WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.540 --> 00:00:05.040 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Welcome! 2 00:00:10.050 --> 00:00:16.310 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Welcome, everyone, to our pilgrimage in Puja for January. 3 00:00:18.870 --> 00:00:21.079 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm so glad that you're here. 4 00:00:21.560 --> 00:00:28.189 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We'll take a moment while folks are coming in, and as we're grounding into this moment. 5 00:00:30.090 --> 00:00:36.170 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): to… Maybe grab an… 6 00:00:36.310 --> 00:00:55.679 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): an object, or something that brings you joy. So something that, sparks your creativity or brings you joy. And this could be anything, like, if you're out traveling or, you know, on the road, then maybe you're just grabbing, like, a pen out of your bag or backpack. 7 00:00:55.680 --> 00:00:57.529 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): If you are at home. 8 00:00:57.950 --> 00:01:11.610 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): maybe you're grabbing a journal, or if you have a particular object, like an object of beauty, or something that you love, like, for me, the little dia holder is something that I always really love. 9 00:01:12.970 --> 00:01:16.250 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, so… welcome. 10 00:01:16.470 --> 00:01:18.229 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And, 11 00:01:22.050 --> 00:01:24.599 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And we'll get started in just a moment. 12 00:01:28.910 --> 00:01:32.299 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yay, you have your turn already. Awesome. Okay, great. 13 00:02:14.590 --> 00:02:20.500 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Wonderful. So… If you've got your… 14 00:02:20.930 --> 00:02:26.049 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Object, or visualization of your object. 15 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:41.130 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We're at a time near the end of January that is often celebrated in kind of yogic contexts as Saraswati Punja, or Vasant Pachami, which is, like, a celebration of 16 00:02:41.130 --> 00:02:49.999 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Learning, and knowledge, and also of creativity, and that which sparks your, your creative expression. 17 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:55.779 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, I thought we could start with something… 18 00:02:56.750 --> 00:03:03.719 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Just kind of playful and off-screen for a moment, which is a couple options here. 19 00:03:03.910 --> 00:03:10.360 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So… You can take your journal, and if you'd like. 20 00:03:10.570 --> 00:03:15.729 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): This is a… this is actually a Pratyahara exercise, so I'll just drop to my… 21 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:34.129 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): pen. Let me grab a different pen. So you could stare at your object, right? So not looking at the screen, but, this is a focus practice. So looking at your object, and then first thought, best thought, it doesn't have to be beautiful or perfect or accurate, but draw. 22 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:42.440 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): your object, right? And if you're somewhere where you can't do this, you can always do this later. Invitation to… 23 00:03:43.210 --> 00:03:53.930 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Just do a little, you know, kind of, off-screen, off-device, but co-created… activity of… 24 00:03:53.950 --> 00:04:07.969 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): focus, right? So you're, like, focusing your attention. Another option would be just to stare at it, just, like, do a practice where you're just staring at your object, and for those just joining. 25 00:04:07.970 --> 00:04:15.129 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We're pulling up into our mind's eye, our imagination, or actually in front of us, an object that symbolizes, in this moment. 26 00:04:15.660 --> 00:04:26.320 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Creativity, joy, and then we're doing just a one minute, so it'll be a very short focus exercise. 27 00:04:26.350 --> 00:04:40.239 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): with that object. So, give me a thumbs up if you've got your object, and you're ready to play with this, and you can use the little reactions, like the hearts or thumbs up on your… on your screen. Okay, great. 28 00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:44.520 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Wonderful. So, we will begin. 29 00:04:45.590 --> 00:04:50.740 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Whether you're staring… Soft gaze, or drawing. 30 00:04:51.820 --> 00:04:54.369 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And we'll start… now. 31 00:06:59.320 --> 00:07:12.019 Audio shared by Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Just an invitation to complete your drawing or your gazing, and jot a few words of what this object or thing that you're symbolizing, what it. 32 00:07:12.020 --> 00:07:12.390 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): means… 33 00:07:12.390 --> 00:07:13.360 Audio shared by Susanna Barkataki (She/They): to you. 34 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:16.519 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Again, just first thought, best thought, just a few words. 35 00:07:17.110 --> 00:07:17.620 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): raised… 36 00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:25.730 Audio shared by Susanna Barkataki (She/They): or sentence. 37 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:53.170 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm taking a moment to finish here. 38 00:08:53.550 --> 00:08:59.270 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Journaling, you're writing… And… 39 00:09:01.380 --> 00:09:10.949 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I spotlight myself, because in a moment I'm going to write on this board, but this way, if you would prefer to see the gallery view, please change your view. Invitation to do that. 40 00:09:11.110 --> 00:09:24.590 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Would anyone like to share their object, or what it called up for them? I will just say mine, it's, again, it's not about representation, right? It's, like, about 41 00:09:24.590 --> 00:09:33.149 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): connection. So, my drawing doesn't… it's not, like, a very accurate representation, but it was really… 42 00:09:34.800 --> 00:09:37.529 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It felt really meaningful to me to… 43 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:44.110 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): feel the energy of what I later wrote, which is devotion, love, and joy. 44 00:09:44.550 --> 00:09:55.369 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, would anyone like to share? You don't have to share what you actually did, but the process, or any ahas or experiences, just want to invite in your voices out loud or in the chat. 45 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:15.780 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Okay. 46 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:19.559 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We'll give a little space, people might be writing. 47 00:10:26.180 --> 00:10:30.039 Karen McMillan: And when it messed the quiet, but I'll share. 48 00:10:30.040 --> 00:10:31.360 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Please, please, please. 49 00:10:32.860 --> 00:10:42.220 Karen McMillan: I finished writing them. So… When you said something of joy, what came to mind… was… 50 00:10:42.610 --> 00:10:46.430 Karen McMillan: At first, I was only going to look at the box… 51 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:50.149 Karen McMillan: But then I decided to open the gift… 52 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:56.820 Karen McMillan: And this is from 8th Generation, which is an Indigenous artist. 53 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:02.290 Karen McMillan: And the beauty of the box, one could just… 54 00:11:02.540 --> 00:11:14.920 Karen McMillan: Be with, because you can turn it either way, the quality of the box, and then you open it, and this is a gift from my daughter. 55 00:11:15.300 --> 00:11:27.419 Karen McMillan: Because I was like, oh, Christmas, I don't know. And then she had read one of my emails, which was very… and she went to 8th generation and purchased this. 56 00:11:28.280 --> 00:11:30.229 Karen McMillan: So, I'm like, wow. 57 00:11:30.940 --> 00:11:34.850 Karen McMillan: I touched my daughter, so I felt like passing it on. 58 00:11:35.140 --> 00:11:53.860 Karen McMillan: By just sharing it. I've learned in this course with the decolonization to honor our relatives, our Indigenous relatives, and I gotta tell you, the quality. It's like, why am I shopping American? 