Seane Corn Interviews Yoga Community + Social Justice Leaders

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This yearlong series of interviews conducted by guest editor Seane Corn, founder of the yoga service organization Off the Mat, Into the World, features different leaders in yoga service and social-justice work. Everyone profiled here will join Corn in teaching a workshop on yoga for social change at Yoga Journal LIVE! in Estes Park, Colorado, September 27-30. 

Finding Passion on the Mat

Kerri Kelly

A former corporate executive turned yoga teacher, community organizer, and political disrupter shares her method for finding and activating your unique passion on the yoga mat and beyond.

Read the full interview Kerri Kelly: Finding Passion on the Mat

Creating Sustainable Social Change

Marianne Manilov, Community Organizer

Community organizer Marianne Manilov, a co-founder of The Engage Network, breaks down the practice of creating sustainable social change.

Read the full interview Marianne Manilov: Creating Sustainable Social Change

Yoga for Human Rights Advocates

Marianne Elliott

A onetime lawyer shares how yoga can help sustain human rights advocates and workers.

Read the full interview Marianne Elliott: Yoga for Human Rights Advocates

Self-Love + Embracing Your Inner Beauty

Melody Moore

A clinical psychologist shares how yoga can help people embrace their emotions and embody self-love.

Read the full interview Melody Moore: Self-Love + Embracing Your Inner Beauty

Part 2: Healing Yoga, Eating Disorders & Self-Acceptance

Extended Interview with Melody Moore

Learn more about the personal journey and vision of Melody Moore, PhD, RYT, who founded the Embody Love Movement in 2012 to use yoga as a transformational tool for embracing inner beauty.

Read the full interview Melody Moore: Healing Yoga, Eating Disorders & Self-Acceptance

Yoga for the Wellness of Children

Holistic Life Foundation Founders

A trio grows a yoga foundation for inner-city youths to help them get in touch with who they really are and build empathy and compassion for others.

Read the full interview Holistic Life Foundation Founders: Yoga for the Wellness of Children

Part 2: On the Holistic Life Foundation

Extended Interview with Andres Gonzalez + Brothers Ali Shah Rasool and Atman Ananda Smith

Here, learn more about the personal journey of Andres Gonzalez and the brothers Ali Shah Rasool and Atman Ananda Smith, founders of the Holistic Life Foundation.

Read the full interview Founders of the Holistic Life Foundation Tell Their Yoga Story

Personal Transformation + Healing Yoga

Jacoby Ballard, yoga and Buddhism teacher

Find ways to transform personal struggles into an opportunity for healing others.

Read the full interview Jacoby Ballard: Personal Transformation + Healing Yoga

Part 2: Building a Welcoming Yoga Community

Extended Interview with Jacoby Ballard

Learn more about the personal journey of Jacoby Ballard and the tools and practices he uses to do social justice work and to support and welcome marginalized groups into the yoga community.

Read the full interview Jacoby Ballard: Building a Welcoming Yoga Community

Building Awareness of Inequality + How to Take Action

Tessa Hicks Peterson, Social Justice Educator

A social-justice educator shares tips on how to move from raising your consciousness about inequalities and biases to taking actions that improve the world.

Read the full interview Tessa Hicks Peterson: Social Justice, Yoga + Awareness of Inequalities

Part 2: Social Justice + Awareness of Inequality

Extended Interview with Tessa Hicks Peterson

Learn more about Tessa Hicks Peterson’s perspective on the connection between yoga and social justice.

Read the full interview Part 2: Tessa Hicks Peterson, PhD on Social Justice + Awareness of Inequality

Teaching Trauma-Informed Yoga + Self Healing

Hala Khouri, Yoga Service Leader

Yoga teacher and somatic counselor Hala Khouri explains why, if you want to heal the world, you have start by healing yourself.

Read the full interview Seane Corn Interviews Yoga Service Leader Hala Khouri

Trauma-Informed Yoga: Part 2

Extended Interview with Hala Khouri

This is an extension of the interview that first appeared in the January/February 2015 issue of Yoga Journal. Here, go deeper and learn more about Hala’s journey to a career in somatic therapy and trauma-informed yoga.

Read the full interview Hala Khouri’s Trauma-Informed Yoga Teaching Path

About Seane Corn

Seane Corn is an internationally renowned vinyasa yoga teacher and Yoga Journal Events presenter.

Outside of the retreats and classes she teaches, works with her Off the Mat, Into the World program, which has brought yoga to political conventions, at-risk youth, and the impoverished communities in Cambodia, South Africa, Uganda, Haiti, and India.

VIDEO: About OTM

Off the Mat, Into the World

Seane Corn, co-founder of Off the Mat, Into the World, talks about working in orphanages in Cambodia and other work the organization has done to help the yoga community. 

We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to utilizing the tools of yoga and somatic practices within a justice framework to inspire people to be conscious leaders of change.

– OTM mission

FLIPBOOK: Leaders of Change

OMT Cleans Up H2O in Ecuador

Off the Mat Into the World took volunteers through the country to clean up waterways and better understand the impact of oil exploration there.

Read the backstory >