Session Transcript: 08-07-2020 Yoga Alliance - Afternoon session - PDF document

Session Transcript: 08-07-2020 Yoga Alliance - Afternoon session Closed Captioning/ Transcript Disclaimer Closed captioning and/or transcription is being provided solely for the convenience of our viewers. Yoga Alliance does not review for accuracy any information that appears in a closed caption or transcript. Yoga Alliance makes no representations or warranties, and expressly disclaims any responsibility or liability with respect to, any errors or omissions in, or the accuracy, reliability, timeliness or completeness of, any information that appears in a closed caption or transcript. >> The recent pandemic has shown us how truly connected we all are which was the point of us putting this panel together. Thank you for being here. The goal is nothing more than to foster greater connection and the international yoga community in the form -- be better informed by the areas of challenge faced by the yoga community around the globe. We know this inherently as yogis and it's never more true than is now that what affects one of us affects all of us. But really just having an amazing network of leaders in their communities around the globe. I'm excited to introduce the folks who are joining us on the panel today. Many of them have been here for a long time and we have all been coming up together and looking for ways to bring the practice to the world and they are all leaders in their communities and what we will be looking for today is to hear from them what has been like and what their experience has been like. One of them is called Global Flow Retreat which is a global retreat company that takes groups of yogis all around the world. She will tell a little bit more about hers Peschel niche take on the business later. She is also the founder of a online event company so she is quite busy making essential oils when she is not busy running global events in person and online. Suz and I have known each other for at least a decade. We met in San Francisco at the conference I think in 2009. We have found many new ways to collaborate recently. I'm excited to have her here as part of the panel. Said thank you. We also have Claudia from Mexico representing from Mexico City. She is an artist, actor, coach and yoga teacher and one of the original founders of the studio. I'm excited to have her. We do not get to hear as much from the Latin countries. Not that you can speak for everyone but I'm glad you were able to make time because we do not often get the ears and heart of what is happening. I'm excited to hear from you about what the experience is like in Mexico specifically with the practice of yoga. Thank you for being here. Welcome. We have our only man on the panel today. Troy has to hold it down for the male persuasion. He is joining us from Trinidad and Tobago. He is a studio owner and phenomenal teacher who has come up under the One Yoga brand. Spiritual guy who lives in a tree house with hummingbirds. Really interesting and exciting and I think also hearing from you Troy about what is happening in these more isolated areas of the world with very distinct in very different cultures. He is one of my favorite teachers out there right now. We will split the webinar into two halves. The first tab is the culture in the second half we will talk business. I will go through and ask questions of each of the panelists. They will have an opportunity to share. We will engage each other. Really just looking to hear from you guys what it is like being a leader in the yoga community in your specific communities. Of course I am sitting in New York City right now. Yoga Alliance is based on the East Coast of the United States. So we can be rather North America centric and really thinking through a Western lens of what you get is and how just sort of what yoga is what the purpose of it is. It is very interesting and exciting to have this opportunity to get to know the global community in a richer way. We are excited to hear from you guys. And of course if there's anything we can do to be of service to you as you are doing your work that is also staff we would like to discuss. If you guys are ready, we will get going with the culture in the community. Anybody want to go first? Claudia. I will share a couple questions, Claudia. You answer them how you see fit. I will use these as a prompt but also anything naturally you want to share this is your time. We make sure you get to say what you want to and not just what I want you to say. OK. Tell us a little bit about the cultural impact of yoga in your community and the challenges, the cultural challenges of yoga in your community. >> Yes. Thank you, Eva. I'm so honored to be a part of this panel. It is such an important moment for all of us globally. At the moment I'm in the community on the southeast coast of my country. I came here 12 years ago which when I came there was only four yoga teachers. It was really a community, a small community of yoga practitioners and a small community of yoga teachers which held different styles. When I came with my project to really go inside the community and not only the city, the base city but the little community surrounding the Mayan jungle and to see how yoga could blend with their traditions, I found an exciting and so passionate path that what I did was open up my eyes and receiving also what they had in their own culture to