Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$9.99

Available instantly

Paperback
$21.96

$21.96 with 12 percent savings

List Price: $24.99

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 9. Order within 16 hrs 2 mins

Select delivery location

In Stock

$$21.96 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

$19.76

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 9. Order within 16 hrs 2 mins

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$21.96 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by Kino Connection and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (33) from $14.58 + $3.99 shipping

Follow the author

Susanna Barkataki

+ Follow

More books from this author

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Embrace Yoga's Roots: Courageous Ways to Deepen Your Yoga Practice Paperback – October 27, 2020

by Susanna Barkataki (Author), Sonali Fiske (Foreword)

4.7 528 ratings

See all formats and editions

Great on Kindle

Great Experience. Great Value.

Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.

View Kindle Edition

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$21.96","priceAmount":21.96,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"21","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"96","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"CB6po4q1Ccpbk9p%2FHEXA08kVQyrDh2djkaA81pUI2C4I2zaTZBlz2YV5vt1Sa9JMR7dBQvv8B1sFDKJIqyCdW6A2eY%2BXyR73eouLE5P2JxR5imC41Qf55z31WqWqf0dwci9vQsK5IRt7%2Fw8g9wmtWw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$19.76","priceAmount":19.76,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"19","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"76","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"CB6po4q1Ccpbk9p%2FHEXA08kVQyrDh2djTdoNjJJAvn7Z%2FHBGugMB0PVoBCYSGbFopRoLAMCfIuyMWhO36Hq1qsWnqKLwbcjlzJmylNkas5G7YZ8M1R4%2Bmo14Nn2M%2F8lciQMbj6KPZqh8KZwrXMQL8ot8iaNJ0Fr4dufF2KOxT5M7t%2F8Jtzsd1w%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Do you want to be on the cutting edge of the future of yoga?

If you desire an authentic yoga practice embracing ancient yogic philosophy and traditions but don’t know how to embody that knowledge with integrity in today’s modern yoga culture, Embrace Yoga’s Roots is your guide to honor and not appropriate yoga.

"When we mistake yoga for a workout routine, reduce it to physical fitness or even do some of the deeper aspects of yoga without an eye to the whole system of liberation it offers, we rob ourselves and each other of the potential of this practice," says Susanna Barkataki.

Embrace Yoga's Roots explores the past's yogic traditions, brings them alive today, and preserves them for the future by examining what separates us, reflecting on our part, taking action for equity and moving toward liberation together. If you practice, teach or want to learn yoga integrating your ethics and values while respecting ancient yoga philosophy, you have found the essential guide to making that goal a reality.

"I can't think of anyone more suited to lead the way to embrace yoga's roots than Susanna. This book should be required reading in yoga teacher trainings across the world." ~ Rachel Brathen – author of the New York Times Bestseller Yoga Girl

The Embrace Yoga Roots Framework revealed in this book shares four keys steps to deepen your yoga practice, increase empathy and create unity both personally and with the world.

Separation: Learning how colonization, cultural appropriation, and oppression results in trauma for yogis and separation from yoga traditions.
Reflection: Understanding the causes of separation and our roles, either supporting separation (knowingly or not) versus creating unity and equity in yoga.
Reconnection: Exploring specific and concrete skills and solutions for living and practicing yoga as unity, inspiring global transformation.
Liberation: Integrating a more honorable and ethical practice in your life supporting personal growth by following the ancient teachings.

Barkataki shares tools, resources and gentle guidance demonstrating how you can embody a complete yoga practice that includes and extends beyond the physical, the mindful and the sacred to something equitable, inclusive and accessible for everyone on all levels of their being. This book is more than a textbook on yoga's history but a practical guide offering reflective questions for the personal exploration of challenging topics leading to personal and social transformation. Embrace Yoga's Roots shows you how to take this awakened understanding and vital message into your local yoga community, helping to connect you with the yoga community worldwide.

