CBC Gem: Identity of Wellness
In the fall of 2021, I was approached by a producer to speak on a documentary that would be airing on CBC Gem around race and wellness. Nearly a year to that day I sat down for a one-hour taping, the documentary debuted in 2022.
I was in Bali at the time and could not make it to the release party, but I watched it when I came back. This documentary found folks doing great here in Vancouver and gave them a platform to share their wellness journey and purpose in this space.
Identity of Wellness is an exploration into the impact of colonization and capitalization in the wellness industry, and the impact this continues to have on BI&PoC communities and individuals.
Power Imbalance in the Wellness Space
There is not too much to say about my conversation with creator and director Summan (Sue) Kandola, other than the usual: who I am and what I have done to garner some notice. I shared my experience in the yoga and wellness space as a person of colour, and how consumers can educate themselves.
The soundbite they chose to include in the documentary was on how I said that “there really can be no healing when this (wellness space) is a white space dominated by white people and colonial thinking.”
What was left in the cutting room was more on how white supremacy affects us all but like Kimberlee Crenshaw says, not all inequality is created equal. Our experience is different based on who we are, all the identities society chooses/imposes/enforces on us, and the identities that we willingly choose for ourselves. Although we may reject societal identities, we may still be oppressed on a systemic level. An intersectional approach is needed because white supremacy culture is capitalism, is patriarchy, so we can’t talk about systems of oppression (gender, class, race) in silo. And this is the same when looking at the yoga and wellness space.
It is not a safe space, but it can be. And it is, if you know where to look. And if we all collectively decide to create our own spaces and find our people.
What Is Yoga (To You)?
One question that Sue posed to nearly all the interviewees for the yoga section was how we define yoga. I cited Patanjali’s definition in the Yoga Sutras as the cessation of mental modifications. When our mind is calm and we can perceive our true self, that is yoga. And for me? A personal definition? A path of life that is in alignment with my values for spiritual evolution and social change.
CBC Gem’s Identity of Wellness: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/identity-of-wellness-1.6584898