Meet Harpinder Mann | Trauma-informed Yoga Teacher & Mindfulness Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Harpinder Mann and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Harpinder, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
This is a question I have been contemplating for the last few weeks with one of my projects. Whether to keep going or to give up and I think it is one of the ultimate dilemmas we can face in our life. Something I often turn to through my studies and mentorship with my yoga teacher is the Bhagavad Gita.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna’s dilemma is that he does not want to fight his cousins in war. Should he fight in a battle that will destroy his family and friends or drop his weapon, give up, and withdraw from battle? Should he fulfill his duty, his Dharma as a warrior, and fight, or should he follow his conscience and refuse to take part in the battle? He is taken over by emotions of grief and confusion. This 700-verse is a narrative framework between Pandava Arjuna and Lord Krishna. It shows the journey of a weak, confused mind coming into clear clarity and knowing exactly what to do.

Lord Krishna teaches Arjuna and us:

– We must follow our Dharma. Dharma is the right ordering that supports the cosmos and is the sense of duty we all have and are born with. “Dharma, when it is protected, protects.” We have a material Dharma and a spiritual Dharma – how can we make sure we are fulfilling both? He encourages Arjuna to fulfill his duties as a warrior and to fight with courage on the battlefield.

– He explains that it is important for Arjuna to perform his duties without attachment to the outcome, and to focus on the action (karma) itself, rather than the fruits of his labor. This reminds me to not get attached to the outcome but to focus only on my action and what I can actually control.

– He also reminds Arjuna to let go of his attachment to the people on the other side of the battlefield: his family and friends. He encourages Arjuna to remember the bigger picture and vision and to understand that the cycle of birth and death is inevitable. There is the concept of jnana (knowledge) here – to have discriminative wisdom, the ability to distinguish the eternal from the transient.

– Arjuna and we must remember bhakti – dedicating your actions in devotion to God. There is a God, Bhagavan, a supreme reality that is the charioteer and it would serve us well to do all our actions in love to God.

In the end, Arjuna gains immense clarity after Krishna reveals himself as Bhagavan to him and decides to fight bravely. He is able to remain detached from the outcome and free from the bonds of attachment.

This story reminds me that I too will be in the seat of Arjuna and have to face certain battles and obstacles. Life comes with challenges and has its highs and lows. I will also face confusion and uncertainty – should I continue or should I give up?

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna also shares: one acquires this wisdom by cultivating steadiness of the mind and this comes with practice. Practice through yoga postures to help concentrate the mind.

When I am feeling confused or unsure, something I always turn to is yoga asana, meditation, and journaling, It is important to have a clear, still mind and to make a decision from that place. I try not to make decisions from a place of fear, confusion, and uncertainty because I know my mind is scattered and there is not wisdom there. Through meditation, I seek the inner clarity and wisdom that leads the way.

I also think about when thinking about giving something up: does this serve my longer vision or Dharma? If not, then I know it is easier to give up and let go.

There is mastery in knowing when to continue going or giving something up and I often turn to questions posed by Lord Krishna:

1. Am I feeling attachment to this thing and why? Can I let go?
2. Is this serving my longer vision and Dharma? Then I should continue.
3. Am I bringing enough trust and devotion to God that things will turn out divinely? Am I trusting?

I always take my time to answer these questions and turn to wisdom holders like my mentors, teachers, coaches, and scriptures to help inform my decision as well. We all need help and support!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
There are a few things we can count on in life: 1. That change is inevitable and 2. Everything is impermanent.

Over the last four years of teaching yoga and mindfulness full-time and two years of running the Womxn of Color Summit (during a global pandemic!), I’ve had my fair share of challenges and unexpected obstacles.

I did not feel safe teaching in most studios and in my four-year teaching career, I spent only the first 6 months teaching in studios. There was a certain expectation of teaching that yoga = asana (the physical movement) and that is not my own understanding, practice, or how I teach yoga. There was a whitewashing of the practice that did not sit right with me.

Now I teach mostly 1:1 with folks of color on reclaiming their power & intuition to be free through all 8 limbs of yoga: the yamas and niyamas, asana, tuning inwards, meditation, breathwork, and spiritual connection. This came through from my own experience of being taught yoga 1:1 by my teacher for a year – the transmission of teachings and relationship that was built forever changed my life.

The Womxn of Color Summit was even started from a problem we perceived: why were we still seeing white experts and white participants centered in the healing and wellness spaces? Why were we continuing to reward white colonizers taking from and profiting from technologies and wisdom traditions from Indigenous people around the world with our time and energy?

