While mainstream American culture limits yoga to a mere fitness class or a “woo-woo” spiritual endeavor that belongs at home, it began as a philosophical commitment toward ethical action and sovereignty. In this episode of the Liberating Yoga Podcast, host Harpinder Kaur Mann is in conversation with Scholar and Historian of Philosophy, Dr. Shyam Ranganathan. Together, they dive deep into the ways yoga’s current definitions have been shaped by Western colonization and how we can reclaim the practice today to fight racism and colonialism.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:
Historical definitions of yoga as a practice and ethical theory of right action and good outcome

Why devotion to Isvara (sovereignty) makes yoga an inherently decolonial philosophy

How colonization transformed yoga from a communication of philosophical commitment to a religious, “mystical” practice separate from public life

White supremacy and capitalism’s influence on today’s asana-focused culture

Tokenization and the nuances of how colonialism has stripped away yogic knowledge from South Asian people and their descendants

The ways yoga calls us to fight racism and colonialism through Asmita (call to awareness), connections of solidarity, and opening ourselves up to learning