Liberating Yoga Decolonizing Yoga: Classical Roots & Spirituality with Dr. Neil Dalal
Welcome to the Liberating Yoga Podcast. My guest today is Dr. Neil Dalal.
There is no checklist for avoiding cultural appropriation and honoring yoga’s roots. In a society seeking quick fixes to avoid being “wrong,” this episode is an invitation to think more deeply about how we might connect back to the path’s original intentions with reverence.
In this conversation, Dr. Neil Dalal, Researcher and Director of Religious Studies at the University of Alberta, speaks about what it might look like to practice deeply and decolonize the spiritual path of yoga.
00:00 - Intro
05:01 - What Yoga Means to Dr. Neil Dal
10:05 - Understanding Moksha in Classical Yoga
15:21 - Yoga as Present-Moment Liberation
20:11 - Modern Yoga Goals vs Classical Intent
25:23 - Structural Shifts in Global Yoga
30:31 - Dangers of Surface-Level Teaching
35:52 - Teacher Trainings & Lack of Depth
41:03 - White Ownership & Cultural Distortion
46:30 - Can Yoga Be Decolonized?
52:03 - Beyond the Checklist Mentality
57:00 - Yoga’s Identity Crisis in the West
1:02:08 - Finding Authentic Yoga Paths
1:07:14 - South Asian Teachers & Tokenism
1:12:17 - Value of Traditional Lineage
1:17:21 - Yoga as Deep Cultural Training
1:22:12 - Dangers of Unsupervised Practices
1:27:05 - Rise & Issues of Modern Kundalini Yoga
1:32:51 - Yoga Nidra, Modern Myths, & Misunderstandings
1:38:01 - History of Asana & Lineage Loss
1:43:06 - Four Aims of Life & Yoga’s Real Goal
1:48:54 - Yoga’s Critique of Capitalism & Desire
1:54:00 - Returning to Wholeness Through Inquiry
2:00:00 - Last Reflections & Integration
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Thank you for watching this video and checking out the channel. My practice is rooted in my spiritual background of Sikhism and Buddhism and ancestral roots in Panjab, India - this informs my desire to teach yoga authentically as a spiritual practice. To learn more, please find all of our resources below.
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