Lead the global movement now by honoring and embracing ancient philosophies, practices and lifestyles supporting a unified yogic state.

Frequently bought together

Embrace Yoga's Roots: Courageous Ways to Deepen Your Yoga Practice

$21.96

Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice

$12.96

Get it as soon as Monday, May 13

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

$13.12

Get it as soon as Monday, May 13

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Choose items to buy together.

Sri Swami Satchidananda
4,922
Paperback
109 offers from $3.99
Dianne Bondy
883
Paperback
60 offers from $6.25
Deborah Adele
3,908
Paperback
109 offers from $3.99
Leslie Kaminoff
500
Paperback
64 offers from $15.33
B. K. S. Iyengar
2,952
Paperback
195 offers from $1.67
Jivana Heyman
284
Paperback
30 offers from $11.56

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Embrace Yoga's Roots is a crucial addition to every yoga practitioner's bookshelf." ~ Jessamyn Stanley, Author of Every Body Yoga, Founder of The Underbelly Yoga

"For those who long to practice or teach yoga from a place of awareness and intention, this book offers a set of much deeper and necessary tools. A must have for any teacher or practitioner of yoga wishing to honor its lineage." ~ Kathryn Budig, Founder Aim True

"Everyone must read Embrace Yoga's Roots! With history, research, practices and tools, Susanna Barkataki has given us a practical guidebook to help deepen our understanding of yoga's rich history so as to preserve the integrity of its future growth. I highly recommend this book." ~ Seane Corn, Co-founder, Off The Mat, Into The World, and Author of Revolution of the Soul

"Susanna Barkataki elevates our understanding of yoga. It is beyond time to wake up and shift the paradigm that is pervading yoga today and honor the teachings with integrity, taking responsibility for how we practice and teach." ~ Tracee Stanley, Author, Yoga Nidra and Meditation teacher.

"Susanna Barkataki provides a much needed framework...
Each chapter ends with reflection points that function like a workbook to guide the reader through the necessary introspection it takes to deconstruct the harmful colonial paradigm. I absolutely recommend this book to all sincere students and teachers as a necessary step on the path of awakening." ~ Kino MacGregor, Bestselling author of The Yogi Assignment

"Susanna Barkataki's new book Embrace Yoga's Roots should become a curricular text in all yoga teacher training programs. We have an opportunity to change the tide and Susanna Barataki is uniquely qualified to act as our guide." ~ Donna Farhi, Bestselling author of Yoga, Mind, Body and Spirit: A Return to Wholeness

"Susanna Barkataki's words are vital medicine for yoga today...
Her sincerity and intentionality invite us to choose connection over separation, honor the roots of the practice and bring it to life.
Study, absorb and share this with your community--watch the lines of communication open and expand." ~ Elena Brower, New York Times bestselling author of Practice You and Art of Attention

"As a Black woman Yoga Teacher I find the work of Susanna Barkataki's book essential to understand how we share yoga with the world.
Susanna chooses empathy and connection. Required reading for anyone who teaches yoga, works as a healer or is interested in equity and equality on the mat." ~ Dianne Bondy, Bestselling author of Yoga for Everyone

"Susanna's book is a game-changer...
If you want to disrupt the way you understand and participate in yoga (and yoga "industry" in the West), you must read this book (especially, if you, like me, are a white yoga teacher working in an American wellness industry that often completely leaves out south Asian voices).
This is essential reading for any teacher or practitioner who is in inquiry with their responsibility to honor the roots of this culture and practice." ~ Amber Karnes, Founder, Body Positive Yoga

"Embracing the roots of the yoga practice and making sure we are inclusive of all is our responsibility as yoga teachers, and I can't think of anyone more suited to lead the way than Susanna. Her wisdom and grace shines so brightly through these pages! This book should be required reading in yoga teacher trainings across the world." ~ Rachel Brathen, New York Times bestselling author of Yoga Girl

From the Author

Dear Reader,
Welcome! I am so glad you are here. Writing this book has really been a practice of yoga in itself! My wish is that the yoga will leap off the page, support and transform you as well. I wrote this book to take you on a journey of inner and outer inquiry, power, peace, justice and ultimately liberation.