59 00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:55.520 Karen McMillan: It's just… 60 00:11:55.620 --> 00:12:14.269 Karen McMillan: And then you get with it, and then I'll stop talking… you get information about the nation and the artist… whoops! The nation and the artist. She also got some earrings. So, so much of the layers of the 61 00:12:14.610 --> 00:12:20.450 Karen McMillan: just being able to be in what doesn't move me as much, I call it the hallmark holiday. 62 00:12:20.660 --> 00:12:26.539 Karen McMillan: And being able to take it someplace else and still enjoy it, and then… 63 00:12:27.210 --> 00:12:29.789 Karen McMillan: Have all my sensual enjoyment of it. 64 00:12:35.750 --> 00:12:41.430 Lynn Shuck (she/her): Good, good afternoon. I'm Lynn, and… 65 00:12:41.760 --> 00:12:50.780 Lynn Shuck (she/her): I threw this pot. I took a class and threw pots on a wheel, and I was not very good at it, and it's wonky. 66 00:12:50.990 --> 00:13:02.290 Lynn Shuck (she/her): But as I stared at it, I remembered how much I loved the feeling of wet clay on a wheel, and I love the colors that came out. Exactly! Perfectly imperfect. 67 00:13:02.290 --> 00:13:11.179 Lynn Shuck (she/her): And I haven't spun on… thrown on a wheel in a while, but I also remember the companionship there, so it makes me think I need to… 68 00:13:11.180 --> 00:13:12.810 Lynn Shuck (she/her): Get back to it. 69 00:13:13.340 --> 00:13:19.369 Lynn Shuck (she/her): I don't care that I sucked at it, it was so much fun, and… and I love this face. I love it. 70 00:13:20.830 --> 00:13:21.580 Lynn Shuck (she/her): T. 71 00:13:23.900 --> 00:13:27.149 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you so much, Lynn and Karen. 72 00:13:28.130 --> 00:13:33.270 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah… Anyone else? 73 00:13:35.670 --> 00:13:38.790 Margaret Graham (she/her): I'm Margaret, I'll share. 74 00:13:39.090 --> 00:13:59.079 Margaret Graham (she/her): At first, I just had a candle holder here, because it said to bring a candle to the meeting. But when you mentioned that it was about creativity and joy, I just… I had to get up and get a piece of my own artwork, because, as I've shared on here before, I do make, censoring pendants. 75 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:06.450 Margaret Graham (she/her): That are for meditation and mindfulness, and they're curved on both sides with the holes so that you can hold them. 76 00:14:06.580 --> 00:14:21.920 Margaret Graham (she/her): during meditation, and then use it like a mindfulness tool. And when I do yoga asana on the mat, I do place it down as a dristi, so I was like, well, this is, like, the perfect opportunity to bring this out, 77 00:14:22.510 --> 00:14:33.170 Margaret Graham (she/her): And as I was staring at it, I'm staring in the middle of it, which is, like, the space where the fingers meet, which is, like, a transition space to me. 78 00:14:33.340 --> 00:14:44.469 Margaret Graham (she/her): And I was thinking of, like, the eye of the storm finding the calm amidst chaos currently, so… 79 00:14:46.180 --> 00:14:47.040 Margaret Graham (she/her): Thanks. 80 00:14:48.310 --> 00:14:50.400 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, Margaret. 81 00:14:51.790 --> 00:14:53.440 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Anyone else? 82 00:15:04.510 --> 00:15:11.000 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So our theme for today, and please feel free to raise your hand if you want to jump in. Just needed more time. 83 00:15:11.340 --> 00:15:13.920 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Is bhakti. Is love. 84 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:16.350 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Because the… 85 00:15:17.180 --> 00:15:30.969 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): beginning of everything, right, that we're doing, and certainly the beginning of what it is to be trauma-informed, and to care, because really, what is it to be trauma-informed, right? It's to care enough about someone else. 86 00:15:31.110 --> 00:15:34.210 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That you want to love them into wholeness. 87 00:15:34.690 --> 00:15:38.270 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): To help them see themselves with love. 88 00:15:38.580 --> 00:15:44.730 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): to… Be in such deep relationship. 89 00:15:45.450 --> 00:15:51.750 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That you truly see someone else for what they are, and of course yourself for what you are. 90 00:15:53.680 --> 00:15:55.899 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And a love of yoga. 91 00:15:57.040 --> 00:15:58.960 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so what I… 92 00:15:59.830 --> 00:16:06.359 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I was feeling today, I'm taking a class as part of my PhD program, and my teacher 93 00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:21.080 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you know, I'll share his name with you, because he has a lot of free stuff on YouTube, but I just want to say, most of you would probably find it really boring and dry, and so… but I have so much love for him, and it's like… 94 00:16:21.800 --> 00:16:26.679 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's a kind of love that's a love for him as this… 95 00:16:27.180 --> 00:16:39.219 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): translator and consolidator of wisdom and knowledge. I love him because he's also, like, radical and decolonial and anti-caste, 96 00:16:40.430 --> 00:16:50.060 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm not sure how anti-patriarchal he is. I think he's pretty… he hasn't named it explicitly. My sense of him is that he is, right? So, just, like. 97 00:16:50.270 --> 00:16:54.469 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): as I was preparing to come and share about Bhakti, I… 98 00:16:54.720 --> 00:17:06.699 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I live in the things that I'm going to share with you. Sometimes it's for, like, weeks before I share it, specific things, and sometimes it's days. This has been, like, growing over a couple weeks. 99 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:21.319 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But just feeling that love, right? And then at the same time, the love that I have for myself, for being someone who… like, I'm sitting at a very unique juncture… 100 00:17:21.650 --> 00:17:26.119 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): In yoga, psychology, yoga philosophy, yoga therapy. 101 00:17:26.470 --> 00:17:44.940 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): trauma-informed yoga, where I feel like… and I'm not that young, right? I'm 48, but I'm like this window between worlds, between the traditional, classical, and then the modern, and also between the sort of traditional and the social justice. And so… 102 00:17:45.430 --> 00:17:58.810 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): only my whole life, including my huge challenges, past and present, could have prepared me for this. So I'm feeling this immense, like, love for yoga, for my current 103 00:17:58.810 --> 00:18:14.479 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): main teacher for myself, right? It's bhakti. It's bhti, bhakti, bhti, and it can… bhakti can look like ritual. It can look like sitting and, you know, prostration, or touching the earth, or sun salutation, which is… what is a sun salutation? But… 104 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:19.740 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): a devotion to the earth, to the sky, to the sun, right? To the elements. 105 00:18:20.080 --> 00:18:26.460 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But bhakti love can also be attention. It can be what we put our attention on. 106 00:18:27.050 --> 00:18:28.690 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And just seeing the… 107 00:18:28.840 --> 00:18:42.780 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): in the chat, Jenna says, like, as an ADHD-er, it could almost feel like body doubling, right? Like, everything that you shared, from Karen to Lynn, to Margaret, it's like. 108 00:18:43.050 --> 00:18:52.999 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you can feel the love in what you're sharing, in the relationship, and love doesn't mean a thing is perfect, right? Like, 109 00:18:53.790 --> 00:18:59.009 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): like, Lynn, with your pot, Or a vase that you made, like. 110 00:19:00.950 --> 00:19:12.089 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Of course it's not. None of us are perfect, and we're even more beautiful for our uniqueness, for the ways that we're, you know, whatever it is, like, flawed, or different, or weird. 