There is no yoga without justice.
There is no peace without yoga.
No justice, no peace.

Yoga’s roots teach us about how we live a life with purpose, beyond our mat and practice. It originally comes from the Sanskirt word “Yuj” which means to yoke or unite. This union is a practice of uniting movement, breath, and community, on and off the mat. Through our yoga practice we seek not only personal liberation but more importantly, collective liberation. Moreover, a yoga practice includes working on our spirits and minds just as much, if not more than simply moving into postures or asanas. The intentions we build on our mat should help shape the impact we make off the mat. Therefore, we can and should take these lessons from our yoga practice into the world to serve justice.

The 8 Limbs of Yoga as described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (a must-read) outline how to live a life with purpose. Firstly, the Yamas guide us on how to act with the world around us. The Yamas include: non-violence (Ahisma), truthfulness (Satya), non-stealing (Asteya), right use of energy (Brahmacharya), and non-greed (Aparigraha). Therefore, I believe that to practice yoga you must also practice social justice. Hence, to honor yoga’s roots is to demand justice for all. Specifically, it’s about creating a just world that engages in non-violence and speaking up against injustice.

As yoga practitioners, we must do the work to understand yoga’s roots, learn to honor those roots, and to reflect on how we all have a duty to demand justice. As a yoga student and teacher, my practice of self-study is dedicated to understanding my role in dismantling white supremacy and working to advance social justice through my life’s work both professionally and personally.