Embodied Resistance

One of the most effective tools of oppression has always been convincing people they are small, disposable, or powerless. When that belief takes hold in the mind, the body tightens around it and freedom narrows. So part of the work right now is the seemingly simple yet radical act of remembering that you are somebody.

You are a human being with dignity and honor. Your life has value.

Embodied resistance doesn’t require a costume or a performance. It doesn’t have to look loud or dramatic. Often, it looks like continuing to exist with intention. Tending to your body, choosing care over collapse, and refusing to disappear without apology.

This kind of work is tiring. Having to repeatedly affirm your own humanity will wear anyone down. That’s why community matters so much. Why practices that reconnect us to our bodies, and to one another, are not luxuries, but necessities. We need shared spaces where we don’t have to prove our worth, only remember it.

Yoga is not about pretending things are fine. It’s about staying rooted when things are not. When we move mindfully, breathe with awareness, and feel ourselves occupying space, we are practicing steadiness, clarity, and sovereignty at the level of the nervous system. 

Embodied resistance is ongoing, collective, and strategic. Sometimes it’s fierce. Sometimes it’s quiet and deeply steady. It’s not about pushing past limits or bypassing pain. It’s about meeting this moment with dignity.

If nothing else, let this be a reminder: Your presence matters. You matter.

The way you are here, in this moment of history, is not insignificant. The question is not what happens to me if I stop to help, but what happens to others if I do not.

You don’t have to do everything. But you are responsible for something.

And you don’t have to do it alone.

(Inspired by Yoga as Embodied Resistance by Anjali Rao)