111 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:20.340 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Stardust, the tree I'm gazing up at is bringing me joy, a centering and grounding home amongst fear. Yes. 112 00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:33.279 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so part of why I wanted to bring Bhakti is not to avoid the intensity of what is happening. If we're in the US, which I know many of us are, it is a… 113 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:40.300 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): a really challenging time. If you're in the wider world, which I also know many of us are, you know, there's… 114 00:19:40.300 --> 00:19:54.019 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): instability, violence, suppression of free speech in Iran, in… there's violence in murder and genocide in Palestine, continual in Sudan, like, the world… 115 00:19:54.750 --> 00:19:56.619 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): is very intense. 116 00:19:56.780 --> 00:19:57.900 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And… 117 00:19:58.620 --> 00:20:08.220 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Sometimes, in order to keep doing, like, being the light, being the ones that bring the change and the healing and the… 118 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:16.840 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): accompaniment, a lot of what I'm also seeing is, like, that movement into, okay, how do I steward the world we want? 119 00:20:17.060 --> 00:20:34.399 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And it's happening, you know, in Minneapolis. Like, all of the accompaniers who are bringing food to folks who can't leave their houses, all of the folks who are accompanying ICE to try to prevent them from doing whatever their point is for being there, you know, disrupt that. 120 00:20:38.120 --> 00:20:45.259 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's almost like… Of course we're afraid. Of course we're overwhelmed and anxious, if you're feeling that way. 121 00:20:45.460 --> 00:20:50.210 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But these yoga practices give us a grounding 122 00:20:51.390 --> 00:21:01.449 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): In what is greater than that fear, so we can continue to do the work of social justice, of care, of tending, whatever is yours to do, right? I named some examples. 123 00:21:01.520 --> 00:21:20.719 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And yes, I, you know, we'll get… we can get into talking about specifics, and there may be people here who have concrete things, but I think the biggest thing we can do if we're like, oh, I myself am not an immigrant with tenuous citizenship status, so I can be in a accompanier, is 124 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:33.689 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Build relationships with your neighbors, build relationships with your community, get to know people so you can help them, you know, and support them now. Not just when ICE comes, which it may or may not, to where you are. 125 00:21:33.690 --> 00:21:42.379 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But there's no harm in beginning to build those networks. Mutual aid and support networks, very local, very, very local. 126 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:48.259 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But love, bhakti, And I'll give a little context in a moment. 127 00:21:48.380 --> 00:21:55.980 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Bhakti, when… and you can try this for yourself, right? There's different love bhakti practices. 128 00:21:57.130 --> 00:22:03.050 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But when we're feeling anxious, or when we're feeling overwhelmed or fearful. 129 00:22:03.520 --> 00:22:10.580 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): for me, when I am, if I do a love of bhakti practice, it… it sort of… 130 00:22:10.650 --> 00:22:27.270 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): replaces the fear. So I… it doesn't erase it, it's not like the fear is gone, but it's like it surrounds it, kind of like it takes and holds, like, if the fear is this little shoot or seed, the love surrounds it, and then also expands out. 131 00:22:27.380 --> 00:22:31.439 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's like the metaphor of, you know, if you put, like. 132 00:22:31.550 --> 00:22:34.609 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): A tablespoon of salt in a glass of water. 133 00:22:34.810 --> 00:22:44.189 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): it's gonna ruin the water, and we can't drink it anymore. But if you take a tablespoon of salt, and you put it in, like. 134 00:22:44.540 --> 00:23:00.870 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm trying to think of what you would drink that's a really big container, but if you put it in a, like, say, a bathtub full, not that you would want to necessarily drink your bathtub water, but it's okay, right? If you drink a little bit, and you put the salt, a tablespoon of salt in the bathtub. 135 00:23:00.890 --> 00:23:06.729 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you can still drink that water, and it's okay, it's not too salty. So the love is… and the community 136 00:23:06.950 --> 00:23:09.849 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Is, like, that bigger container. 137 00:23:11.050 --> 00:23:17.940 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, in yoga, we've got the four margas, and I'm gonna write them down, the four paths. 138 00:23:19.040 --> 00:23:23.090 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And of course, they inter… They intersect. 139 00:23:23.530 --> 00:23:25.569 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And just look which way, yeah. 140 00:23:25.910 --> 00:23:29.480 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Okay. Go here. 141 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:41.350 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So these are the… The Margos. 142 00:23:41.810 --> 00:23:43.500 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or, like, yogic path. 143 00:23:46.860 --> 00:23:53.019 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): If I'm looking here, can you still hear me? Like, when I said yogic paths, or… yeah, it's hard, so I'll make sure I'm looking. 144 00:23:53.370 --> 00:24:02.380 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): There's my mic. So you've got yana, yana yoga, which is the path of… 145 00:24:03.030 --> 00:24:08.310 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Inquiry, right? Inquiry, truth, curiosity… wisdom… 146 00:24:13.510 --> 00:24:20.470 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You've got Karma yoga, Which is the yoga of action. 147 00:24:21.250 --> 00:24:26.559 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The yoga of, like, Action and service. 148 00:24:31.510 --> 00:24:41.149 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You've got Raja Yoga, which is, like, the whole, kind of, path of the physical, like, let's just call it the eight limbs. 149 00:24:42.600 --> 00:24:44.700 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then you've got Bhakti. 150 00:24:47.380 --> 00:24:50.249 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Which is the yoga of love. 151 00:24:55.230 --> 00:25:02.600 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And you could argue that all of the yoga tradition over the last Thousands of years. 152 00:25:02.840 --> 00:25:06.190 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So, even from, you know, BCE, 153 00:25:07.690 --> 00:25:16.430 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): with the Vedas and the Upanishads, is different forms of expressing these margas, these paths. 154 00:25:16.430 --> 00:25:28.400 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And they are not exclusive, right? Some of us may have come in through more of a raja yoga, like a physical practice, but right now be very devoted to learning. 155 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:41.660 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): curiosity, wisdom, right? Knowledge. Some of us may have come in through, karma, through social justice, through action in the world, through yoga as, like, living service, but also be 156 00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:52.939 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): wanting to explore bhakti. So they're all tied together, and you can be, you know, all… you can be on all four margas. They interweave, they inter-ar. 157 00:25:53.110 --> 00:26:07.730 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But what's helpful about this is knowing that you don't have to even do any asana, right? You don't have to be practicing physical asana to be a yoga leader, a yoga teacher, a yoga practitioner. 