Queer Yoga

Queer Yoga

July 14, 2026 · 1h 3m · Season 5

About this episode

Jivana Heyman interviews queer yoga teacher Mookaite Jasper about their journey and the importance of inclusive yoga practices.

Join host Jivana Heyman as he talks with Mookaite Jasper (Kite), a queer, trans, non-binary, and autistic yoga teacher from Middlesbrough, England, about their book Queer Yoga: A Guide to Well-Being Through Inclusive and Accessible Yoga. Kite shares their journey from discovering yoga in Thailand, coming out, getting sober, and how the queer community yoga nonprofit they founded eventually inspired their book. Together, Jivana and Kite discuss the concept of masking and the importance of creating safe spaces for marginalized groups and the role of yoga in mental health. In the second part of the episode, Jivana and co-host Deanna Michalopoulos reflect on the parallels between Kite's story and Jivana's own early work teaching yoga to gay men with AIDS. They respond to a listener question from Verna about making ancient yoga texts more accessible, covering Sanskrit translation, the difference between scholarly and interpretive versions, and Jivana's key insight that Patanjali is not asking us to become something new, but to remember who we already are. Topics include: How nonprofit work and service can lead to burnout How Queer Yoga was impacted by Kite’s participation in…

More episodes of Accessible Yoga Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Accessible Yoga Podcast podcast page.