From the seeds of this work, which took shape under the hot orange sun, baked in the ochre dirt, and seeded by the Bodhi tree, while I was living in Bihar, India teaching at a village school. Sitting at the feet of my teacher listening to the Bhagavad Gita and contemplating Arjuna's struggles and duties and Krishna's sage advice, I began applying this wisdom in deep practice, inquiry, personal exploration that shaped both me and the idea this book was to become.

I saw yogic wisdom transform for the better the Bihari village I was living and teaching in. I felt yogic wisdom transform me. Through my years as a teacher and activist in the USA addressing issues of systemic racism to spiritual practice of growth and learning, in many ways it's truly felt like the yoga has "done" its work and this book has written me!

A full, expanded yoga practice has within it the seeds to transform each of us and the world. My hope is that the yoga you explore here will ignite your personal inquiry, empowerment and commitment to a deeper, more ethical and just world.

Like a pilgrimage to a sacred site, this book may challenge you but reading it will create an indelible impact that, once experienced, can never be taken away from you, and which will change you forever.

It will take you on a journey and path of practice that may be surprising, challenging, inspiring, reassuring and growth producing. It will be anything but dull and tiresome.

I wrote it to provide a clear pathway to yoga as a full path and practice of liberation, to counteract the watering down, oversimplification and corruption of what yoga in the West has become.

There is so much richness, depth and potential to a full expanse of yoga practice. It would be a tragedy and loss to humankind for this powerful tradition to be watered down to the point that its essence as a path of liberation is no longer accessible. We take time to grieve the loss, but also to reflect on how far we've come, to look deeply into ourselves, as yoga invites us to do, and to reconnect and get inspired with action! The yogic path has brought so many so much joy, peace and freedom.

My hope is that this book creates inspiration and liberation for you. And that you pass that along - and share this rich gift, of the true self that yoga offers, with many others.

The path is here. Now all we have to do is take the next step. Susanna

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ignite Yoga & Wellness Institute (October 27, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 290 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1734318112
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1734318111
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.12 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 0.73 x 10 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #88,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #11 in History of Hinduism
- #20 in Indian Eastern Philosophy
- #161 in Yoga (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.7 528 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Susanna Barkataki

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Susanna Barkataki is a yoga diversity and unity educator and the founder of Ignite Yoga and Wellness Institute. Her identity as a refugee to the U.S. fleeing violence as a mixed Indian and British Desi, fuels her passion for bridging cultural connections with yoga.

She believes in a world where yoga and mindfulness support us in dissolving the illusion of separation to create unity and interconnection.

This is unity that doesn’t erase difference, but invites connection with the broken or shameful parts of ourselves, with those we think of as other, and harmonizes relationships with culture, land, earth and all life.

Her work explores how we can decolonize, reclaim and honor our yoga practice for healing personally and socially.

She has an Honors degree in Philosophy from UC Berkeley, a Masters in Education from Cambridge College, is an E-RYT 500 hour Master Teacher, a 500-Hour Certified Ayurvedic practitioner and a Certified Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists (C-IAYT). A clear, though-provoking and inspiring speaker, known for making yogic wisdom easy to apply in everyday life, she consults on yoga culture, history, yoga leadership, social justice and cultural change, curriculum, scope of practice, diversity and Inclusion with colleges, schools, businesses and non-profit organizations.

She created the ground-breaking Honor {Don’t Appropriate} Yoga Summit with more than 12,000 participants. She is the Creator of Honor Yoga’s Roots online course, is a diversity, accessibility, inclusivity, and equity (DAIE) yoga unity educator and runs 200 and 500 Hour Yoga Teacher Training programs in person and online.

