161: How The Legacy Of The Caste System Shows Up In Yoga Spaces with Anjali Rao

Is yoga exclusively connected to Hinduism? What is the caste system and why would a western yoga teacher need to understand it? How much of yoga's complex history do modern yoga practitioners and teachers really understand?

In this powerful and thought-provoking conversation, I welcome back Anjali Rao — yoga educator, activist, and author — to unpack the intertwined histories of yoga, caste, patriarchy, and colonization. Drawing from her new book Yoga as Embodied Resistance, Anjali challenges us to explore how caste hierarchies and colonial legacies still shape modern yoga spaces, language, and access to practice today.

Anjali brings a decolonial and feminist lens to the history of yoga, asking practitioners and teachers alike to hold space for complexity, discomfort, and nuance rather than rushing toward easy answers.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• the origins, structure, and enduring legacy of the South Asian caste system and the material and spiritual inequalities it has perpetuated.

• a discussion on how caste hierarchies and Brahminical dominance are reflected in today's yoga spaces—often unconsciously

• a nuanced look at the relationship between yoga and Hinduism

• how colonialism and capitalism have "flattened" diverse traditions into rigid categories, leading to oversimplification and erasure of nuance in both yoga's history and present-day understanding

• practical advice for teachers and practitioners on recognizing signs of exclusivity, and steps teachers can take toward expanding inclusivity and embracing discomfort

• an introduction to the work of caste abolitionists

Learn More From Anjali:

• Anjali's website

• The Love of Yoga Podcast

• Follow Anjali on Instagram

• Yoga as Embodied Resistance — Anjali Rao

• Yoga As Embodied Resistance: Reading Circle

• Trauma of Caste — Thenmozhi Soundararajan

• Annihilation of Caste — Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

• Accessible Yoga Association

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