Over the past 20 years or so, practicing yoga has become almost mainstream, but plunging deeper and committing to the vocation of yoga teacher or yoga therapist remains, indeed, an act of profound and radical love. The world is waking to a need for new paradigms – new ways of knowing that are not only actionable – but also provide a springboard for the leaps of consciousness necessary to tackle the most pressing social, environmental, and geopolitical issues of the day. The yoga radicals who’ve shared their stories in these pages are the mavericks who embody the paradigms that will lead our cultures forward towards futures that are not only more sustainable, but also more compassionate, and more human. This book offers stunning vistas into these futures.

Curiosity, calm, clarity, compassion, co-evolution…themes from wise souls whose practices for learning and living support our best selves and wellbeing for all. Their stories embody inspiration and possibility. As a student of systems change, I trust the body’s wisdom more deeply now. Read these stories to sweeten your meditation practice.

Yoga Radicals is an inspiring compilation of personal narratives from many leaders in modern yoga therapy. Radical in every sense of the term, these healing stories warm the heart and remind us that we are all on this journey together.

By navigating the hills and valleys of their lives, these yoga masters forged communities of care and transformed the world. In this book, you will learn to embrace your spirit’s calling…and invite others to join you. Together, we will remake society and build a new “WE.”

I have often thought of Yoga as “Gentle Stretching” and in fact, one practitioner near me, a Physical Education Teacher in a public school, chose to call it that after being forbidden to use Yoga in her classes. This Book and the fun, inspiring stories within it, is about a different kind of gentle stretching. About a form of expanding potential. About innovation, both incremental and radical, by those using Yoga to make a new or improved difference ~ stretching the boundaries of the possible. Whether you are a Yoga teacher, individual practitioner or just a curious polymath, the diverse and inspirational stories in this book will stretch and inspire you to an expanded view of the possibilities that humans create when they have a deep care to affect the world in a positive way.

Allie Middleton is a remarkable human. She integrates her deep study of eastern and western traditions in a way that is both unique and accessible. In this book, she brings together a broad spectrum of clear voices and inspired teachings. Through these brilliant, evocative interviews, she offers readers practical and poetic guidance for the realization of a better world.

Yoga Radicals is an inspiring, deeply informative collection of stories from a diverse group of yoga leaders. Each chapter is an individual account of transformation and a reflection on the path to well-being. Together, they provide light and practical guidance to a world struggling to find a better way forward. Highly recommended.

For many years Allie and I have shared creativity conferences, connected at conventions and meetings designed to apply imagination and creative innovation practices to different contexts. She’s one of those rare people who can take you to places you would never go. In this book she has curated stories of innovators that are invaluable. Together now in community, we might come to understand how to try something new.

These insights hug and feed me like compost to seeds, water to roots, sunshine to green leaves! Nyawe to the wisdom keepers who invite us to remember and to reimagine as we co-create, emerge, and grow through these changing times together.

In this eclectic collection of stories from people who practice and teach yoga from such varied perspectives, most of us will find at least one, if not more, that we resonate with. Even better is the surprise- yoga can lead to…that? Allie Middleton uncovers for us a thread whispering through the different voices: “go ahead, try it! You have no idea where the process of the practice can take you.