Nikki Costello on the New Yoga Classroom

CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle (Embodied Philosophy)

Nikki Costello is an educator with 30 years of teaching and training experience in the Yoga and Wellness industry. She works at the intersection of social justice and Yoga with a focus on facilitating new models of embodied leadership. Nikki is a Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher (Level 3-CIYT) and a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT). In 2013-2014, she was a contributing editor at Yoga Journal, writing the magazine’s “Basics Column,” and in 2016, Nikki was named one of the 100 Most Influential Teachers in America. She is the featured Iyengar Yoga teacher on GLO. Nikki holds an MA in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation from SOAS, University of London and is a PhD candidate at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Since 2020, she has taught weekly online yoga and meditation classes at Nikki Costello | The Practice. To learn more, visit Nikki's website.

In this episode, we discuss:

1. Sources of exclusion in the yoga classroom.
2. Moving away from the performative aspect of studentship.
3. Courage, safety, and trust in sadhana.
4. Autonomy and choice in a yoga classroom.
5. The virtual classroom as an opportunity instead of a limitation.
6. Pedagogical practices that support or inhibit access, belonging, and diversity.
7. Rethinking how we learn and how we create community within the framework of a yoga class.

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