In this episode, Harriet is joined by Sheena Sood PhD, a Philadelphia-based activist, educator, sociologist, and healing justice visionary of South Asian descent and southern roots. Sheena enjoys teaching gentle vinyasa or hatha practices infused with embodied liberatory philosophy. She is also the founder of Yoga Warrior Tales, an adventure-based yoga program that teaches children mindfulness and yoga skills through educational and interactive social justice narratives.

Currently, Sheena serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Muhlenberg College in the Sociology and Anthropology department, where she teaches introductory and advanced sociology courses covering social and cultural movements. Her current research project Omwashing Yoga: Weaponized Spirituality in India, Israel and the US scrutinizes the application of yoga and mindfulness around the globe, particularly by far-right governments who use yoga to advance their colonial and ethnonationalist agendas. Rather than propagate narratives that glorify yoga’s ancient past, Sheena works to curate healing justice offerings through frameworks that recognize yoga’s oppressive layers and its liberatory potential; she envisions a futuristic yoga that centers collective freedom and embodies political action by centering humanity, all living beings, and Mother Earth.

Harriet and Sheena talk about the liberatory potential of yoga, how governments and organizations use yoga to sanitise their image, and the joy of having delicious treats to hand.

Connect with Sheena:
Website : sheenashining.com
Instagram: @yogawarriortales
Instagram: @sheena_shining

Connect with Harriet:
Website: nourishyogatraining.com
Instagram: @nourishyogatraining
Twitter: @nourishyogatt
Facebook: @nourishyogatraining

Produced by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.