158 00:26:07.730 --> 00:26:15.889 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You could be living your life through love, through your devotion, through your care, to your family, to your community, and… 159 00:26:15.900 --> 00:26:18.200 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you are… Practice it. 160 00:26:20.770 --> 00:26:27.239 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So I want to pause there and just see if there's any questions or comments on this, and then we'll do a little practice. 161 00:26:35.140 --> 00:26:36.770 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Also, P.S. 162 00:26:37.230 --> 00:26:53.360 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I love being teacher Susanna with a whiteboard. That makes me very happy, and I have very messy writing. I apologize. Let me know if you can actually read this or not. I know now, I moved it back, maybe not. I can use the Zoom whiteboard, but I just feel like it's nice to, like. 163 00:26:53.380 --> 00:26:58.660 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): physically see the thing going up, you know? Like… 164 00:26:59.660 --> 00:27:02.920 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Any comments or questions on the Margas? 165 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:16.599 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So I want to bring in bell hooks. 166 00:27:17.050 --> 00:27:25.300 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): who says, love is a verb, love is an action, right? It's not… I love my child. 167 00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:27.560 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you know, It's… 168 00:27:27.660 --> 00:27:38.189 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): continual showing up. It's not, I love my community, you know, and therefore, whatever. It's continual showing up, acting, doing. 169 00:27:39.690 --> 00:27:49.899 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or Adrian Marie Brown, right? Like, what we practice shapes the world that we live in, and it doesn't have to be huge, it can be small, it can be little things. 170 00:27:57.000 --> 00:28:04.159 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So any… any comments? I'm just looking at your notes in the chat. When focused in the practice, in the moment. 171 00:28:04.280 --> 00:28:08.269 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Bhakti also feels louder than the fear or the pain. Yeah. 172 00:28:09.060 --> 00:28:19.460 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, and so it can be… you know, when I've been in the streets in protests, and I've been in spaces where 173 00:28:19.870 --> 00:28:25.819 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): it's heavily militarized, there's police, and I'll do… 174 00:28:26.350 --> 00:28:32.719 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): meta practice. I'll do one of the bhakti practices, which is a meta practice. 175 00:28:34.030 --> 00:28:40.030 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): For myself, for the other protesters, and even for, you know, the police. 176 00:28:40.140 --> 00:28:53.609 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): internally. It doesn't necessarily change what happens, and I've had some good and some challenging experiences in those moments, but it changes what I'm able… my capacity. 177 00:28:53.940 --> 00:28:58.529 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Right? To stay, to be present, to be calm, to be grounded. 178 00:28:58.790 --> 00:29:13.839 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And I'll also do meta practice in moments where I feel a lot of fear, or a lot of, you know, I don't really particularly like flying. I flew a lot over the summer for this book tour, so, like, when the plane's taking off, or the plane's landing, or if there's turbulence. 179 00:29:13.840 --> 00:29:21.290 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Another way to look at this is yoga is a conversation with death, right? With Yama, the Lord of Death, and so… 180 00:29:23.330 --> 00:29:39.290 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): In those moments where we feel like many of us, maybe not all, but many of us feel a sort of fear of change, a fear of older age, a fear of sickness, a fear of death, of dying, and what that means, and being separated from all that's dear to us. 181 00:29:40.040 --> 00:29:43.460 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): in those moments that I find the fear rising. 182 00:29:43.820 --> 00:29:49.509 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): when I can practice, or be… In a state of love. 183 00:29:49.630 --> 00:29:52.980 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It also changes my relationship, too. 184 00:29:53.360 --> 00:29:56.620 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Impermanence. Old age, sickness, death. 185 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:14.869 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah. Nicole, thank you for sharing. I often feel like my practice and my daily life are disparate things. I appreciate your examples of how you practice and protest and live. You know, also, like, for those of us who are parents. 186 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:30.890 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I feel like when I was… when Kailash, who's now 13, was a baby, a lot of my practice was just, like, nursing or caring, like, you're holding another being, like, a lot of your day, you know? It's… it's almost… 187 00:30:30.890 --> 00:30:36.860 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): it can feel, at least for me, it felt kind of overwhelming a lot of the time. And so my practice was… 188 00:30:37.470 --> 00:30:45.770 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): doing it… with the awareness of feeling love, right? Even if it's changing diapers, or preparing the baby food. 189 00:30:45.770 --> 00:31:00.130 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Not, like, if I'm not doing it with love, I'm failing, not like that. But, like, when I could, turning my energy and my mind to that feeling of… of love underneath all of the things, or love for myself as a caregiver, right? All of it… 190 00:31:00.130 --> 00:31:02.350 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Is an opportunity to practice. 191 00:31:02.700 --> 00:31:04.650 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Practice this devotion. 192 00:31:06.650 --> 00:31:09.670 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then now, as Kyla was getting older. 193 00:31:09.860 --> 00:31:12.380 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's the love in the letting go. 194 00:31:12.510 --> 00:31:18.499 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Right, and knowing when to be there and when to… the love and the giving space, 195 00:31:18.820 --> 00:31:24.560 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The love and the trust, and then also in the, like, companionship, the companioning. 196 00:31:24.950 --> 00:31:33.539 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So many times, you know, it's, like, children, or even, like, children in big bodies, our partners, our friends, like, they just want someone. 197 00:31:34.090 --> 00:31:50.279 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): almost, like, metaphorically, to have a hand at their back and be like, it's okay, right? Like, it's okay. You got this, or I got you. And so it's… we're doing that in various ways, all the time. Like, you can think of what your relationships with the people that you're… 198 00:31:50.460 --> 00:32:00.150 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you're connected to. We're essentially companioning each other through. You know, in India, we sometimes say, like, time passed. It's all time passed. It's like… 199 00:32:00.330 --> 00:32:12.080 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It doesn't really matter what we do, right? Time is passing, and there's… and so we're… we're companioning each other through this arc of life, whatever we do, or don't do, or accomplish or don't accomplish. 200 00:32:13.180 --> 00:32:19.359 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): isn't so much as important as the companionship. Again, another form of bhakti, another form of love. 201 00:32:19.810 --> 00:32:23.910 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so I'm sharing bhakti in a much more grounded way, I just wanna… 202 00:32:24.050 --> 00:32:27.409 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): kind of foreground that I'm… I, so far, have not shared. 203 00:32:27.960 --> 00:32:47.830 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): what most of us think of bhakti is, like, devotion, right? Devotional songs, chanting, devotion to a deity, or to an altar, pilgrimage, all of those things are bhakti, of course, as well. But it doesn't have to be this grand thing, or a ritual thing, or outside of us. It can be 204 00:32:48.800 --> 00:33:03.040 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you know, the yoga that we're practicing is more where you internalize the thing. Like, yes, you can do the pilgrimage to the place of devotion, or to Mecca, or to the Saraswati, you know, river, the Ganges River. 205 00:33:03.400 --> 00:33:08.109 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And… We can do it internally, we don't have to go anywhere. 