On the Block with Kimberly Dark
In the Spring of 2014 the college where I work hosted our first Interdisciplinary mini-conference on \u201cWriting Sexualities.\u201d This several-day event featured Kimberly Dark, an internationally known writer and performer in Gender and Sexuality, and Christopher Ryan, also internationally known for his work in Sociology, Psychology and Human Sexuality, and author of the best-selling book Sex at Dawn. (Regular listeners to this show know Dr. Ryan and his work quite well, I'm sure. We will air his portion of this event in the coming weeks). The speakers also each lead a workshop open to students, faculty and the community. I was so inspired by my conversation with Kimberly that I wanted to share it with you. Kimberly teaches a body-positive form of Yoga that manages to skirt many of the pitfalls found within the modern Yoga movement in the United States. The ancient Hindu practices that were originally meant to transform the body and mind into a unified field of awareness and equanimity have become, in large part in the West, a playground for white privilege, body shaming and New Age dogma. Here we discuss the politics of the body, yoga and the culture of body shaming, feminism in the modern world and the desire we all have to feel at home in our own skin.