I have several times started then subsequently deleted a long writing about how I don’t know how to teach yoga while ICE is brutalizing and kidnapping members of my community. That topic, it seems, is too complex even on media where I have space to explore those nuances.

Perhaps that will be a much longer entry in the broader context of teaching yoga during dark storms, something I keep coming back to. What is my role, for example? How can I tow the line between encouraging practitioners to practice Ahimsa on and off the mat, while still holding space for folks who come to class to recharge and not think about the real shit for a while?

My classes welcome both extremes and everything in between. I want marginalized communities to know that my class is a welcome respite from an increasingly dangerous world. I also want my classes to highlight yogic principles on and off the mat, and that includes an awareness of said world. It’s not an easy line to tow, especially for a baby yoga teacher such as myself.

This week I am naturally focusing on Ahimsa (non-harming). Far from simply not directly doing harm, Ahimsa includes, I believe, the act of standing in the way of harm to others. Sometimes that is not an entirely peaceful practice, and if you think that’s “unyogic,” perhaps reread the Bhagavad Gita and understand its significance in the many nuances of non-harm.

In Meditations from the Mat, Rolf Gates recounts a story where a guru was asked, “What will be the undoing of humanity?” The guru replies, “The separation between you and me.”

That’s my jumping off point. That’s the crux of my upcoming Flow class, which is 99% asana, but often themed around yogic principles.

Which is to say… if folks come to my class looking to move and sweat it out, they will find a welcome space. If they desire a reminder of what modern Ahimsa looks like, hopefully the above story will turn their attention in that direction.

But naturally, my playlist will be on theme for either participant.

Ahimsa 60

1. Heart Chakra – Sound Bath
2. Goodbye Blue Sky [Pink Floyd cover] – Soren Bodker Madsen
3. Fortunate Sun [Creedence Clearwater Revival cover] – Cat Power
4. Ohio – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
5. Zombie (Acoustic) – The Cranberries
6. Little Dark Age – MGMT
7. A1 – DARKSIDE
8. The Powers that Be – Roger Waters
9. Everybody Scream – Florence + The Machine
10. Sage – Beats Antique
11. Nina Cried Power – Hozier
12. Under Pressure – Queen & David Bowie
13. Anthem [Leonard Cohen cover] – Father John Misty
14. Heroes [David Bowie cover] – Moby