right? So it's just sort of applying the different yoga ethics at different times.

367
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then, you know, like, we have this sort of stereotypical way of saying, like, if you love someone, set them free.

368
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And whatever that means, to you, I think, from a yogic perspective, it's like…

369
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Another concrete example, in 2020, my partner lost his job, because so many of us did, you know, in 2020, and started to work at Ignite with me.

370
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I love my partner. He's amazing. He's a Virgo. I am, like, totally not a Virgo. I'm a Pisces and a Leo rising. I'm, like, fire and ideas.

371
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And he's like, structure and earth.

372
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Come to find out, that is actually a great combination for running a business, to have someone who has all these ideas, have someone who's super grounded, right?

373
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It was nice, not without its challenges. Lots of letting go of expectation through the years we worked together. Four years later, he did a lot, helped a lot, built a lot.

374
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But it was like, this isn't my passion. I love you, Susanna, but I don't want to run a business with you. That's not, like, what I trained in. I trained in landscape architecture, and I want to go back to work, you know, outside of the business.

375
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I was so attached. I'm like, what am I gonna do? You know? But in relationship, I had to…

376
00:53:58.840 --> 00:54:02.540
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Understand that, like, this person's destiny

377
00:54:03.340 --> 00:54:11.949
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's so much bigger than me, you know, or what they do for me, whether it's in my relationship with them as a partner in our work life.

378
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And they're so happy, right? Like, just so happy. Went back to work at a job that's doing landscape architecture about a year and a half ago, and, like, is in a whole midlife…

379
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Not crisis, like, the opposite of that, like renaissance, you know?

380
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So…

381
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I could have made it really hard, I could have fought it, I could have been like, what's gonna happen? Threatened? You know, oh…

382
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We… this is how we make money, like, we need, you know?

383
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And to me, that whole shift in process was a practice of a paragrapha. Was it easy? No, you know? But these are just some ways that I think about it, and I think the decolonized piece

384
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Is coming back to the oneness, like…

385
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Fundamentally, is this about personal gain, or is this about… my own, your…

386
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): total personal, emotional, spiritual, intellectual uplift, right? And how can, in this interaction, can I be about?

387
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): all of that. So I'm gonna stop. I know I said a lot,

388
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Any thoughts? And particularly, the person who asked the question, just wanna… See if you would like.

389
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): to share. I know you said I can name you, but I just want to see if you would like to speak to this, or if this is resonating, or if you have other questions.

390
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Okay, cool. You can always come in, and there's no rush. And Karen, I see your hand.

391
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Hi.

392
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Karen, we're ready for you, if you'd like to share.

393
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Karen McMillan: Okay, I'll make it quick.

394
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Karen McMillan: I was just gonna say impermanence.

395
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Karen McMillan: And I'll let you speak more on that. I just… that… because that's what…

396
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Karen McMillan: And maybe because I'm getting older, I'm like… What?

397
00:56:29.310 --> 00:56:31.289
Karen McMillan: the, permanent…

398
00:56:31.590 --> 00:56:36.749
Karen McMillan: Should I hold it? It's gonna change. It won't be here? You know, all those thoughts, but I'd rather you speak.

399
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, it's like the fundamental truth.

400
00:56:41.100 --> 00:56:44.289
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You know, the ancient Greeks said, it's like, there is…

401
00:56:44.650 --> 00:57:02.719
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): no absolute, but the absolute of change, right? Zeno, I think, said you can't step in the same river twice, because… not just because the river's changing, because we're changing. And yoga speaks to that same thing as well, which is, like, the… the beauty of impermanence is that everything matters.

402
00:57:03.370 --> 00:57:11.669
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And the… Grief and the sadness, right, of impermanence, is that everything will change.

403
00:57:11.900 --> 00:57:15.990
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so it's like holding the relationship

404
00:57:16.130 --> 00:57:34.859
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): while not fixing it, while not forcing it. And I think, again, another way to bring decolonization into this is, like, the difference between domination and control, and, like, power with, right? And allowing things and ourselves to be what they are as they unfold.

405
00:57:35.230 --> 00:57:45.390
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So… Yeah, that, this is such a deep…

406
00:57:45.550 --> 00:57:50.759
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): deep question, and I feel like we could share so much more.

407
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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): we're at time, almost, and so I want to just close with a little bit of a practice, if you would like, just a short one, which is to perhaps find a shape

408
00:58:05.120 --> 00:58:07.600
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That invites impermanence.

409
00:58:07.600 --> 00:58:26.869
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so, by that, I mean a balancing shape, and if you're seated, you can stay seated, but maybe you're, like, lifting up on your feet, and you're kind of, like, hovering above your chair. Maybe you're balancing on one foot, right? So there's, like, a kind of… we're not going to be able to stay in that, that shape for too long.

410
00:58:26.910 --> 00:58:35.510
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Maybe it's just with your fingers, you're bringing finger and thumb together, there's a kind of… like, 10…

411
00:58:36.600 --> 00:58:38.980
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Tenuousness, ephemeralness.

412
00:58:39.550 --> 00:58:48.130
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): In this shape. And just feeling in that shape, including if you're balancing, right? Like, you might fall out, you might come back in.

413
00:58:48.390 --> 00:58:57.160
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The stillness and the groundedness in, underneath, The micro-movements, the constant adjustment.

414
00:58:57.860 --> 00:58:59.430
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then the movement.

415
00:58:59.570 --> 00:59:02.140
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That's there, in the stillness.

416
00:59:02.540 --> 00:59:09.409
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so knowing that the beauty of yoga is that it brings us to the interbeing nature.

417
00:59:11.080 --> 00:59:13.909
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Of everything is always changing.

418
00:59:14.220 --> 00:59:17.960
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And in some way, everything is always already.

419
00:59:18.610 --> 00:59:25.000
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): interconnected, the same, will not change, right? Cannot be created, destroyed.

420
00:59:25.830 --> 00:59:28.650
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And it feels like a paradox.

421
00:59:29.220 --> 00:59:32.350
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Sometimes it seems to our mind like a paradox.

422
00:59:33.330 --> 00:59:36.490
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But it's that deep truth of yoga as unity.

423
00:59:38.980 --> 00:59:48.599
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And when you're ready… Exhaling, maybe bringing your hands together, finding a different shape that's maybe more stable.

424
00:59:48.890 --> 00:59:50.730
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And a gentle bow.

425
00:59:51.380 --> 00:59:52.769
Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then when…

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You're ready if you'd like. Coming off mute, saying goodbye. Thank you so much to each of you for your presence, for your practice. Thank you to the folks who asked those profound questions and who shared and listened today. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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Monica: Thank you.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you.

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Eva (she/her): Thank you so much.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And just a reminder, no workshop on Thursday, our next… I'll see you next for, Pilgrimage in Puta at the end of the month, in two weeks.

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Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Bye y'all.

