Anjali Rao

Dr. Sundari Johansen, scholar of women’s spirituality specializing in Hindu tantra and archival work, and Anjali Rao, yoga educator and author focused on feminist, caste-aware yoga histories, discuss tantra and yoga as lived, embodied traditions. They explore tantra’s heterodox, material practices, women’s roles and endangered archives. They connect embodied scholarship, political resistance, and preserving ancestral spiritual stories.

In a thought-provoking discussion, Anjali Rao, a scholarly yoga teacher and author of Yoga as Embodied Resistance, delves into yoga's complex history through an intersectional feminist lens. She shares how her Indian heritage and years in the U.S. influenced her perspective on yoga as a collective creation shaped by various cultural forces. Anjali highlights the impact of resistance movements on yoga, discusses the importance of making academic research accessible to practitioners, and reflects on personal experiences that have informed her journey.