-PAST EVENT-

December 2 | Los Angeles, CA

Jacoby Ballard at Yoga Shala West

–DONATION BASED–

Wise Words : A Dialogue on Communicating with Compassion for Students and Teachers of Yoga

Our words can create trust and connection–or they can inflict harm and further separation. When we are in yogic spaces, we are more vulnerable and open. Thus, our words can have an even greater impact. Most of us don’t know how to speak skillfully across various forms of difference, or how to truly convey our love for others in our words. We’ll explore how to pause, slow down, and carefully consider the words we use when encountering difference, and how they may reinforce or break down hierarchy and oppression. Using a Buddhist understanding of Right Speech, meditation, nonviolent communication, compassion, and forgiveness, we’ll carefully consider our language and who we ally with or alienate through the words we choose.

Jacoby Ballard, E-RYT 500, is a white working-class queer transperson who has been teaching yoga and organizing for social justice for 15 years. In 2015 Jacoby was designated a “Game Changer” by Seane Corn and Yoga Journal due to his work in queer and trans communities and collaborating across difference. He is the co-founder of Third Root Community Health Center, a worker-owned cooperative holistic health center in Brooklyn that opened in 2008. Jacoby is Faculty with Off the Mat, Into the World and on the Advisory Board of the Yoga Service Council, working within the dynamic interstices of justice and mindfulness. He has received training by Kashi Atlanta, the Lineage Project, Off the Mat, Into the World, Yoga for 12-Step Recovery, Street Yoga, Insight Meditation Society, and the Challenging Male Supremacy Project. Currently, primary inquiries in Jacoby’s healing justice work is around balancing self care and community care. www.jacobyballard.com

DONATION-BASED: This workshop is offered in the spirit of a gift economy where your contribution is not a gate to enter spiritual practice, but is included within spiritual practice. We invite you to make an offering out of your own generosity. All offerings support the ongoing work of Jacoby, YBIC, and YSW. Suggested contribution: $10-20