What is the difference between giving commands and inviting exploration in a yoga class? How can yoga teachers allow students to be their own authority over their bodies and practice? These questions relate to power and consent, and sharing power and promoting a culture of consent is fundamental to making yoga accessible and equitable. 

In this podcast episode, Jivana Heyman and guest, M Camellia highlight the importance of recognizing power dynamics in the teacher-student relationship within yoga spaces and leveraging power to create more access for students, respond to students’ individual needs, and hold space for them to uncover their own innate power on their path toward liberation. 

Topics include:

1. Power dynamics in yoga spaces
2. Resources as power
3. Power and the yoga teachings
4. Yoga as a discipline
5. Improvisation in the classroom
6. Abuse and trauma in yoga lineages
7. The power of embracing uncertainty and possibility

Check out Jivana’s new book, The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about the book on his website.

Connect with Jivana:

www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman

M Camellia (they/them) is a yoga practitioner and facilitator, writer, consent educator, and advocate called to create profoundly accessible spaces for self-inquiry. M is a co-founder of the Trans Futures Collective (previously known as the Trans Yoga Project) and, among other roles within the realm of yoga service, serves on the staff of the Accessible Yoga School. Their teaching and writing center Queer and Trans identity, consent and agency, body liberation, and disability justice in relation to yoga philosophy and practice. They serve as a mentor for other yoga teachers and practitioners who desire to deepen their understanding of accessibility, power dynamics, trauma, and yoga as social justice. 

Connect with M:

mcamellia.com |  @foundspaceyoga