206 00:33:09.370 --> 00:33:10.450 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Okay. 207 00:33:11.760 --> 00:33:18.419 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So… any questions or comments before we do a little practice? 208 00:33:33.090 --> 00:33:33.990 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Okay. 209 00:33:34.200 --> 00:33:34.980 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah. 210 00:33:36.350 --> 00:33:43.090 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Hmm… So I think I'll invite you… to… place… 211 00:33:43.390 --> 00:33:47.439 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): One hand on your heart, one hand on your belly. 212 00:33:48.550 --> 00:33:55.039 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And you can have your camera on or off, whatever feels supportive. And we'll begin with just a little swaying. 213 00:33:55.240 --> 00:33:58.810 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Swing left and right, any amount. 214 00:34:03.900 --> 00:34:06.740 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then forward and back. 215 00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:23.469 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Seeing if you can… As you move, place that sense of, or give yourself that feeling of accompaniment, like… 216 00:34:23.909 --> 00:34:26.940 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You might say your name, Susanna. 217 00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:29.840 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I've got you. I'm with you. 218 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:37.009 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And if it feels okay, and it doesn't make you feel uncomfortable, you might say to yourself. 219 00:34:37.409 --> 00:34:41.540 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Your name, Susanna. I love you. 220 00:34:42.560 --> 00:34:49.699 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You can try saying that a few times, or if you're somewhere where you can't say it out loud, maybe in your… 221 00:34:50.389 --> 00:34:52.630 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Your mind's eye and your heart. 222 00:34:53.380 --> 00:34:55.470 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or whisper, Susanna. 223 00:34:55.940 --> 00:34:56.800 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I love you. 224 00:34:57.420 --> 00:35:00.480 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But your own name, saying to yourself. 225 00:35:04.120 --> 00:35:21.089 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And now as you sway, just kind of coming into a rhythm or a sway that feels really natural, really easeful, like, kind of like you're on a vacation, almost like the hand on your back or the hand on your heart or belly is… 226 00:35:21.490 --> 00:35:22.969 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Swaying you. 227 00:35:23.240 --> 00:35:27.420 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Right? Like, really almost lazy or easy. 228 00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:29.550 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Not too much effort. 229 00:35:34.940 --> 00:35:40.510 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You might notice a little bit of a inhale, an exhale. 230 00:35:44.140 --> 00:35:46.450 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Deeper breaths. 231 00:35:47.780 --> 00:35:51.050 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Shallower breaths to seeing what's there. 232 00:36:05.980 --> 00:36:13.849 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Now taking your hands together, rubbing them… Generating some heat and light. 233 00:36:14.240 --> 00:36:27.300 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And we're gonna place our hands on our body anywhere that feels like it could use some care, and we'll start at the top of the head, once you've generated some heat, giving yourself some love. 234 00:36:27.380 --> 00:36:41.529 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Taking your own hands, maybe massaging, depends on what you feel like. I'm wanting, like, a firm… not, like, my fingers massaging into my head, but, like, firm palm and fingers together. 235 00:36:42.210 --> 00:36:47.690 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Maybe down the sides of your head, or around your ears. 236 00:36:49.160 --> 00:36:54.159 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And… When you complete, perhaps on your face… 237 00:36:54.960 --> 00:37:04.960 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Maybe on the back of your neck, just sending yourself some love. My dear head… Skull… 238 00:37:05.460 --> 00:37:08.040 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you. I love you. 239 00:37:08.810 --> 00:37:21.080 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And if this feels, like, too much, you know, or cheesy or cringey, that's okay, like, let it be that, or you can just be… touch yourself without sending the… saying, I love you. 240 00:37:21.260 --> 00:37:27.240 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Maybe my dear eyes. Wow, all the things you see for me. 241 00:37:27.950 --> 00:37:30.659 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, I love you. 242 00:37:32.310 --> 00:37:41.880 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): My dear cheeks… Mouth… Thank you for everything you taste and speak. 243 00:37:43.020 --> 00:37:45.639 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, I love you. 244 00:37:46.690 --> 00:37:56.740 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): My dear nose… Thank you so much for all of the smells that you allow me to… Experience. 245 00:37:58.470 --> 00:38:00.850 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, I love you. 246 00:38:02.810 --> 00:38:06.130 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then if you'd like, you can rub your hands again. 247 00:38:06.260 --> 00:38:13.069 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Generating some heat and some light, and place them, as you're ready, on the front of your throat. 248 00:38:17.310 --> 00:38:22.259 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm sending thanks. Thank you to my throat. I love you. 249 00:38:23.530 --> 00:38:30.640 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Over your ears, and if you'd like, you can give your ears a little massage, or just cup your hands over your ears. 250 00:38:31.410 --> 00:38:35.659 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you for all you allow me to hear. 251 00:38:36.020 --> 00:38:38.939 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The energy that vibrates through. 252 00:38:39.450 --> 00:38:42.049 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, I love you. 253 00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:46.819 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The back of your neck, the top of your spine. 254 00:38:48.080 --> 00:38:50.849 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you for holding me up. 255 00:38:50.980 --> 00:38:59.249 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): For allowing me to see, to turn my head in different directions. Thank you, I love you. 256 00:39:00.240 --> 00:39:07.350 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then down your shoulders and arms, maybe grasping or just touching. 257 00:39:07.700 --> 00:39:13.869 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you to my arms, my hands… Thank you, I love you. 258 00:39:15.490 --> 00:39:17.560 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And hands on your heart. 259 00:39:18.590 --> 00:39:29.350 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Feeling into your heart and your lungs, these organs of the circulatory system, respiratory system. 260 00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:32.300 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, I love you. 261 00:39:33.890 --> 00:39:37.619 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Down your body, anywhere that you would like. 262 00:39:38.260 --> 00:39:49.549 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): feeling… to your… Torso, your back, and if there's any particular organs that you'd like to name, or… 263 00:39:49.670 --> 00:39:53.300 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Send thanks to, perhaps, your kidneys. 264 00:39:53.960 --> 00:39:55.610 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Pancreas. 265 00:39:55.900 --> 00:39:57.310 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Liver… 266 00:39:57.920 --> 00:40:08.180 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Organs that we have, but probably we don't think about too often, unless, of course, there's a breakdown, or you're a doctor, or work with anatomy. 