A Queer Dharma with Jacoby Ballard

03/01/22 • 51 min

CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle (Embodied Philosophy)

Jacoby Ballard is a social justice educator and yoga teacher who leads workshops and trainings around the country on diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a yoga teacher with 20 years of experience, he leads workshops, retreats, teacher trainings, teaches at conferences, and runs the Resonance mentorship program for certified yoga teachers to find their niche and calling. In 2008, Jacoby co-founded Third Root Community Health Center in Brooklyn, to work at the nexus of healing and social justice. Since 2006, Jacoby has taught Queer and Trans Yoga, a space for queer folks to unfurl and cultivate resilience, and received Yoga Journal's Game Changer Award in 2014 and Good Karma Award in 2016. Jacoby has taught in schools, hospitals, non-profit and business offices, a maximum-security prison, a recovery center, a cancer center, LGBT centers, gyms, a veteran’s center, and yoga studios. Jacoby's book A Queer Dharma: Yoga and Meditations for Liberation offers a distinctly queer lens on yoga and meditation. He lives with his partner, child, and innumerable plant friends on unceded Goshute, Ute, Paiute, and Shoshone land, now known as Salt Lake City, Utah. More at jacobyballard.net. In this episode, we discuss:

What “queer dharma” means.
Working at the intersection of anti-oppression work and dharma practice.
Skillful attempts at social justice work that include healing and inner work.
The role of anger in anti-oppression and social justice work.
Differentiating apology versus forgiveness.
Discovering common ground by sitting in silence together.
What some of the unique needs are for queer and trans people in yoga spaces.

Liberatory models of yoga discussed in the episode:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What “queer dharma” means.
Working at the intersection of anti-oppression work and dharma practice.
Skillful attempts at social justice work that include healing and inner work.
The role of anger in anti-oppression and social justice work.
Differentiating apology versus forgiveness.
Discovering common ground by sitting in silence together.
What some of the unique needs are for queer and trans people in yoga spaces.

Liberatory models of yoga discussed in the episode:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Previous Episode

Intellectual Bhakti (Tarka Journal Podcast Ep.1) with Stephanie Corigliano & Jacob Kyle

This episode of the Chitheads podcast is actually the first episode of a new podcast we’re releasing as a part of the new Embodied Podcasts Network – the Tarka Journal Podcast. So as some of you know, embodied philosophy publishes a quarterly journal called Tarka in print and digital, and Stephanie, the Editor in Chief of Tarka and I wanted a space where we could have conversations about the the topics we’re exploring in the journal. In this episode we talk about the inspiration behind Tarka and how it got started and where it's going. And if you decide to subscribe to the Tarka Journal Podcast, which you can do now, then in future episodes we’ll be joined by colleagues, fellow faculty of Embodied Philosophy and we’ll discuss the ideas in particular articles from Tarka. We’ll also explore some of the current debates, issues and perspectives in the fields of contemplative studies, dharma studies, as they relate to the experience of the scholar-practitioner. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next Episode

Matthew Fox on Creation Spirituality (Radical Theology Series)

In 1993, Theologian and activist Matthew Fox, Ph.D., was expelled from the Dominican Order of the Catholic church after 34 years, by Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI). His mistake was reviving Creation Spirituality, which decries original sin (the doctrine that we’re all born sinners) in favor of Everyone Born is a Blessing (seeing all creation as divine). Creation Spirituality blends teachings from the Christian mystics with science, the arts, social justice, environmentalism, and ideas from other spiritual traditions worldwide (including those of indigenous cultures). Wasting no time, Fox became an Episcopal priest the year following his ouster. His upcoming book, Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality will be released on March 23, 2022. In this episode, we discuss: