YA - CE Workshop | Reconnection Through Action: (USYACE2503A) Closed Captioning/ Transcript Disclaimer Closed captioning and/or transcription is being provided solely for the convenience of our viewers. Yoga Alliance does not review for accuracy any information that appears in a closed caption or transcript. Yoga Alliance makes no representations or warranties, and expressly disclaims any responsibility or liability with respect to, any errors or omissions in, or the accuracy, reliability, timeliness or completeness of, any information that appears in a closed caption or transcript. SUSANNA BARKATAKI: Hello, everyone and welcome. Welcome welcome. We are so glad to have you here. This is the third in a series of explorations in yoga, this is session 3, reconnection, from appropriation to appreciation. A few logistics as you log on. There is a location poll as he logon, seating clicker and let us know. There is close captioning, so you should see an option to take advantage of that in the chat. And then also in a link at the bottom. The other logistics thing, I think most of us know how to use Zoom, but you can drop your questions in the Q and A. Welcome, I am Susanna Barkataki. I use late -- she/her pronouns. I am on colonized land in Orlando Florida. The other important thing I need to let you know is that I have the qualifications needed for this to be a continuing education unit. Continuing education hour, so you can use this time in that way if it serves you. I want to introduce Puja saying --Puja Singh Titchkosky , they/them pronouns is a queer yoga and music teacher. I'm so glad that you are here with us to share your experiences, your wisdom, your voice, your heart, your soul and also your practice today. So welcome. And welcome to everyone who is here. If you would like to share why you are here from, Sybil, can folks share where they are from in the chat? It is always nice to see where folks are listening and from. I saw people from many different places in the pull. As we begin, Puja is going to drop us in. I will pass it to you. MX PUJA: I am so excited and honoured to be here with you and everyone who is joining us today. We will start with a little drop in. If you would like to find a comfortable position, however you are most comfortable. If you want any extra support, feel free to grab that. Just allow yourself to settle. You can make any movements that come naturally. Stretch out if you need to, wiggle out. And then once you have worked out some energy, you can start to find some stillness. You can allow your eyes to close, if that feels OK. Or you are welcome to just soft in your gaze. Feel your connection to whatever you are sitting on. Allow your spine to grow a little taller, the crown of the head reaching up towards the sky if you are seated. Allow your shoulders to relax away from your ears. Notice your breath. Notice the air entering YA - CE Workshop | Reconnection Through Action: (USYACE2503A) and exiting through your nostrils. Notice the way her body expands each time you inhale. Notice the way your body contracts as you exhale. Allowing your breath to flow as naturally as possible. Notice the air against your skin. Notice the texture of your clothes against your skin. Notice any sounds around you, whether they are in your own space or outside of your space. And then start to draw your awareness inwards again. I will invite you to join me in one collective home --ohm. Inhale, fill up as much as you can. And sire tout. -- Site it out. And then inhale for ohm. Ohm. Gently bow your head towards your heart. If your eyes were close, you can allow them to gently open. Just taking in the sights in your own space, the colour, the textures. Thank you so much. SUSANNA BARKATAKI: Thank you so much for dropping us in in that way. I was saying before we started, I just had the COVID-19 vaccine. I am really quite tired and have not fully felt in my body since yesterday when I got it. This is the reality of those of us that are getting these experiences now. Right? Sometimes we go through things and we are just thrown off, or a little bit different. I am appreciative of the opportunity to come back to my experience, to my breath and to be present, because I feel so much more president -- present now than I did a few minutes ago. I am very grateful. I want us to explore reconnection. Part of this exploration of reconnection is reconnection through action. I want to read just a little bit from the beginning of the section from Embrace Yoga's Roots, which is part one. Reconnection in action. It starts with this quote, "All of the suffering in the world comes from seeking pleasure for oneself. All the happiness in the world comes from seeking pleasure for others. These words spoken by a Buddhist monk and scholar at the University and in the around 700 BC resonate still today. We have come together through the path of reflecting deeply and have begun to see the path towards unity and reconnection. We have identified many of the causes of separation and see how they come alive and operate in the world around us. And reflect on where they show up in our lives. Now we can integrate what we have learned. Based on yoga teachings, we will turn towards considering solutions for this problem of separation and creating true unity. We will explore some specific concrete skills for doing the work of living and practising yoga as unity that come from within the yogic tradition. Not all the tolls -- tools will speak to everyone. But at least some will speak to you and you can implement them today, this week and into the future as you build your skills and capacity and bring forth the world of yoga as unity." As we explore this reconnection through action, I wanted to begin with talking about identity and how your identity has informed your relationship to yoga and how it has involved your relationship to your identity. MX PUJA: This is where so much of my practice of yoga has started, because before I knew about the practice of yoga in a more literal way, someone explaining this is yoga and this is how you practice it, I was practising yoga growing up, just being in an Indian family, things like (unknown term) and going to (Name) temple. Even in the way we eat and the diabetic elements in that and the way we take care of ourselves. How all of that is ingrained into Indian culture and being in Page 2 of 13 Downloaded on: 02 Apr 2021 10:04 AM YA - CE Workshop | Reconnection Through Action: (USYACE2503A) an Indian family. And then being queer and trans has also been a huge factor in me diving into the practice of yoga, because from a very young age I felt different in many ways. And it always brought me to a practice of (indiscernible by captioner) because I had to figure out why am I different? What is it about me… There were certain times where it was not as obvious as oh, you are Indian so that is what makes you different. You are queer and that is what makes you different. Sometimes it was less obvious and that and I could not figure out what is it about my difference that is not allowing me to connect or to understand my position allergy -- in the world in a way. Just the practice of inquiry, consulate coming back to that and figuring out how do I exist in this world as myself? But also, still be able to open up to people. Because sometimes these differences create this barrier. We are humans, we are people. We can definitely connect on staff if we allow that yoga, that unity. But if we have these barriers in our way, and we cannot see why those barriers are there, how they inhibit us. The more we can be clear about who we are, which often comes with labelling, the more we can have an idea or a way to get back to the connection part of it. The more we can see the differences, then we can say this is what different about us, this is how we can connect with each other. Just the constant inquiry helps me to understand myself better, which helps me to understand how others perceive me and how that would change in different relationships and different environments, different contexts, and it was always just… How do I go back to this practice of yoga in whatever form it is? Whether it is an asana our practice, meditation practice, or maybe something that is come to your seat and sit like that, but how does the practice integrate into an everyday level where I am having a conversation with someone. How do I bring my yoga practice into this conversation? Again, taking off the mat. So often yoga is talked about as, let's go into our yoga practice for one hour today and then we go about our lives. But if we are really embracing the roots of yoga, the work -- the roots are of more about it being a practice that is in every part of our life.