Embody the Change

Ghandi challenged us to “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Sherri Shapiro, a feminist dance educator, has posed the question: “How can we understand through our embodied knowledge what it might mean to live freer and more empowered lives?”[1]
Both yoga and feminism reveal that embodying our principles allows us to act with integrity.

In Anusara language, we activate skull loop to “be the change” we want. Skull loop starts at the center of the upper palate. It is a circular flow of energy that moves back and up along the back of the skull then over the top of the head and down the face to the starting point of the upper palate. It takes the hyoid bone back, keeps the neck open, and the head in proper alignment. It’s also the natural position I embody when I “walk the talk” of my feminism.

The action of skull loop, like the action of integrating ourselves with our feminist principles, allows us to work for social change from a more sustainable place. Instead of jutting our chin forward and forcing things to happen, or gritting our teeth together and willing change, we breathe, align with our beliefs, and move from there.

There are times when social oppression demands the urgency of reacting to violence and forcing change. But over the long haul, embodying our principles allows us to extend further in healthier and more sustainable ways. We stand tall in our beliefs. Rather than merely resist oppression, we create new possibilities.


Inspiration for Daily Practice:

Note: The following are some possible poses for skull loop. They do not consist of a complete daily practice with proper warm ups or sequences. These notes emphasize skull loop. They do not cover all the actions that must be engaged to safely enter and leave a pose. They can, however, be integrated into a full practice that is appropriate to your level of ability. As always, consult your yoga teacher and a physician before attempting new poses.

Utthita Trikonasana (Triangle Pose): Activate skull loop to extend energy out the top of your head and elongate both your lower and upper side bodies. Once you have embodied your full integration, turn your head upward and radiate your potential out to the world.

Setubhandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose): Skull loop helps you actually press the base of your head into the ground. You then have a firmer foundation from which to extend forward out your knees and through your pelvic core. A solid grounding in our principles allows us to act from a more centered place.

Urdhva Dhanurasana (Backbend): When we move out of our comfort zone, we often resort to defensive habits and jut out our chins. Backbends can cause this reaction in a beginner. When going up into a backbend, remember to activate skull loop, to trust the proper alignment of your body, then press up. Trust that even in new territory, we have something to offer and something to learn.

Bakasana (Crane Pose): When we enter new territory, many of us experience doubts about our capabilities. Activating skull loop in crane pose helps you align with your potential, become lighter, and float up into the air. When we integrate into principles we know we can trust, we don’t have to so easily give into doubts. We can then surprise ourselves with the heights to which we can soar.



[1] Sherri B. Shapiro. “Toward Transformative Teachers: Critical and Feminist Perspectives in Dance Education.” Dance, Power, and Difference: Critical and Feminist Perspectives on Dance Education. Sherri B. Shapiro, Ed. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics, 1998. 7-22.

Feminism and Yoga?

What on earth does feminism have to do with yoga? Certainly, it’s not hard to do a feminist analysis of the recent commodification of yoga in the West. Nor is it hard to critique the hyper-thin, young, flawless, mostly white, middle class models we often see doing yoga in Western pop culture.

But I am more interested in the insights that emerge when I place feminist and yogic principles in a deeper dialogue. When I recently completed my 200-hour teacher training program with Senior Anusara practitioners, I was struck by the many parallels between Tantric yoga practice and feminist praxis. In this blog, I will explore the richly textured insights they offer one another. I hope that you will join me for weekly posts.

Action over Form

For starters, both Anusara yoga and Feminism emphasize process over product. Contrary to the achievement drive that thrives throughout U.S. culture, Anusara yoga values the self-honoring process of regularly coming to our practice. Whether we “achieve” any particular pose is far less important than whether we make the choices that support the optimal alignment of our body—and our being--on any given day.

Similarly, feminism has long taught us that “by any means necessary” is rarely an ethical recipe for social change. As Audre Lorde so famously wrote, “the Master’s tools will never dismantle the Master’s house.” Instead, we need to create new practices in society that honor ourselves and others. Only then can we sustain progressive changes and access the rich tapestry that is our global culture.

In the Spirit of Inquiry:
Finding Balance in Mid-Semester Crunch
By: Beth Berila

“Our own self-judgment or the judgment of other people can stifle our life force, its spontaneity and natural expression. “
Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.
In this time of frigid cold stretches , when campus is carpeted in treacherous ice and we have to bundle ourselves in warm layers until we are hardly recognizable, I find myself longing for warm spring days. Like many people, I rejoiced in the brief warm spell this past weekend, when everyone seemed in a better mood and neighbors I hadn’t seen in weeks ventured outdoors. In beautiful weather such as that, it becomes easier to be spontaneous and playful, to reach out to others and connect.

