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This special and unique training deigned by Eve White and Katie Rose opens up two areas for investigation:

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1) The Australian yoga teacher’s relationship to ‘Country’ and how we may all be more respectful of Indigenous Australia’s roots in our classes and offerings.
2) The ongoing conversation about cultural appropriation in yoga in regard to Indian culture and yoga’s ‘roots’ in Eastern tradition.

 

Our intention in offering this training is to:

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1) Give you tools as a teacher to share in a more culturally sensitive way and educate others so the ripple effect of change can be felt.
2) Help you dig into your own prejudice, trauma and ancestry to teach from more embodiment and authenticity regardless of your cultural heritage.
3) Create safe spaces for collective healing both during the training and as a legacy of it.

 

‘Cultivate empathy, cultivate respect. When you step outside of your own world view to enter into communion with otherness, you experience the world as your sisters and brothers from other cultures experience it. Acts of imaginative empathy cannot make up for centuries of colonisation and oppression, but it’s a place to begin. You don’t have to crawl on the broken glass of guilt and shame to redeem yourself of unearned systematic privilege.’ Hiro Boga (business mentor)

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THIS TRAINING WILL INCLUDE:

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• Practice based on Eve’s ‘Connection to Country Yoga Flow’
• Discussion and conversation
• Journaling and self-reflection
• Unravelling embodied colonialism, privilege and trauma in ourselves and learning tools to support this process in our students.
• Unpacking yamas and niyamas of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra as they relate to Australian colonialism.
• ‘Spiritual Activism’ as a framework for change.
• Guest teachers and audio / visual materials from other guides and teachers as appropriate and helpful.

 

REQUISITE BOOKS:

Please purchase these books and read them prior to the training:
• ‘My Grandmother’s Hands’ Resmaa Menakem
• ‘Sand Talk’ Tyson Tunkaporta

 

A further list of podcasts to listen to and optional other books to read will be provided before we start. 

 

WHAT IS 'CONNECTION TO COUNTRY' VINYASA FLOW?

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A unique class interweaving vinyasa yoga flow with Aboriginal culture, connecting with these powerful and ancient philosophies. When people talk about country it is spoken of like a person: we speak to country, we sing to country, we worry about country, and we long for country.

‘Land is of great significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - but the connection we feel to country can be a difficult concept for non-Indigenous people to grasp. The living environment goes beyond physical elements and is fundamental to our identity. For First Australians, “country” encompasses an interdependent relationship between an individual and their ancestral lands and seas. This reciprocal relationship between the land and people is sustained by the environment and cultural knowledge. The land is the mother and we are of the land; we do not own the land rather the land owns us. The land is our food, our culture, our spirit and our identity.’ Dennis Foley, a Gai-mariagal and Wiradjuri man, and Fulbright scholar.

We do hope you will join us for this important training, EVERYONE is welcome. Just as EVERYONE is welcome in the yoga practice. Come with your questions and your confusions and your overwhelm and your hurt. Come with your fear that you will cause offence or harm. Come with all the gaps in your knowledge and trust. Together we will have conversation, hold sacred space and take baby steps towards healing. Your feedback and thoughts on this offering are welcome. Especially if you are a BIPOC person. We are still learning and we welcome your views.

‘I don’t operate in any set lineage or religion, instead I believe that the path to the divine runs through each of us, and that we should never have to hand our power over to someone else in order to connect with our own spirit. I show my students how to stand in their power and speak their truth. As a teacher I am dedicated to the ongoing and complicated work of being anti-racist.’ Kirileigh Lynch (yoga teacher)

 

ABOUT YOUR TEACHERS:

 

EVE WHITE

Eve is a proud Wirridjuri woman, Yoga Instructor, Professional Dancer, Indigenous Cultural Educator, MermaidFit creator, storyteller and mother of three. Her heart lies through the creative expression within the physical form, with healing and energising to bring the body into ultimate health.

In Eve's 20 year career as a creative mover, she has choreographed, directed and produced her own personal and collective performances. These have included dancing her way around the world within unique cultural shows, appearing alongside Robbie Williams in London and competing in the finals of ABC's Strictly Dancing performing all dance styles with a partner.

After studying the ancient forms of yoga and chi-gong, Eve was reconnected to her ancestral Aboriginal Roots she has been delivering programs as a Senior Educator for Wandana Events and Education certified by NESA the NSW Education Standard Authority.

Combining all of these beautiful practices, Eve created Connection to Country interweaving a unique sensory journey to connect participants with the self, connecting people from all walks of life to these beautiful ancient cultures to bring about healing and mindfulness.

Eve's classes are energetic and timely, themed with the universal energy connecting to earth acknowledging the traditional custodians of this beautiful land.

 

KATIE ROSE

Katie Rose is an inspirational mentor and teacher, making ancient yogic and ayurvedic wisdom accessible for busy modern-day times. Her solid grounding in mindfulness and spirituality, along with her authentic ‘say it as it is’ approach, leadership and community building strengths has earnt her an enthusiastic following amongst yogis in Australia.

As a published author, advanced level Jivamukti Yoga and Kundalini Yoga teacher, ayurveda consultant and doula, women’s health and wellbeing are Katie’s specialty. She holds the highest possible accreditations with both Yoga Alliance and Yoga Australia and over 20 years, has trained hundreds of yoga teachers. In 2007 Katie co-founded Jivamukti Yoga Sydney which at its peak was a four location Sydney based business and is a community that continues to thrive today.

Katie’s most recent book (released by Rockpool Publishing in Australia, USA and UK), ‘Mindful Living’, was published in 2019 and the journal and inspiration cards to follow on its success will be available soon. Current projects for Katie include writing (she is working on a new book in 2021), an ayurvedic tea business Bhakti Blends and the development of a substantial online offering including her signature trainings ‘Ayurveda Goddess’ and ‘Yoga of Birth’.

Katie is the mother of four boys and lives in Sydney’s Inner West.