Values & Commitments

From Tejal:

I am committed to dismantling white supremacy culture/dominant culture narratives within wellness.

Beyond wellness spaces, I fundamentally believe that yoga is inherently trauma-informed and a tool for personal and collective liberation. 

I seek to build curious, questioning spaces that center social justice for our collective good.

Tejal Yoga Vision:

Educate and empower every yoga student to take social justice actions in their relationships and communities.

Tejal Yoga Values:

We uphold the following values:

  • Commit to redefining yoga culture

  • Actively decolonize wellness norms 

  • Focus on our people

  • Center on justice

We hold these values high and try to convey them in each and every Tejal Yoga offering. 

We know that Tejal Yoga doesn't exist in a vacuum and we know that South Asian yoga and wellness professionals do not live in a separate ecosystem than the rest of mainstream wellness.

Tejal Yoga Team Values:

  • Exemplify integrity and accountability in all aspects of teaching

  • Maintain Mindset of abundance

  • Uphold an environment of mutual uplift

About Tejal Yoga:

We gather in South Asian led spaces that focus on leaving every yoga student equipped and dedicated to social justice actions.

Tejal Yoga offers accessible movement and yoga education through a social justice lens in a warm environment. Our knowledgeable instructors are committed to the authentic and spiritual practice of yoga. Learn more at www.tejalyoga.com

Beliefs on Yoga:

I believe that yoga can be practiced mindfully while acknowledging that yoga has caused harm to caste-oppressed, non-hindu people and that yoga has been the vehicle to cause harm (sexual, emotional, verbal, ethnic) in other forms.

I strive to build and participate in spaces that alleviate these harms.

I honor yoga as a spiritual practice that comes from the people of South Asia, currently identified as India.

I practice the 8-limbs of yoga which cannot be reduced to exercise or elitist wellness postures and offered via the English language only.

I see neither sex nor gender as binary categories. I seek to not reduce ‘womanhood’ to a mere matter of biology – as indeed women’s struggles for gender equality around the world take place beyond this biological limit. I believe that feminist spaces operate beyond the gender binary and affirm non-binary, trans, and gender expansive experience and wisdom. I envision the practice of feminism as one which seeks to dismantle the gender binary and makes space for those who do not sit within the categories of ‘men’ and ‘women’.

I recognize the way in which patriarchy does not simply disadvantage women but also erases the experiences of those outside the gender binary. In making these acknowledgements, I ask that your participation in my platforms and your event invitations be inclusive of non-binary and trans identities in any feminist spaces that you organize, cultivate, and lead.

I stand against diet culture in all forms.

I am aware of the high volumes of misinformation and disinformation spread on social media, and how this can be harmful to marginalized groups. I work to ensure that my platform does not foster these, while also leaving room for discussions and nuance.

I incorporate land acknowledgement in my offerings. I recommend Native Governance Center’s website as one resource to facilitate understanding of the meaning of indigenous land acknowledgments

I humbly borrow much of this language from abcdyogi.