Get Ready to Stretch: Intercultural Yoga Podcast Launches
What is Intercultural Yoga?
“It’s provocative conversation, designed to stretch us out of our comfort zone,” says Raymond Reyes, Chief Diversity Officer and host of Gonzaga’s latest podcast series. “Our assumption is learning begins where our comfort zone ends,” he says.
Yoga means “union” and is a practice to sustain mental and physical harmony with one’s cultural context. In these conversations, Reyes and colleagues in the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion want to provide an opportunity to breathe into new spaces of knowing, related to the intercultural encounter of “the other.”
“Culture is a way of life that allows us to walk the spiritual path with practical feet,” says Reyes. “In listening to these conversations, we are invited to challenge our assumptions and shift our interpretative lens to inform more innovative strategies on how to dismantle structural racism and other systems of exclusion and oppression.”
The first two episodes feature the poetic and insightful Manuel Gomez (above, right, with Reyes), who provided interim leadership in Student Affairs during the 2019-20 academic year. Coming next are informal discussions with a variety of people exploring their biases, privilege and personal growth.