We watched The Red Pill documentary by Cassie Jaye and we have some thoughts. This was a really interesting self-study moment. Exploring Feminism and Men Rights what does it really mean? http://theredpillmovie.com/ We love to hear your thoughts.

Yoga and activism: Is Yoga is political? Alicia and I talk yoga and politics. Spoiler Alert: EVERY IS POLITICAL. How do we serve our communities through the practice? We use the principles of Yoga philosophy through eight limbs which explores non-violence, self-study, truthfulness, stillness, observations and action Check out the 8 limbs here: https://chopra.com/articles/what-are-the-8-limbs-of-yoga Shout out to Armchair Expert https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/armchair-expert-with-dax-shepard/id1345682353 Unlearning Racism https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=532955665 https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery

Hey, all the podcast starts at the magical time at 1:08. While we are waiting for the podcast to start, I wanted to say I have had a realization. We not to stop telling people they are not fat. It makes it seem like being fat is a bad thing and it's NOT. In this episode, we talk why weight stigma is so powerful. We talk about Oprah and weight watchers and how diet fitness culture steers us in the wrong direction. How do we make peace with bodies? Give us a listen. Some of our resources and people we love and admire: https://haescommunity.com/ https://lindabacon.org/ https://www.savagelovecast.com/episodes/guest/lindy-west#.WvBVltPwa9Y http://www.bttoronto.ca/videos/findings-from-chatelaines-the-man-survey/ https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-fitness-industry-gets-rich-doing-nothing

Hey Everyone, our newest podcast. We start out talking about the previous guest who was already featured, Lakshmi Nair. Check out the podcast https://soundcloud.com/dianne-bondy/ep-8-black-history-month-yoga-black-folks-and-cultural-appriopriation Join us for a podcast on what it means positive. We question why there is a need for constant positivity. What does it mean to sit in your discomfort? Resources on empathy https://youtu.be/1Evwgu369Jw

Mediocrity, Feminism and the Fear of Dying Alone! In this podcast, we look at what it means to be mediocre, feminism and The Fear of Dying Alone? This podcast is informed by the article by Denise Balkissoon and Feminism and the False Fear of Dying Alone https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/justin-timberlake-and-the-fall-of-the-mediocre-man/article37878657/ Who is mediocre? Why is mediocrity tolerated? What is a diversity hire? How do we encourage and support diversity? What is a diversity hire vs mediocrity hire? How do we keep evolving as a culture to make the world more inclusive and equitable? Our other hot topic is -If you are feminist will you die alone -NO Feminism and the False Fear of Dying Alone https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a9882494/false-feminism-spinster-theory/ Thanks for taking a listen!

In today's podcast, we talk to Yoga Expert Lakshmi Nair about Yoga, People of Colour and Cultural Appropriation. In celebration of Black History Month, we talk about how yoga impacts our current culture. How we share yoga responsibility, and it is necessary to have brave spaces for POC to practice. Lakshmi Nair lived in the stories and philosophy of yoga and Ayurveda from a young age, Lakshmi formally studied yoga at Vivekananda Yoga Kendra and Kaivalyadhama Ashram in India in 2002. She also attended 4 years of graduate study in South Asian Studies at UC Berkeley, where she studied Sanskrit, Tamil, and contemporary South Asian literature. In 2014, Lakshmi started Satya Yoga Immersion for People of Color, one of the country’s first and perhaps only yoga immersion and teacher training programs exclusively for people of colour. Since 2014, Satya Yoga Immersion has grown into Satya Yoga Collective (www.satyayogacollective.com), a yoga collective offering yoga for people of colour by people of colour. In 2016, Lakshmi was a panellist at the 3rd annual Race and Yoga Conference at Mills College in Oakland, California and also at the Center for Trauma and Resilience's Diversifying Your Practice Symposium in Denver. She writes about her experiences as a South Asian American yoga teacher and about her journey to POC yoga in the Yoga and Body Image Coalition’s new book Yoga Rising: 30 Empowering Stories from Yoga Renegades for Every Body, edited by Melanie Klein, available via Llewelyn Worldwide. Lakshmi Nair's Additional reflections on Cultural Appropriation "I appreciate when people are serious about their study of yoga, and they go to Indian sources...especially for things like Sanskrit pronunciation, etc. You know? Treat it like a language. You wouldn't try to learn French from exclusively Chinese sources, right? Also, I appreciate when people approach yoga as a spiritual tradition first and not as a business or as just a fitness modality or as a hot trend. It's hard to say how, but you can only tell when someone approaches it with the humility and respect that we humans naturally feel for the sacred. And finally, the one thing I see zero of is actual care and concern about South Asian people. If you are so into a spiritual tradition of a people, you should give a damn about the people, right? A powerful example of this is when that mass shooting happened at a gurudwara in Oak Creek, WI several years ago. I see all these white kundalini practitioners in their turbans, some of whom are making lots of money from it, and identifying with the Sikh spiritual tradition, but not identifying with the people enough to even feel anything when such a thing happens in a gurudwara, let alone show support. When you only care about the things you can consume, our food, our clothes, our cool spirituality. It just feels a lot like taking. And that is just reminiscent of colonialism. What makes something appropriation is when it mimics the colonial relationship to race and culture. Cultural appropriation is when there is just a one way to the flow of resources. Who is benefitting from the relationship? When yoga classes are all or mostly white, we can see clearly who is profiting from yoga and who is not. If we truly believed that we are all one, that would be reflected in our yoga temples, but what is indicated is that we care more about the money to be made that we do about the essence of yoga. And the people who are the haves in this society are primarily the people who historically (and currently) benefitted from colonialism. " Find Lakshmi Here https://www.satyayogacollective.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en3JXyOf4x8&app=desktop Show Notes: https://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-race-and-culture https://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-equity-and-social-justice

Talking about Yoga and Body Image with Melanie Klein. We learn how to be a Yoga Renegades. We discuss how we move beyond our limitations with the perspectives around body image and move boldly and bravely into our power. Speaking our truth and speaking truth to power is essential in changing the world to include all of us! You can get your copy of the book right here. We're celebrating the official launch of this new collection of stories and celebrating the yoga renegade in *every* body! Want a copy of the book? --> http://amzn.to/2D5MV1u Help us celebrate by joining the #YogaRisingBook campaign on Instagram. Details here-> http://bit.ly/2D57uLl Join us in the quest for yoga for all of us at http://ybicoalition.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Gaiam/ https://www.facebook.com/ybicoalition/

Yikes, Alicia and Dianne go to hot yoga. Everyone should try this at least once! Especially when it is -16 outside it might be the only way to get warm.

What does it mean to male and feminist? How are we socialized to be sexist and how power is shared or not shared. Why self-study is so important! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs https://www.facebook.com/TED/videos/10159681264070652/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwqvhjUItfw&feature=youtu.be I found this documentary rivetting http://theredpillmovie.com/ it helped understand were feminism can fail men. This documentary offers a counterpoint that rocked me. Feminism needs to identify all of humanity. How power structures affect all of us. It is always good to hear many different perspectives

The continuing the conversation around all the ways we use our privilege. Let's talk about how wealth privilege and the link to Holistic /spiritual Practitioner snobbery. Let's examine self-care as an accessible practice and how wealth continues to divide us. Show notes Open access education https://sparcopen.org/open-education/ Ontario Student Assistant Program https://osap.gov.on.ca/AidEstimator1819Web/enterapp/enter.xhtml Gaiam.ca coupon Code DBGaiam20 Gaiam.com Code Dianne20