267 00:40:10.210 --> 00:40:12.610 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, I love you. 268 00:40:14.610 --> 00:40:23.080 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Regenerative organs. Reproductive organs… Thank you, I love you. 269 00:40:24.650 --> 00:40:36.169 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Digestive, organs, stomach… Large intestine, small intestine… Thank you, I love you. 270 00:40:38.760 --> 00:40:47.670 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And whether we have all these organs, or perhaps they've been removed, sending that care… 271 00:40:48.040 --> 00:40:50.700 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That gratitude to our body. 272 00:40:51.420 --> 00:40:59.620 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Whether they're functioning exactly how you'd want them to, or just the way they are, sending love and thanks. 273 00:41:03.290 --> 00:41:07.170 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Down through your legs as you're ready. 274 00:41:07.630 --> 00:41:09.219 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): to move there. 275 00:41:10.450 --> 00:41:15.999 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thighs and knees and calves and feet, toes. 276 00:41:17.250 --> 00:41:19.569 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, I love you. 277 00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:28.620 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Now taking some time with any parts of your body, or your body as a whole. 278 00:41:28.830 --> 00:41:31.350 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): That you would like to send love to. 279 00:41:31.970 --> 00:41:33.810 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): gratitude for… 280 00:41:50.820 --> 00:41:53.039 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Your energetic body. 281 00:41:53.760 --> 00:42:00.490 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The parts of you that can't be… Touched. 282 00:42:01.660 --> 00:42:04.080 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We're maybe even seen… 283 00:42:08.740 --> 00:42:11.269 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, I love you. 284 00:42:35.800 --> 00:42:40.370 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm now calling to mind, to heart. 285 00:42:41.240 --> 00:42:57.829 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): as you feel complete with sending yourself love, and perhaps the completeness is just the, oh, my bhakti practice is gonna be looking in the mirror each day and sending myself love, or telling myself out loud, I love you, I love you. 286 00:42:58.230 --> 00:43:01.379 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Sending my body love, my heart love. 287 00:43:03.710 --> 00:43:05.769 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We'll call to mind. 288 00:43:06.920 --> 00:43:13.300 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): another person… Or place. Could be a group of people. 289 00:43:15.150 --> 00:43:23.589 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): could be… Even just your path right now, or direction you're going? 290 00:43:23.910 --> 00:43:31.130 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Could be your students… Could be, like, folks in Minnesota, folks in Iran. 291 00:43:38.790 --> 00:43:46.170 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm sending them… Could also be you, so sending them you. 292 00:43:46.580 --> 00:43:48.850 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): This being, or beings. 293 00:43:50.600 --> 00:43:52.120 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you. 294 00:43:52.370 --> 00:43:53.980 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I love you. 295 00:43:57.980 --> 00:44:02.469 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And if it feels right, I am here from you, for you. 296 00:44:03.300 --> 00:44:05.120 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I am part of you. 297 00:44:05.390 --> 00:44:07.000 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm with you. 298 00:44:18.570 --> 00:44:20.629 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'm grateful for you. 299 00:44:24.600 --> 00:44:29.019 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You can stay right here in this meditative space. 300 00:44:29.480 --> 00:44:40.409 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or, if you would like, bring this into an active meditation, pulling up your journal or notebook, and we're going to write a short offering. 301 00:44:40.870 --> 00:44:51.359 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And this is a Bhakti practice, an offering that you don't ever have to send, that this is a letter to, 302 00:44:52.070 --> 00:44:54.080 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Has an act of devotion. 303 00:44:54.740 --> 00:44:56.999 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So you can write this letter. 304 00:44:57.790 --> 00:45:06.859 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): To whoever you were visualizing, or whatever you were visualizing, or you could choose someone else, but your path, your students… 305 00:45:07.540 --> 00:45:11.130 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Part of yourself that's keeping on going. 306 00:45:11.920 --> 00:45:18.089 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): a community… And in this writing. 307 00:45:18.820 --> 00:45:25.370 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's a writing of Bhakti, and there's just a few constraints. 308 00:45:25.770 --> 00:45:35.069 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And I'll drop them in the chat. One paragraph or less, so you don't have to write forever. But no fixing, no, like. 309 00:45:35.590 --> 00:45:38.830 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): No advice for them, including yourself. 310 00:45:40.090 --> 00:45:45.370 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): No promises, right? Just acknowledgement and presence. 311 00:45:45.610 --> 00:45:48.490 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So… And if… 312 00:45:48.790 --> 00:46:06.409 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): If the, if the constraints feel not helpful, then feel free to skip them. I just find sometimes when I write a love letter, I feel like I over-give, and… and the idea is just to be, just to express being with. 313 00:46:08.830 --> 00:46:12.710 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so this is a letter of love. 314 00:46:12.880 --> 00:46:16.019 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): that you… Don't ever have to send. 315 00:46:19.760 --> 00:46:24.679 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I'll play some music while we're writing. We'll take about 5 minutes. 316 00:46:25.180 --> 00:46:28.729 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then… We'll come back together. 317 00:51:41.960 --> 00:51:46.819 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): offering… Does not need to be acted upon. 318 00:51:48.360 --> 00:51:56.020 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You can take it if you would like, and… Place the letter… 319 00:51:56.510 --> 00:52:04.029 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): On your altar, or near your body, or later burn it, or… Put it in water. 320 00:52:04.160 --> 00:52:11.010 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Whatever you would like to do to ritualize this… Letter of Love. 321 00:52:16.380 --> 00:52:20.629 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And know that in love, not everything is meant to be. 322 00:52:22.460 --> 00:52:24.399 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Nothing has to be done. 323 00:52:24.740 --> 00:52:26.399 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, it just is. 324 00:52:36.320 --> 00:52:45.629 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So I wanted to leave a little bit of time if anyone would like to ask any questions or share how this experience of 325 00:52:45.760 --> 00:52:50.400 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Really just being together in love and centering love. 326 00:52:50.920 --> 00:52:52.760 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Has been for you. 327 00:52:54.770 --> 00:53:02.770 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): There's a little bit of space for us. Probably have time for as many of you as want to share in the chat, and any voices out loud, and… 328 00:53:02.940 --> 00:53:08.569 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Particularly inviting in, if you haven't shared yet into the space out loud. 329 00:53:08.750 --> 00:53:12.139 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You're more than welcome to bring your voices forward. 330 00:53:19.020 --> 00:53:20.450 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yes, Jenna. 331 00:53:22.330 --> 00:53:33.380 Jena McCutchen: I was… honestly so surprised by how uncomfortable I was sending myself so much love. 332 00:53:34.830 --> 00:53:36.520 Jena McCutchen: I had to… 333 00:53:37.140 --> 00:53:44.669 Jena McCutchen: I was with myself, and then I wasn't, and then I came back, and then I couldn't stand it. Yeah. 334 00:53:45.110 --> 00:53:46.790 Jena McCutchen: That was very interesting. 335 00:53:47.630 --> 00:53:58.719 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you for sharing that, Jenna. You are not alone. If you've felt that now or at any time, please maybe share a thumbs or a heart. I've definitely felt that. 336 00:53:59.470 --> 00:54:01.950 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And in the bhakti practices. 