Decolonizing Yoga: 5 Things to Remember Before Hitting the Mat (Wear Your Voice Mag)

When I was a little girl, I began copying my mother when she did her sun salutations (Surya Namaskar) every morning; I’d stand beside her mat and do what she did. Eventually she got me a small mat of my own, and I started to do more asanas with her.

But asanas are only one part of yoga. Around the same time, I began reading the Bhagavad Gita with my grandfather. If you’ve never heard of it before, it’s often referred to as the Gita. It’s a 700-verse Hindu scripture that was originally written in Sanskrit, and it makes up part of the larger Mahabharata (one of two major Hindu epics of ancient India). I found the Gita illuminating; I understood more about the religion I’d been born into (although, full disclosure; I am now an agnostic and have been since my mid-teens), and I adored the symbolism. That, in turn, helped me understand yoga.

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