In light of Israel’s ongoing siege and genocide on Palestinians in Gaza, we -- Yogis for Palestine, Tejal Yoga and our nascent global community of yogis -- use this year’s International Day of Yoga (IDY) to reimagine what spiritual and political solidarity with Palestinian freedom can l..
Sheena Sood and Tejal Patel
Sheena Sood, PhD (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Delaware Valley University; and a Philly-based activist scholar, yoga practitioner, and healing justice visionary. Sheena earned her yoga certifications at Kailash Tribal School in McLeodganj, India. Her research “Omwashing Yoga: Self-care and State Violence among the Global Far-Right,” examines how right-wing movements in India, Israel and the U.S. appropriate yoga to advance ethnonational, colonial, and supremacist agendas. Her work has appeared in Jadaliyya, Race & Yoga Journal, Al Jazeera, and in the edited volumes, Practicing Yoga as Resistance: Voices of Color in Search of Freedom and The Yoga Teacher's Survival Guide: Social Justice, Science, Politics, and Power. Sheena serves on the editorial board of Race & Yoga Journal; is a co-founder of Yogis for Palestine - a collective of yoga teachers and students who politicize yoga toward action for Palestinian freedom and liberation; and is also the founder of Yoga Warrior Tales, an educational program that teaches kids yoga and mindfulness through a social justice lens. Read more about Sheena's offerings here.Contact:Sheena Sood / sheena.sood1@gmail.com / IG: @sheena_shining
Tejal Patel (she/they) is a first-generation Indian American yoga teacher, writer, podcaster, and community organizer. Tejal’s aim is to educate and empower individuals and groups around the world to practice yoga holistically and through a social justice equity lens.Tejal can be found decolonizing wellness with the revolutionary Tejal YogaOnline, a primarily South Asian teacher-led yoga space, with the abcdyogi interactive community, an online hub for healing and learning, and through the Yoga is Dead podcast, e-book, and signature cultural appropriation training.