The unlearning process itself can be isolating and hard, when navigating the decolonial process we often encounter obstacles and boundaries in the face of others and within our inherited patterns. Accepting that not everyone—yet—has the capacity to do this work. We join together and reach one another in this sacred space. Let’s all be companions in that beautiful garden where nourishment is cooked within the synapses of our brains, honey is stimulated within our biological systems and together we rise in consciousness.
Decol’ Kundalini Yoga Program by SovereignShakti
The ancient science of yoga, originating in India is steeped and deeply rooted in lineages centred around emancipating the Self from the bonds of physicality. Articulating this in the most simplistic terms from my subjective understanding; it is a process of union with one’s inherent divinity through movement, breathe and mantra – taught in both theoretical and practical frameworks. In a less than surprising iteration, it has become one of the many spiritual practices appropriated by the contemporary Western patriarchy as a means for exercise. This is a deeply reductive and reckless application of a philosophy and practice of teaching, which in its varying multiplicity and styles was intended to be a universally available system of reconciling the physical dimension, using the body as an instrument of attunement and experience. Today, the accessibility of yoga is entrenched in the personification of white, abled bodied womxn on a quest for toned physiques, and while yoga is indeed intended to strengthen the body, it feels most intended to bring forth a discipline of the mind and an investigation of the quantum energy imbued within reality.
Imaan Latif is steadily creating spaces of reclaiming this ancient movement medicine, philosophy and practice. As a decolonial fine artist and Kundalini Practitioner, their Decolonial Kundalini Yoga Program offered a sanctuary through Zoom for the LGBTQI+ BIPOC community to share and establish a morning practice of learning, connecting, integrating and healing. Kundalini Yoga centres around awakening and nurturing the energetic frequencies inherent within the human body. From a point of awareness of my positionality and what it meant in that space (virtual or not, with journalistic intent or not) I was deeply moved by the powerful reverberations of the mantras, and the opportunity to connect in break out rooms with other attendees, sharing questions and answers with vulnerability. The asana poses were taught with their corresponding physical and emotional benefits and the understanding that connection is key for honouring consciousness was instilled. especially in times of global pandemic despair, it feels evermore important to stay grounded in safe spaces, whether virtual or not.
