Meet: Tejal Patel (she/her/hers)
Founder of: Tejal Yoga
Tell us about your business:
My lived experiences compel me to innovate yoga spaces, moving all people towards valuing and seeking out authentic yoga teachings by South Asian leaders. I started the Tejal Yoga community space to encourage students to be principled in yoga and step outside movement-based practices to experience the fullness, richness, and depth of the yoga teachings.
At Tejal Yoga, we cultivate a space that values shared leadership, decolonizing wellness, is people focused, and justice driven. We gather in South Asian - led community spaces to support students feeling energized and equipped for social justice actions.
We encourage all interested students to join class and offer tiered pricing options as well as scholarship options inviting those experiencing economic hardship or race and ethnic-based stress and trauma into practice with specialized offers.
I co-host the Yoga Is Dead podcast which launched in June 2019. We explore the inequities in yoga, educating listeners on the history of yoga, discussing the intersection of yoga and social justice, and how yoga can be practiced with respect. We also lead a signature training called Act against Appropriation, a workshop exploring the impacts of cultural appropriation, including the interconnectedness of race, power, personal attachments, and the roots of yoga, culminating in self-study opportunities for attendees. We are currently working on Season 2 of the podcast, and offering our workshop at digital conferences.
In 2018, I created abcdyogi, an online and in-person interactive community-building platform amplifying South Asian voices in wellness and yoga, to expand practices and programs in an authentic cultural context. “abcd” stands for Any Born Conscientious Desi Yogi, and has a growing international community on Instagram, where members take the helm weekly to share their lives and more.
Does your culture influence your choices and decisions? If yes, how?
My culture is the foundation of my work and the reason for evolution. Our South Asian history is the reason for the rich and diverse practices of yoga. My aim is to continue to uplift the teachers honoring yoga as a spiritual practice and to continue educating on the nuanced and layered history of social justice within India and throughout the diaspora.
In moments of self-doubt or adversity, how do you build your resolve?
During moments of self-doubt or adversity, I come back to my values that have guided me in the work I do. I remind myself to breathe, call on my guides, and take time to meditate. These are practices that have helped me to remember that change doesn't happen overnight and that it's more important how many times we get back up than how many times we fall.
How do you balance your workload? What does self-care look like for you?
This is a beautiful and ever-evolving process. My needs for rest and care change with the seasons and it's something I've learned to lean into quite a bit after the upheaval of the past year and a half. I try to connect with nature either by being out in the sun or cuddled up indoors appreciating the cold. I've learned to enjoy naps no matter the day or time and to keep hours unscheduled for creativity and visioning.
Discover more:
www.tejalyoga.com
@tejalyoga
Tejal Patel - Tejal Yoga