Many people expressed psychic shock at the rapid return of the cold on Monday. We knew, of course, that Minnesota winter was nowhere near over. Still, the sudden arctic air seemed unduly harsh. People scurried back to their warm shelters (if they are privileged enough to have a heated roof over their heads). Many students were absent from class on Monday and those who were present seemed physically drooped; their bodies literally slumped in the seats while they fought to remain awake in what is otherwise a usually lively bunch.

Of course, students’ fatigue is not merely a factor of a post-Superbowl winter Monday. We are approaching the time in the semester when semester crunch hits, when our schedules start piling up so high that we find it hard to make time for fun, sleep, or a nutritious meal. Often, we promise ourselves those things after we make it through the hump of deadlines, but the result is that we end up running on empty.

I wonder, as I steel myself against the biting wind and the upcoming onslaught of work deadlines, how we can cultivate an inner warmth and playfulness even when outer circumstances do not easily warrant it. How can we foster that exuberant vibrance when we seem so burdened by responsibilities, obstacles, stresses, illness, and yes, even weather?
In yoga this question is perhaps best addressed through the complimentary Universal Principles of Alignment called Muscular and Organic Energy. Muscular Energy is charged when we draw energy into our core to ground ourselves. As such, Muscular Energy is a source of strength and stability; we literally “hug into” our inner strength as a way to nurture and revitalize ourselves. It’s the type of energy many of us need to resist midsemester winter blues.

Organic Energy occurs when we extend outward, shooting our energy out through extended arms, head, and legs, imagining ourselves taking up more space with our energy then we do with our literal body. We radiate Organic Energy when we are creative and inspired, when we suggest new ideas or meet old ones with revitalized energy. Organic Energy infuses the air on the first couple warm days of spring; it’s exciting, imaginative, and passionate, which is why it is often considered more desirable.

And yet, we need them both. They are complimentary forces that feed one another. They are considered Universal Principles of Alignment because they are present in every yoga pose. They pulsate in a spanda, a dance where both play an equally important role, much like our breath moves both inward and outward. Muscular Energy always precedes Organic Energy for obvious reasons; we have to ground ourselves before we can expand. We cannot give what we do not have, though too often we try, particularly if we are women.

Similarly, we cannot sustain Organic Energy—that creative, inspiring, exuberance--unless we also take the time to hug in and support ourselves in whatever way works best for each of us. Self-care practices do not have to be overly expensive or time consuming. They can include simple, obvious gestures: a walk, a quiet time, or a fun evening with friends, but whatever rituals we do to care for ourselves are vital if we are to have the energy and vitality to extend ourselves in healthy ways, rather than overextended ones.

We absolutely need Organic Energy to revitalize and inspire us. Muscular Energy by itself would be like wearing winter jackets and scarves all year long; not only is it unnecessary, it will likely become stifling. We nourish ourselves in part so that we can reach out and share our insights and our gifts with others in order to contribute to our communities. The pulsation between the two should be balanced and rhythmic, like our breath. But it’s the balance itself that allows us to reach farther and explore our limits in healthy ways from the grounded strength of our firm foundation.

I think of this yogic insight as we head into that time of the semester when I often see students forgetting to eat or sleep in order to complete exams, work, and contribute to campus organizing. Those are all important goals, but they can only be sustained if we remember to hug in and give ourselves what we need to take care of ourselves. I write this column now to remind young activists and students to take care of themselves. We are not doing anyone any favors if we exhaust our energies in the short term to such an extent that we cannot contribute over the longer haul.

This is an important lesson to learn for those who are going into feminist and social justice fields, because so often those urgent social issues will absorb anything and everything we have to give. Add to that the gendered social ideology that women are supposed to give abundantly to others but rarely give to ourselves, and we have a self-defeating scenario. Moreover, in this time of economic uncertainty and budget cuts, many of us will be asked to do more with less. That many feminists will step up to the plate and do the work rather than let urgently needed programs die attests to our dedication and vitality. But we also need to make sure that we do not burn ourselves or others out in the process.

It’s important to remember that our commitment to feminist social justice cannot supercede our commitment to maintaining our own healthy selves. It’s usually when we feel we can least afford the time for that self-care ritual that we need to take it—we will be able to return refreshed and energized to the causes about which we are so passionate.