She puts yoga into action as she consults, speaks, teaches and runs trainings. She is honored to call Shankarji, Thich Nhat Hanh, Satish Kumar, Vandana Shiva and her own family her root teachers along with other masters who she studied with in India and the United States in the Hatha Yoga tradition. Learn more at susannabarkataki.com and ignitebewell.com

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

528 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Gabi E.

Hugely Important Transformational Read

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2020

Verified Purchase

To say this book has transformed my relationship with the practice of, and teaching of yoga is an understatement, this book has transformed my life.

Western yoga, and I say this as a white, western yoga teacher, has been diluted in many ways. I read this book looking for answers for ways to honor, embrace, and truly value yoga’s roots, while recognizing that I have built my career around a practice from a culture that is not my own. Susanna has a beautiful way of raising topics with open ended questions that challenged me to use the tools and frameworks she’s provided to find answers within myself with her thoughtful and loving guidance. That is what I feel the magic of this book is. It guides the reader to delve deep into themself which is a yogic practice. While different readers will get the same tools and think about the same topics, every person who opens this book and sincerely reads it will form a unique and iterative relationship with the material. Every reader will get different answers and different paths forward in teaching or practicing of yoga.

This book is inspiring and visionary, but it’s presented in a way it makes it fun to unpack and think about. Susanna seeks to decolonize the practice of yoga with this work, but I feel like the process of reading it has also decolonized my thought patterns and assumptions. While the book does not run away from serious topics, I was left feeling imaginative and creative; inspired and lit up with ideas to move towards liberation and unity. I recommend reading this book with a notebook next to you because Susanna’s reflection questions have inspired so much in me as I read.

After reading this book I feel confident practicing and teaching yoga in a way that truly embraces the social justice roots of this practice, but possibly more important, I feel confident holding space for, and holding accountable other western yoga students and instructors engaging in this work of re-imagining and re-rooting into yoga in a way that truly honors the history, philosophy, and culture. This book makes the work of allyship inspired and exciting.

This book is one that will live on my bedside and one that I will return to often.
If you are looking to deep in your relationship with yoga, this book is a must!

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Michelle H El Khoury, PhD

Self reflect on your yoga roots

Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2021

Verified Purchase

As a woman, an immigrant, and as a person of color, it only took the first few pages of “Embrace Yoga’s Roots” (the real copy, not the fake ones out there!) to realize that there is so much more that we can do. The expression ‘actions speak louder than words’ really rings true as you read through this book and reflect on all that we think we know (I had my Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras book alongside me the whole time!). One particular area that had me thinking is one of the definitions we know yoga to be – union with the self. But there is so much more, the word union means to combine, alliance, partnership. So by default the word union is also the opposite of separation, divisiveness, segregation. It should be easy for us to understand this but yet it is not. Susanna breaks it down nicely and I had a true “aha” moment when I answered the reflection questions after I read “From Separation to Liberation”. There are so many areas in this book that are eye-opening but most importantly, easy fixes that we as ‘yogis’ and yoga teachers can implement or course correct right away to ensure that we really stay true to yoga’s roots. A great read and one to reflect on daily as we continue our journey as students of yoga.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

SBS

Thoughtful and enlightening approach to yoga for contemporary practitioners

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book will prod the reader into examining their preconceived notions of how yoga is taught, what it means to the 21st century practitioner, and how to increase mindfulness when moving forward with teaching and presenting yoga-related events.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Rebecca

Must read

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2024

Verified Purchase

For everyone teaching and practicing yoga

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Roar Ramesh Bjonnes

Great book, but.....

