{"podcast":{"title":"The Mentor Sessions","slug":"the-mentor-sessions-743367","podcast_index_feed_id":743367,"rss_url":"https://francescacervero.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"https://www.francescacervero.com/category/podcast/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/7/4/c/5/74c55dc4da9d7c5ee55e3c100dce7605/FINAL_1.jpg","author":"Francesca Cervero","episode_count":181,"summary":"With amazing guests or solo, I explore the craft of teaching yoga, as its own practice. I'm seeking answers to the questions about why we teach something the way we do, how we could be more expansive and inclusive in our teaching, and how we can continue to grow and evolve in our teaching practice. I'm so glad you are here because I believe the depth that arises in teaching comes from inquiry and relationship. Join me as I offer nourishing support to help you feel more confident in your teaching and realistic strategy to help you find more clarity on your career path. Francesca Cervero (she/her) has been a full-time yoga teacher since 2005. Her teaching is inspired by her foundational training with Cyndi Lee at OM Yoga Center, the years she spent as a dancer and the subsequent years she spent in physical therapy. Her teaching is also influenced by her love of Buddhist teachings and a constant curiosity about anatomy and biomechanics. She is in private practice teaching a full schedule of 1x1 clients, mentors yoga teachers in The Science of the Private Lesson™, hosts the podcast, The Mentor Sessions: Support & Strategy for Yoga Teachers and is the founder of the adjoining community…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-07T18:22:18.234401+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-mentor-sessions-743367"},"episode":{"title":"161:  How The Legacy Of The Caste System Shows Up In Yoga Spaces with Anjali Rao","slug":"161-how-the-legacy-of-the-caste-system-shows-up-in-yoga-spaces-with-anjali-rao","published_at":"2025-10-21T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-mentor-sessions-743367/161-how-the-legacy-of-the-caste-system-shows-up-in-yoga-spaces-with-anjali-rao","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-mentor-sessions-743367","url":"https://www.francescacervero.com/podcast","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/francescacervero/MS_161_How_The_Legacy_Of_The_Caste_System_Shows_Up_In_Yoga_Spaces_with_Anjali_Rao_Edited.m4a?dest-id=539043","summary":"Is yoga exclusively connected to Hinduism? What is the caste system and why would a western yoga teacher need to understand it? How much of yoga's complex history do modern yoga practitioners and teachers really understand? In this powerful and thought-provoking conversation, I welcome back Anjali Rao — yoga educator, activist, and author — to unpack the intertwined histories of yoga, caste, patriarchy, and colonization. Drawing from her new book Yoga as Embodied Resistance, Anjali challenges us to explore how caste hierarchies and colonial legacies still shape modern yoga spaces, language, and access to practice today. Anjali brings a decolonial and feminist lens to the history of yoga, asking practitioners and teachers alike to hold space for complexity, discomfort, and nuance rather than rushing toward easy answers. In this episode, you'll hear: the origins, structure, and enduring legacy of the South Asian caste system and the material and spiritual inequalities it has perpetuated. a discussion on how caste hierarchies and Brahminical dominance are reflected in today's yoga spaces—often unconsciously a nuanced look at the relationship between yoga and Hinduism how colonialism and capitalism have \"flattened\" diverse traditions into rigid categories, leading to oversimplification and erasure of nuance in both yoga's history and present-day understanding practical advice for teachers and practitioners on recognizing signs of exclusivity, and steps teachers can take toward expanding inclusivity and embracing discomfort an introduction to the work of caste abolitionists Learn More From Anjali: Anjali's website The Love of Yoga Podcast Follow Anjali on Instagram Yoga as Embodied Resistance — Anjali Rao Yoga As Embodied Resistance: Reading Circle Trauma of Caste — Thenmoz…","meta_description":"Is yoga exclusively connected to Hinduism? What is the caste system and why would a western yoga teacher need to understand it? How much of yoga's complex…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2012,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-mentor-sessions-743367/episodes/161-how-the-legacy-of-the-caste-system-shows-up-in-yoga-spaces-with-anjali-rao/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-mentor-sessions-743367/161-how-the-legacy-of-the-caste-system-shows-up-in-yoga-spaces-with-anjali-rao.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}