How Can We Create a Vibrant, Engaging Semester?

The feminist poet Adrienne Rich once gave an inspiring talk to Women’s Studies students about the vital importance of claiming our education instead of merely presuming to “receive” one. As we begin a new semester, I encourage you to find ways to claim your learning process so that it is the most fulfilling and engaging it can be for you.

What might that look like?

Many of you know that I am an avid yoga practitioner, mostly because yoga has taught me many things that inform how I live off the mat, tools that fit well within my “feminist toolbelt.” You may or may not be interested in yoga. No matter--think of it as a metaphor for learning.

In yoga, we talk of beginner’s mind. No matter how often we come to our mat—daily, weekly, year after year, in pose after pose—we come to our practice with the mind of a beginner, open to learning whatever new lesson might emerge that day. The feminist poet Adrienne Rich calls this claiming our education. She wrote,

I want to suggest that there is a more essential experience that you owe yourselves, one which courses in women's studies can greatly enrich, but which finally depends on you in all your interactions with yourself and your world. This is the experience of taking responsibility toward yourselves….Responsibility to yourself means that you don't fall for shallow and easy solutions….It means that you refuse to sell your talents and aspirations short…” (Rich, “Claiming an Education”).

As you begin a new year and another semester, I encourage you to cultivate this kind of openness about your classes, your work, your relationships, and even to broader feminist sociopolitical issues. As you enter new classes, take more advanced classes, or perhaps step into a subject matter that is out of your comfort zone, see if you can bring that genuine inquisitive passion to your learning.

For me, beginner’s mind means that while I practice the precise alignment principles that I have studied, I let go of expectations or presuppositions as I come to my mat. I don’t presume that I know the pose so well that my mind starts to drift off to my next task at hand until I am merely mechanically moving through the routine. I don’t get too cocky in my ability to balance in a handstand (and if I do, I will inevitably fall out if it!) Nor do I bring previous unsuccessful attempts—my “failures”—to my next handstand or arm balance. (If I do, I will inevitably “fail” again.) Each of these prejudgements would rob my current practice of its dynamic, alive quality, lending instead a rote and dull tenor to my practice.

The challenge, of course, is to determine how you can bring the skills you have and the knowledge you have already learned to your life and your studies, while still nurturing that delightful openness that comes when you first begin to learn something new.

Yoga has taught me that when I shed any preconceived expectations I might have and instead come to my practice with a beginner’s mind, I am guaranteed to discover some new insight about myself and the world, even in a pose that I have done hundreds of times. Downward dog looks different when I am exhausted then it does when I am excited, just as it looks different as I celebrate an election or mourn the loss of a friend and colleague.

Each moment offers its own insight if we remain open and aware. Similarly, we can practice our solid critical thinking skills and still be open to the idea that we may not know all the answers—or even the right questions. We can be solid and passionate about our convictions and still open and willingly engage in dialogue with others who believe differently then us. And when we do, we almost always learn something worth knowing, about ourselves, about others, about the society in which we live.

College is generally built on a successive and progressive educational model; you take 201 as a prerequisite to 405; you learn basic concepts and then build more complex ones on that foundation. That is an important model for learning. Simultaneously, we can also meet each educational opportunity with a fresh perspective.

We are in an invigorating time of many new beginnings: a new year, a new semester, a new presidency. This week marks an historic event as Barack Obama took the oath of office and became the 44th President of the United States. The air of hope and community that infused the nation was a much-needed revitalization of our energies as we roll up our sleeves and get to the hard work of producing change. His inauguration speech pointed to the ways we have to strive for greatness, not merely expect it. He told us,

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a
given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling or less. It has not been the path of the faint-hearted—for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things—some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedoms. (Obama inauguration speech transcript, 01/20/09).

I invite you, even challenge you, to embrace your semester in a way that allows you to achieve the great potential that I have seen in every one of you. I challenge you to cultivate a beginner’s mind as you enter this new year and this new semester. Let go of intimidating fears if you are taking that calculus class that you dread, and don’t presume that you can coast through that PESS class that you think will be super easy. Bring fresh insights and energies to those feminist issues about which you feel so passionate. As the student, you have the option of making every class you take an enriching opportunity for learning and growth. No matter how good the teacher or the class is, you are the one who has the power to decide whether and how deeply you will engage each and every learning opportunity.