Restorative Resistance: Flow, Yoga, and Meditation

Amidst the oppression and unregulated violence against our communities, we cannot afford to stop fighting, and the authors of this panel provide resources to do so sustainably. In The Medicine of Flow, certified qigong teacher and integrative medicine doctor Cynthia Li draws from modern science alongside time-tested methods for healing to explain embodied flow, an inner state of physiological coherence, harmony, and energy efficiency that activates the body’s peak healing capacity to overcome chronic illness, anxiety, and stress. Yoga educator, author, and practitioner Anjali Rao bridges scholarship, history, and cultural analysis to explore the relationships between caste and gender in yoga. Her book, Yoga as Embodied Resistance, offers radical ways to re-envision a yoga grounded in inquiry, discernment, and collective liberation. As professor Ronald E. Purser details in Mind Space, meditation is another practice that can be radically reimagined by letting go of goal-oriented peace and instead allowing a natural concentration and unfabricated presence to arise in every moment. Moderated by Kei Yamamoto, the Bay Area Political Organizer for the California Working Families Party, this panel will offer strategies for replenishment and remaining grounded during tumultuous times.