337 00:54:02.240 --> 00:54:16.339 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): you know, there's a particular practice of offering meta, which… what we did was a kind of meta practice. There's formal meta, which I'll share in the chat in a minute, but there's informal, and for some people, formal really works, and for some people, it doesn't, so… 338 00:54:18.080 --> 00:54:27.559 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But traditionally, you go through yourself, a friend or mentor, a stranger, like, neutral person, an enemy, or, like, challenging person, and all beings. 339 00:54:27.840 --> 00:54:32.720 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And in some traditions, and this is true for my teacher, Shankaraji. 340 00:54:32.920 --> 00:54:35.419 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): You spend, like, a year on yourself. 341 00:54:35.630 --> 00:54:41.010 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Because for most of us, it's very hard to receive love. 342 00:54:41.330 --> 00:55:01.110 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Because of the world that we're in, because of structural oppression, you know, because of the way we're socialized, particularly as women, or people of color, or, you know, sometimes even, like, being the first child versus the third, or, you know, there's just so many circumstances that lead to it being difficult to accept love. 343 00:55:01.890 --> 00:55:10.040 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so we spend a year on ourselves. And if after that year, the teacher is like, well, you could spend another year, you spend another year. 344 00:55:10.490 --> 00:55:16.420 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so… I didn't want to give us a formal, because… 345 00:55:16.910 --> 00:55:23.640 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): it can jump too quickly, right? To, like… it's almost like we abandon ourselves to be like, I love this person, I love… you know? 346 00:55:24.620 --> 00:55:28.339 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so I ended up… my letter was to my… a part of myself. 347 00:55:28.610 --> 00:55:35.069 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Because even though I've been doing this for whatever many years, 20, 30-something, like that. 348 00:55:35.670 --> 00:55:46.219 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): we can also, even if we've done it and we've gone through the whole cycle, need to come back to offering ourselves love and receiving love. So you are not alone. 349 00:55:46.340 --> 00:55:56.489 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And you are not, doing it wrong, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with you if it was hard to receive love. It is an invitation, then, to, you know, like. 350 00:55:56.730 --> 00:56:01.590 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Offer yourself love if you'd like, more and more and more, try, feel how it feels. 351 00:56:02.120 --> 00:56:02.800 Jena McCutchen: Yeah. 352 00:56:02.800 --> 00:56:06.120 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you. I actually wrote in my letter. 353 00:56:06.390 --> 00:56:20.879 Jena McCutchen: exactly that, that I hope that, you know, with practice, the more I come back to give myself love, it will be just easier, and perhaps more time will pass between, 354 00:56:21.280 --> 00:56:29.190 Jena McCutchen: having to… do a practice like this, or just give myself love. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. 355 00:56:29.650 --> 00:56:31.530 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, you're so welcome. 356 00:56:31.770 --> 00:56:48.739 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And there is a recording of the meta practices in both Embrace Yoga's Roots and Yoga Class Curator, two different recordings, so if you… if you're like, oh, I really want to listen to you guiding it, you can go in and you'll… you'll find them in there. Yeah. 357 00:56:48.740 --> 00:56:50.019 Jena McCutchen: Thank you, I'll look for those. 358 00:56:50.020 --> 00:56:50.710 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah. 359 00:56:52.140 --> 00:57:00.700 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Lynn… Okay, wait, I'm… Just looking. Naomi, the letter was so beautiful and incredibly moving. 360 00:57:01.140 --> 00:57:05.359 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I agree with Jenna, really hard to send love to myself, too. Yeah. 361 00:57:05.850 --> 00:57:06.780 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah. 362 00:57:07.460 --> 00:57:21.709 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Karen, I appreciated the practice. It brought me back to my time with an Ayurvedic coach who invited me to say I love you every morning, before I dressed, washed, put on any makeup, hair, while looking in a mirror. I now know it as Bhakti. 363 00:57:21.710 --> 00:57:27.830 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Probably because she knew it was hard for some, and practice is love. Yeah. 364 00:57:28.490 --> 00:57:31.929 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, that's a big one, you know? 365 00:57:32.440 --> 00:57:50.150 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We're so much easier to control when we're focused on things like what we look like, or what we don't look like, or… and so, wow, there are a lot of messages around what we should look like or shouldn't look like, and, you know, it's intertwined with so many things, and so it really, truly is so radical. 366 00:57:50.570 --> 00:57:56.819 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's a radical act to love ourselves and to practice that, and so thank you for sharing, Karen. 367 00:57:57.890 --> 00:57:59.150 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Lynn… 368 00:57:59.490 --> 00:58:09.609 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): when I offered love to Minnesota and to Iran, that was hard. I'm here in Minneapolis. I know it's bad, but receiving that love from you and knowing it is seen on par with Iran, oof. 369 00:58:10.100 --> 00:58:19.510 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah, it's really hard. Like, what you're going through is hard, you know? It's… it's like… 370 00:58:20.510 --> 00:58:23.149 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The literal unraveling of… 371 00:58:24.220 --> 00:58:34.350 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): the belief we had in democracy, and like… like, for those who were like, yeah, fascism, like, it's just a word, I feel like we're seeing it 372 00:58:34.860 --> 00:58:37.360 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): as a practice. And… 373 00:58:37.570 --> 00:58:45.880 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): what is… it's so devastating, and also, I just want to name for folks of color, for Indigenous folks, Black folks, right? 374 00:58:46.500 --> 00:58:56.460 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): maybe never had a time without this experience, because it's been like that forever, right? For… for… Yeah, so… 375 00:58:56.820 --> 00:59:01.340 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): It's sort of like a both-and and many different experiences of it, and… 376 00:59:02.390 --> 00:59:06.749 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The resistance, the people who are accompanying, you know. 377 00:59:06.980 --> 00:59:10.759 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): immigrants who are interrupting ICE raids, like. 378 00:59:11.710 --> 00:59:20.759 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): and by people, I don't just mean white folks, like, it is a lot of white folks, but it's also… I saw this video of an amazing, Somali Uber driver who is, like. 379 00:59:21.370 --> 00:59:40.719 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): basically roasting the ICE agents yesterday, and it's like, wow! You know, everyone has a part to play in this. And for some of us, it's gonna be, like, through humor, and for some of us, it's gonna be direct action. For some of us, it's through, like, buying groceries for our neighbors who can't leave their houses. 380 00:59:40.790 --> 00:59:47.770 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Or driving folks to work, or like, you know, But the… 381 00:59:48.050 --> 00:59:51.800 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): I don't even want to call it the resistance, I think it's, like, the humanity? 382 00:59:52.040 --> 00:59:54.309 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): The love? It really is love. 383 00:59:54.460 --> 01:00:03.729 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): that is on display in Minnesota is, like, that is the world that we're building… sorry, in Minneapolis, not Minnesota. 384 01:00:05.620 --> 01:00:13.900 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): yeah, I guess in both… in the wider state and then the specific city, it's like… or cities, and the Twin Cities as well, it's like… 385 01:00:14.290 --> 01:00:22.270 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): it's so astounding. It's so beautiful, and, like, It's awe-inspiring. 