As a yoga and mindfulness teacher myself, I knew there was something wrong with this spiritual erasure when the names of inspiring Black, Indigenous, and Womxn of Color teachers, healers, guides, mediums, coaches, and leaders were not celebrated, amplified or even known at all.

With the Womxn of Color Summit, we have reached thousands of people through our virtual summits (The Art of Creative Living and The Art of Authentic Living), our two podcast seasons, our in-person retreats, monthly new moon gatherings, advocacy work, and create brave and inclusionary spaces for BI&WoC to share stories, wisdom, and make impactful change.

Now as a full-time yoga teacher with Harpinder Mann Yoga, mindfulness educator, community builder, and the co-founder of the Womxn of Color Summit, I have the great joy and blessing to share my love and reverence for yoga. To work with folks of color to help them mindfully connect to their bodies with curious awareness, to bring a sense of healing peace, and stillness, and create more meaning in their lives.

I encourage myself and my students to show up in their fullness – to honor their humanness, to not need to pretend to be anything other than what they are in that moment. This is how we show compassion to ourselves and begin to transform.

I am actively working to decolonize wellness by creating community and providing accessibility to healing spaces for BI&POC (the global majority) through my 1:1 work and with the Womxn of Color Summit.

Yoga is a spiritual practice and holistic self-transformation process that goes on for a lifetime(s). It’s a path of liberation and reminds us of the true purpose of yoga – for us to remember the nature of who we are – Purusha, the eternal Self that is perfect, timeless, and complete. This is why we take care of our body and mind with so much discipline, care, and attention in yoga – they are the vehicles that take us through life and bring us closer to the ultimate goal of realization and liberation.

So we practice to still the mind so we can step into being the witness, the observer, and realize the nature of who we truly are – this is Self-realization. This self-discovery and awareness are key for spiritual growth.

I believe that when we take this time to learn about the true purpose yoga and practice experientially ourselves, we become more aware of all the beautiful things in our lives and better equipped for the challenges. This practice for me is about accepting the realities of life’s highs and lows and coming back home to a place of inner peace.

The more we heal ourselves and grow, the more yoga teaches us to help others, to be of service – seva. It is a path of both self-realization and selfless service. We practice to connect to our heart’s ability to care deeply for ourselves and for all beings around us – we all have the ability to make a deep positive impact and create social change.

And this is where my life and work sit – at the intersection between social justice and healing. This is what I teach and also the type of heart and service-centered folks that I get the deep honor of working with.

“Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly alive, present, and at one with those around you and with what you are doing.” – Thich Nhat Hahn.

The question I ask myself often is: how can I keep coming back to faith? What does it look like to trust in my life’s path? To create enough stillness and spaciousness in my body and mind so that I can hear more clearly the voice of my inner wisdom, of Self, and of God?

This is also how I work with my students – to get them to see there is another voice, that is loving, compassionate, and wise. However, we need to be listening deeply. And that’s why we practice. Mindful living in this way helps us attune to the present moment, to intuition, and to happiness.

I am also currently working on a book called Liberating Yoga: Freeing the Spiritual Practice from Appropriation for Transformation and Healing. In this book, I aim to disentangle the practice of yoga in the West from histories of appropriation by colonialism, capitalism, and wellness culture, in order to recover the true heart of yoga as a spiritual practice with deep roots in the Indian subcontinent. My project is geared toward bringing transformation, liberation, and healing for those who practice yoga, particularly people of color who have been separated from their ancestral spiritual practices, and highlighting how people everywhere can better practice yoga with more reverence and mindfulness. This project aims to share how yoga is a path of uncovering who you truly are and how you can transform yourself while healing the collective. The publication is targeted for Fall 2024.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them to:

– Bonelli Park for a peaceful walk around the lake
-The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
– Gracias Madres in West Hollywood for vegan Mexican food!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to shout out my teachers and mentors who have supported me on this path of yoga and life. Without my teachers, ancestors, and women before me, none of this would be possible.

My primary teachers have been Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Juliana Mitchell, the Ananda Sangha, Guru Nanak, Mother Nature, Prasad Rangnekar, S.N. Goenka, and my partner.

Website: https://www.harpindermann.com/ and https://www.womxnofcolorsummit.com/

Instagram: instagram.com/harpindermannyoga/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mannharpinder/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/harpindermann_?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harpindermannyoga