episode 128: choosing your mission over popularity with Susanna Barkataki
Susanna Barkataki is the founder of Ignite Yoga and Wellness Institute and runs Ignite Be Well 200/500 Yoga Training programs. She is a Certified Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists (C-IAYT). And she is the author of the forthcoming book Honor Yoga’s Roots: Courageous Ways to Deepen Your Yoga Practice.
With an Honors degree in Philosophy from UC Berkeley and a Masters in Education from Cambridge College, Susanna is a diversity, accessibility, inclusivity, and equity (DAIE) yoga unity educator who created the ground-breaking Honor {Don’t Appropriate} Yoga Summit with more than 10,000 participants.
Susanna is someone I discovered this year and I am so happy I did. Because while you wouldn’t know it from her soothing voice, this woman is a total powerhouse and has built her platform with so much integrity and intention.
We chat about:
- Her career path from publishing to teaching to creating her trailblazing yoga platform, and how tuning into what excited her most was always the key to finding her next right step
- How her yoga practice was helped her overcome shyness and deep anxiety, and let go of her fear of being seen
- What inspired her to deepen her knowledge of yoga and Ayurveda, and why she went to India to get her training vs. receiving it in the United States
- The many moments she found herself being passed over for opportunities in the yoga industry and how she couldn’t help noticing that the platforms of white practitioners were being elevated much more
- Her big break moment in creating the first-ever summit about cultural appropriation as it relates to yoga and how she was able to get so many people registered with her very small audience
- Why she never compromised her integrity or vision for her business even though her approach was not popular and took years to gain traction
- And so much more!
Resources:
- Susanna’s Website
- The Ignite Yoga & Wellness Institute
- Susanna’s Book, Honor Yoga’s Roots
- Susanna’s Instagram
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