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2021

Verified Purchase

I think this is a very important and timely book for three reasons: 1. It clearly explains why and how yoga is more than a physical fitness practice. 2. It also clearly explains how and why yoga in the West still remains a culture of mostly privileged white women and some men, and 3. why it is important that yoga in the West becomes more inclusive of people of color, various body sizes, etc. In these respects, the book does a great job. In addition, the book does a great job at explaining yoga's historical and philosophical roots in India. However, as it is important to talk about white supremacy in the West and how the same exploited India via British imperialism, there is one big elephant in the living room not at all mentioned in this book: the caste system and how it has enslaved women and exploited and marginalized people of lower castes This system has been endemic to Indian culture for thousands of years, and it is still endemic in the culture of yoga. A chapter on this taboo and complex subject would have been much welcome. Not bringing this issue out of the closet is one reason why India today, often in the name of Hindusim and yoga has become a fundamentalist state and is lashing out against people of lower castes, Muslims, and, yes, even farmers. How can we liberate yoga in the West and create yogic union (which is the author's laudable goal) when yoga in its original place, where it all began, is still endemic to the culture. In the Tantric yoga culture of India, however, do we find examples of yogis rejecting the caste system. It is time this topic becomes part of this important discourse and movement toward a "unified yogic culture."

44 people found this helpful

Helpful

Allyson N Higgins

Buy this Book! Essential for any Yoga Practioner

Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2020

Verified Purchase

This book must become essential reading for anyone that steps on a yoga mat! Susanna Barkataki has done hard emotional labor on this book and we should be grateful for her work. She clearly explains the very real issue of cultural appropriation in western yoga as well as the harm it causes. She also provides clear and achievable steps that we can take to understand what the practice of yoga is at it's most foundational as well as ways to embody the roots of the practice and live a more harmonious life. We can take her teachings and apply them to our modern world in a way that will bring us closer to unity. After reading this book, I can clearly see the missteps I've taken in my personal and professional yoga practice plus I now have a checklist of how I can work to make myself and my community appreciate, and not appropriate, the Yoga.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Kyla

Everyone should read

Reviewed in Canada on August 12, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book goes deep into trauma and how they affect. How the yoga industry is white washed- how to be a better ally in the studio. It helps you blur out what white folks have tried to make yoga and enforces what yoga IS!! As someone who was recommended this book through a trauma informed yoga program- I am so happy this was expected to read!! Everyone should read it.

anna scire

Important reading for a yoga practitioner, teacher, lover

Reviewed in Germany on September 17, 2022

Verified Purchase

For people who are interested in yoga, it's time for becoming aware of what yoga really is about. For too many years, the western world has carried out a cultural appropriation of the principles of yoga and many oriental traditions. It’s time to go from "appropriation" to "appreciation" and to approach the study of these disciplines with the depth they deserve.

Martina

Un libro che fa riflettere sullo yoga in occidente

Reviewed in Italy on April 12, 2021

Verified Purchase

Bellissimo libro che approfondisce argomenti scomodi che generalmente non si trattano, soprattutto nei teacher training. Capire dove si sbaglia, come insegnante e praticante, per cercare di migliorare. Consigliatissimo!

One person found this helpful

Translate review to English

Bernadette

A must read!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

So many tab markers! This book is soul inspiring, knowledgeable, and also challenges us to look into ourselves and reflect upon how we have been engaging in western yoga culture either positively or negatively.

It is time to start recognizing where white colonial oppression and erasure has caused harm, especially to the original practitioners and teachers of yoga (Indian, South Asian, and BIPOC).

Thank you Susanna for writing this book and truly calling in each reader to do better.

Tara D'cruz-Noble

Elegantly written and a most important read

Reviewed in Australia on November 8, 2020

Verified Purchase

This book comes at a time when many patterns are embedded in the landscape of yoga. Some of those patterns are are like wounds that have scarred the landscape. By reading this book, we can contribute to interrupting those patterns and re-route our collective thinking about yoga. Barkataki writes elegantly and informatively unearthing ingrained beliefs about yoga. Parts of the book are like a workbook and the reader is asked to respond in practical ways to the questions. In this way, the learnings are tangible and stay with you. This is an important piece of writing that should be required reading within teacher trainings so the next generation of teachers embrace the depth of yoga's roots.

See more reviews

Return this item for free

Return this item for free

Follow the author

Image Unavailable