A Queer Dharma: Yoga and Meditations for Liberation A Four-Week Online Book Club

EMBODIED TEACHINGS FOR HEALING AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Join yoga teacher, social justice educator, and Kripalu alumnus, Jacoby Ballard, for a four-week online book club.

Drawing from his book, A Queer Dharma: Yoga and Meditations for Liberation, Jacoby explores the Brahma Viharas (heart teachings) of both yoga and Buddhism through a queer lens informed by Black feminism and activism. In his writing, he addresses the trauma perpetuated against queer communities—complex, vicarious, historical, and collective—with a focus on those most targeted in our world. With these teachings, Jacoby crafts tools for working with anger, generating self-compassion, fostering lovingkindness, and grounding the nervous system.  

In this four-week online program, you will learn how to:

• Utilize supportive heart practices for social justice work. 
• Use the book as a text in your personal practice and teaching.
• Improve your relationships with friends, lovers, colleagues, and family members.
• Understand the unsavory dynamics of the yoga industry and how to ethically maneuver within/around them.

An empowering and affirming guide to embodied healing through yoga and the dharma, A Queer Dharma: Yoga and Meditations for Liberation is grounded in the brilliance, resilience, and lived experiences of queer folks. 

Recommended reading Jacoby Ballard, A Queer Dharma: Yoga and Meditations for Liberation. Available for purchase at the Kripalu Online Shop.

NOTE You will have access to the video recording(s) for 30 days after the program ends. All recordings will be available within 72 hours of the end of each session. 

This program includes a 30-day free access to the Kripalu Online Studio where Jacoby will be leading practices centered around themes of the book.

About the Program

Special Guests
Each week, Jacoby will be joined by fellow Kripalu Alumni, faculty, and staff—including Yuval Samburski, Jurian Hughes, and Rolf Gates—to discuss themes from the book. You will learn why embodying perspectives from people with different lived experiences, other than our own, supports a visionary path forward for all of us who engage in the practices of yoga and meditation.

Open Discussion and Lecture
There will be an open discussion and lecture with Jacoby and guests that will dive into the different themes of the book: compassion, joy, injustice in the yoga industry, and exploring liberating models of yoga.

Break-out Sessions
The program includes break-out sessions where you will be guided by prompts to engage in group discussions about the reading.