Fostering Transformation: Yoga and Equity

What do yoga and equity have to do with one another? My advisory group, the Boundless Advisory Board, and I spent 2020 and into 2021 reaching into my yoga network to talk with folks that we felt would be able to help us dig deeper into real answers to this question. We did it in order to bring you a series called Fostering Transformation: Yoga and Equity.

This series began in January 2022. The first quarter featured events with BIPOC teachers who taught yoga and mindfulness content focused on three overlapping areas. The second quarter brought in Ryan McGraw and Matthew Sanford to discuss both the idea of the yoga class and yoga practice as accessible, and the idea that yoga asana has universal application. In the third quarter, we brought a group of practitioners to a roundtable discussion, similar to our Yoga Lineage series, where the practitioners joined in sangha (or community) to talk about their experiences as practitioners: what has worked for them in yoga classes, what they wish they saw more of, and why their practices matter to them.

We hope you enjoy this series! We want to help you foster transformation in your perspective on using yoga for justice, practicing yoga for justice, and sharing your experiences in yoga for justice. We always welcome feedback about programming and other content we can offer to help you foster your own change in the world.

watch the recordings

Fostering Transformation: A Student Roundtable Discussion

This session features a panel of longtime yoga students who share their intersectional yoga journeys of differing backgrounds, bodies, and ages. You will learn about what teachers work for them, what they hope for more of in the post-Covid yoga classroom, and how yoga overall helps their lives. This conversation is not just about how to plug in as a student of yoga, but how to do it from different perspectives.

The Universality of Yoga with Matthew Sanford

Matthew Sanford is a nationally-recognized spinal-cord-injured Iyengar Yoga teacher who has been advocating for accessibility in yoga for decades. For him, connecting mind and body is not just a health strategy; it is a movement of consciousness that can change the world. Matthew applies these concepts in this discussion on accessibility in yoga practice.

navigating the intersection between disability rights & accessible yoga with ryan mcgraw, part 1

This session with Ryan McGraw is for both students and teachers and emphasizes how yoga can be adapted to meet any student's needs. The lecture incorporates Ryan's own experience as a person with cerebral palsy and learnings from his work in adapting yoga for people with disabilities. Find the full video on Patreon.

the concept of spiritual acumen with amina naru and pamela stokes eggleston

This conversation is rooted in yoga trainers Amina Naru’s and Pamela Stokes Eggleston’s concept of “spiritual acumen.” The session will help you develop the tools to transform your daily life and work—regardless of your profession—and in how you relate and respond to injustice in the world. We look at how you can uplift humanity in small, everyday, and unexpected ways. Find the full video on Patreon.

navigating the intersection between disability rights & accessible yoga with ryan mcgraw, part 2

This session with Ryan McGraw is for both students and teachers and emphasizes how yoga can be adapted to meet any student's needs. This session is a practice-based chair yoga class and incorporates Ryan's own experience as a person with cerebral palsy and learnings from his work in adapting yoga for people with disabilities. Find the full video on Patreon.

using The breath as transformation with Dr. Terry Harris

This session with Terry Harris is both a lecture and practice-based class geared toward teachers or potential teachers in any discipline who want to open the apex of their anti-racist lens and work impactfully with students who have experienced racial or ethnic trauma. Find the full video on Patreon.

Intro to Fostering transformation with michelle cassandra johnson

This video is the intro to the launch of the Fostering Transformation series. It features Michelle Cassandra Johnson, who is an author, anti-racism activist, social justice warrior, yoga teacher, and intuitive healer. This is a conversation, practice, and Q&A. Find the full video on Patreon.