Is Nervous System Regulation Ableist? Learn what it really means and the responsibilities of yoga teachers working with trauma and marginalized communities.

In trauma-informed social work, care, and healing, I’ve noticed a tendency to over-medicalize the human experience—to reduce trauma and its responses to clinical frameworks that strip away the complexity of what it means to heal. Tantric teachings, however, offer a vastly different perspective on trauma-informed care. In fact, within the first six sutras of the Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam, we are given a profound teaching on the nature of consciousness.

Yoga is not a performance of health, it’s a path of awareness, liberation, and union. Invite yourself and students into self-inquiry rather than self-optimization. Ask, “Is this helping me connect more deeply to myself and the world?” rather than, “Is this making me healthier or better?”

Accessible yoga focuses on making yoga practices inclusive and adaptable for individuals of all abilities.

The meditation is based on Thich Nhat Hanh’s guided meditation on the Five Mindfulness Trainings in his book, The Blooming of a Lotus.

Sliding scale tuitions and tiered ticket pricing are fees for classes, workshops, and retreats that are adjusted depending on an individual's income. They prioritize fairness, equity and accessibility by allowing participants facing income inequality to participate equally.

Kendra Coupland is featured in The Narwhal’s photo essay: ‘Purpose and power’: Meet 10 BIPOC Adventurers Challenging Ideals of Who Belongs i

Most classical yoga texts like the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali or the later Hatha yoga manuals were written and transmitted by male practitioners, often ascetics.So it’s not surprising that menstruation was rarely discussed in any text; it simply wasn’t part of their lived reality. Some practitioners may feel compelled to keep up their practice. Others may feel compelled to rest. Yoga asks us to listen to our bodies in real time, and be responsive.

What does it mean to be humble? Kendra Coupland, Vancouver yoga teacher, explains.

Safer spaces refers to spaces where folks who experience marginalization to gather, share common experiences, communicate, heal and organize