In this event, Anjali Rao shares from her book, "Yoga As Embodied Resistance" and leads us into an exploration of three very different Bhakti traditions, highlighting stories from different time periods in yoga history. Bhakti as a liberatory praxis calls for a radical, intimate, loving devotionality with the Sacred. Practiced by millions, it revolutionized South Asian cultures, disrupting and re-shaping caste and gender hierarchies.

We also explore how contemporary practitioners can integrate Bhakti in our everyday lives, in our teaching and practice, on and off the mat. There will also be a facilitated Q and A about the book with Raudhah Rahman, so bring your questions, curiosity and open hearts!

Anjali Rao brings an intersectional and decolonial feminist lens to the study of philosophy and religion integrating storytelling, art and poetry. Deeply influenced by her yoga practice and dance training, her work emphasizes an embodied approach and explores how spirituality, power and politics intersect. Her first book, Yoga As Embodied Resistance: A Feminist Lens in Caste, Gender And Sacred Resilience in Yoga History, North Atlantic Books was named as one of the 10 most inspiring, insightful and seriously worthwhile books of 2025 by Yoga Journal and "a scholarly work and a deeply personal journey" by L.A Book Review. She is on the faculty of multiple yoga education programs. She considers herself a first, foremost and forever a student and is currently pursuing a PhD in Philosophy and Religion (Women's Spirituality)in California Institute of Integral Studies.