386 01:00:22.390 --> 01:00:35.640 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And it's only possible, right, from love, from seeing ourselves in another. And so then, I don't know if you want to say anything. Yeah! For me, the first instance is Philando Castile, and now it's from our federal government. 387 01:00:37.900 --> 01:00:44.860 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah Lynn, just inviting your voice in if you would like to say anything. 388 01:00:45.120 --> 01:00:46.150 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): But you don't have to. 389 01:00:46.810 --> 01:00:54.560 Lynn Shuck (she/her): No, I… I… I've been aware that it's not… Just because a white person 390 01:00:54.780 --> 01:01:04.169 Lynn Shuck (she/her): was the face of it. I didn't move to Minnesota until, like, 12, 13 years ago, and so Philando Castile is 10 years now. 391 01:01:04.620 --> 01:01:06.590 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And that was my first… 392 01:01:07.280 --> 01:01:18.809 Lynn Shuck (she/her): brush with it, and that was our local police. So when friends who aren't here say, well, why isn't your police force helping? I'm like, because this is what they do? 393 01:01:19.120 --> 01:01:24.119 Lynn Shuck (she/her): Yeah. Now they are stepping back and letting the big guys do… like, it's… 394 01:01:25.900 --> 01:01:28.819 Lynn Shuck (she/her): It is a beautiful place to live if you're white. 395 01:01:29.460 --> 01:01:32.950 Lynn Shuck (she/her): And it's always been a hard place to live if you're not. 396 01:01:33.430 --> 01:01:42.589 Lynn Shuck (she/her): And I'm provisionally white. As a Jewish person here, I feel very clearly Jews were only… we only became white in the 1950s. 397 01:01:42.930 --> 01:01:45.619 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And so I've been much more aware of. 398 01:01:45.620 --> 01:01:55.450 Lynn Shuck (she/her): the privilege of that, because my father stepped into whiteness in the 50s. I'm 60 years old, so I was born in the 60s, but, 399 01:01:56.320 --> 01:01:57.650 Lynn Shuck (she/her): It… it… 400 01:01:57.920 --> 01:02:10.409 Lynn Shuck (she/her): It's been bad here, it's just now the people out in Minnetonka, in their suburbs, see it, and they're finally coming in and going, this is wrong. We're like, duh. 401 01:02:10.410 --> 01:02:11.940 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah. But it's… 402 01:02:13.290 --> 01:02:28.219 Lynn Shuck (she/her): I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen anything like it, and I'm sorry that lots and lots of other people have seen this for so long, and I'm glad other people are finally waking up and seeing that this 403 01:02:28.340 --> 01:02:29.809 Lynn Shuck (she/her): Is our government? 404 01:02:29.930 --> 01:02:32.860 Lynn Shuck (she/her): And has been. 405 01:02:33.150 --> 01:02:33.850 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah. 406 01:02:34.070 --> 01:02:37.880 Lynn Shuck (she/her): It's just that some of us got to hide for a while. 407 01:02:38.320 --> 01:02:38.900 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Yeah. 408 01:02:39.740 --> 01:02:45.099 Lynn Shuck (she/her): Nobody can hide anymore. There's no… anybody who's still hiding is doing it deliberately. 409 01:02:45.870 --> 01:02:52.019 Lynn Shuck (she/her): That's it. So, this bhakti practice is real interesting right now. Thank you, Karen. 410 01:02:52.730 --> 01:03:08.369 Lynn Shuck (she/her): It… the things that I think on a daily basis are so far from love and yoga right now. And I'm embarrassed and ashamed, and then, well, what else do you want me to feel? There's a Blackhawk helicopter flying over my house. 411 01:03:08.560 --> 01:03:09.250 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Totally. 412 01:03:09.950 --> 01:03:13.159 Lynn Shuck (she/her): So, that's… that's kind of where we're all at here. 413 01:03:13.780 --> 01:03:14.969 Lynn Shuck (she/her): I'll be quiet now. 414 01:03:15.540 --> 01:03:18.410 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you, Lynn. Yeah, and… 415 01:03:18.700 --> 01:03:24.989 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): There's… this is a whole other… and maybe we'll pick this up in two weeks in our office hours, but, like. 416 01:03:26.050 --> 01:03:33.139 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): What does love look like under fascism, right? Can we love? Should we love? How do we love? 417 01:03:33.390 --> 01:03:34.790 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): An ICE agent. 418 01:03:35.050 --> 01:03:48.699 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Right? Or the police. Do we? What does love look like? Does love look like the fierce sword of, like, a bodhisattva coming in to say, you know, never again? Right? Which is part of the stories. 419 01:03:49.070 --> 01:04:03.220 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): there's not one way, and… and so I think I'll… we'll continue with that, but not feeling bad, for sure, if you're not able to find love for oppressors, right? Some… some people are gonna say. 420 01:04:05.100 --> 01:04:09.870 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): We should, but that is not… that is not the only way to interpret yoga. 421 01:04:10.190 --> 01:04:23.359 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): There are many different ways of expressing love. I also just want to read, I know we're at time, but what Karen said, as someone with a father who lived through Jim Crow, as a boomer, with a father who lived through Jim Crow in the South, while in 422 01:04:23.430 --> 01:04:39.890 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Army, I was saying, oh, SHT, again, then realize it's more about still, right? It's not, yeah, again, it's still. The seeds are a federal government for people of color, from redlining to blockbusting through 2008, 2018. 423 01:04:40.190 --> 01:04:42.929 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Right, it is, still. Yeah. 424 01:04:46.840 --> 01:04:55.900 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): On IG, a decolonized yoga teacher asked if we should even practice according to Hatta Yoga Pradivika. Yeah. Can you say more, Karen? Maybe in the chat or out loud? 425 01:04:56.730 --> 01:04:57.740 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And then… 426 01:04:57.950 --> 01:05:06.270 Karen McMillan: first time I heard that perspective, because I'm only recently introduced to the, Hatha Yoga Pragittaka. 427 01:05:06.480 --> 01:05:18.039 Karen McMillan: but… and I forgot her name, she's very much about decolonized yoga, and she read from the Pradika, saying that we should only practice in places 428 01:05:18.280 --> 01:05:26.590 Karen McMillan: that are of… and I don't remember the words, but basically of people who are practicing within social justice. 429 01:05:27.230 --> 01:05:31.240 Karen McMillan: We shouldn't even be practicing in environments like this. 430 01:05:31.660 --> 01:05:47.139 Karen McMillan: And so I'm like, okay, I went and bought a copy of the Padipka, because now I'm really curious. And so, it sounds like that question, like, please, can we? I'm gonna read, and I'd love to hear more. 431 01:05:48.170 --> 01:06:04.780 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Wonderful, yes. I will… I will pick up on this thread when we meet again next. Like, how do we practice? What does love look like under fascism, right? And what are the many ways? There's not just one way. There's… there's many, many ways. 432 01:06:05.580 --> 01:06:09.450 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So we'll take a moment to stretch, to pull in… 433 01:06:10.040 --> 01:06:13.000 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Love, or to send it out. 434 01:06:13.920 --> 01:06:26.610 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): And close with Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti. Om, Shakti, Shakti, Shakti, Shakti. Peace, peace, peace, and power, power, power. 435 01:06:27.370 --> 01:06:30.439 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you so much to each of you. 436 01:06:31.020 --> 01:06:48.799 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): So grateful for you, and we'll see you, actually, we do have Trudy LeBron coming to teach us next week. Let me just make sure to give you the exact days. Trudy will be Thursday, February 5th, so next week. 437 01:06:48.840 --> 01:06:56.970 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): 9 a.m. Pacific to 10 a.m. Pacific, equity-centered business, so it's, like, taking these things, and how do we then 438 01:06:57.650 --> 01:07:11.859 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): like, share in the world. So, see you for that, and then after that, we'll have my office hours, Wednesday, February 11th. So, see you all soon, and please feel free to unmute and say goodbye. 439 01:07:13.590 --> 01:07:16.080 Naomi Hook: Thank you, thank you so much. 440 01:07:16.080 --> 01:07:19.040 Katherine Sorensen: Thank you. Thank you all. Bye. 441 01:07:19.040 --> 01:07:19.490 Susanna Barkataki (She/They): Thank you. 442 01:07:19.490 --> 01:07:20.800 Lynn Shuck (she/her): Hi, thank you all. 443 01:07:20.800 --> 01:07:21.950 Noemi (she/her): Thank you, bye. 444 01:07:22.330 --> 01:07:23.360 Margaret Graham (she/her): Susanna.