On Yoga and Waking Up

Waking up with yoga is not just about your body. Here are some other thoughts about how waking up might also be a tool to dismantle white supremacy.

To wake up in yoga does not just mean to wake up to your best self. It means to bring that best self out into the world. Bring it out and be curious about your discomfort.

To wake up means to make space for your own feelings in your body, so that when you encounter discomfort, whether it be physical, emotional or political, that you have the tools to stay present. The tools of yoga help you wake up so that you do not jump straight to your own shame triggers around the oppression and injustice of others.

Waking up is not about feeling better. It is about being a more effective human being. About being kinder. About understanding your place in the greater scheme of things, without blame or shame.

When we move our bodies, we do so to wake up. Waking up is an act of rebellion. It is not simple. It is not always fun. But it is imperative.

Waking up starts with yourself but it does not end there. Go take your woke self out into the world, listen, be kind, stand up for your fellow humans.