How women transformed yoga and found our voices in ancient wisdom

One year ago, on July 20th, 2024, I stepped into something that terrified and thrilled me in equal measure. Together with my dear colleague Nischala Joy Devi, I began recording “A Woman’s Gita Podcast” – our ongoing exploration of the Bhagavad Gita through feminine eyes. We chose that date intentionally, honoring the 176th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, the first gathering in the United States dedicated to women’s rights.

As yoga teachers, we carry forward ancient wisdom traditions, but how often do we pause to consider whose voices have shaped the interpretations we’ve inherited? How often do we ask ourselves: where are the women’s perspectives in these sacred texts that form the foundation of our practice?

And here’s what’s remarkable: we’ve already achieved something extraordinary. Women now make up at least 80% of the international yoga community. Think about that for a moment. An ancient spiritual tradition that once restricted women from advanced teachings has become a space where we are not just participants, but leaders, innovators, and wisdom-keepers.

An Adaptable Tradition

Women stand at the crossroads of yoga’s ancient roots and the modern world, and what we’ve accomplished is remarkable. The fact that yoga has flourished globally—spreading across continents, touching millions of lives – speaks to something profound about both the tradition itself and the women who have carried it forward. But as we celebrate this success, I find myself holding a deeper concern: can this ancient practice survive capitalism with its depth and existentialism intact?

We’ve taken a practice that was once the domain of male renunciants in caves and mountain retreats and made it accessible to busy mothers, working professionals, students, and seekers of all backgrounds. We’ve created studios, teacher trainings, retreat centers, and online communities. We’ve written books, developed curricula, and yes – we’ve begun to offer our own interpretations of the sacred texts that underpin this tradition.

This transformation has happened largely through women’s hands, and there’s something beautiful about that. Where other ancient practices have remained rigid or faded into obscurity, yoga has proven remarkably adaptable. But adaptability is both yoga’s gift and its vulnerability. As we navigate the demands of the marketplace, we must ask ourselves: are we preserving the essence of what makes this practice transformational, or are we in danger of losing its soul to commercial success?

The Courage to Speak – And the Right to Lead

But even with this success, even with our 80% majority, I’ll be honest with you, sisters. This year has been one of the most challenging of my spiritual journey – not because the work itself is difficult, but because stepping outside the safe, nurturing walls of the ashram where I spent years as a monastic has required a kind of courage I wasn’t sure I possessed.

In the ashram, my voice was welcomed, my insights valued. But sharing that same voice in the wider world – on social media, through podcasts, in public forums – has felt like standing naked in a storm. There’s something about claiming authority as a woman in spiritual interpretation that still feels radical, even revolutionary. And perhaps it is.

Nischaladevi has been my anchor in this work, encouraging me to trust that my perspective matters, that our perspectives matter. She reminded me that when we remain silent, we perpetuate the very systems that have kept women’s voices from sacred discourse for millennia.

The Weight of Tradition

The parallel between the women who gathered at Seneca Falls and those of us interpreting ancient texts today is profound. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her colleagues dared to draft “The Woman’s Bible,” challenging traditional interpretations that had relegated women to secondary status in spiritual life. They understood something we’re still grappling with: that how we interpret sacred texts shapes how we see ourselves, our worth, and our place in the divine order.

In traditional Vedic society, women were not permitted to interpret the Bhagavad Gita. This interpretation was reserved for Brahmin priests – men who held not just religious authority, but social and political power. When Nischala and I sit down to discuss Krishna’s teachings, we’re continuing a lineage of women who have dared to say: “Our understanding matters. Our insights have value. Our voices deserve to be heard.”

As Western women, we’re already considered mlecchas – outsiders to the Sanskrit tradition. But perhaps this positioning on the margins gives us something valuable: the ability to see with fresh eyes, to ask different questions, to find meaning that speaks to the lived experience of women navigating both spiritual practice and modern life.

What We Bring to the Mat

When I teach yoga, I’m not just guiding students through asanas or breathing techniques. I’m part of a revolution that has already happened – a quiet, powerful transformation where women have claimed not just participation in an ancient tradition, but leadership within it. We are the ones filling the teaching roles, opening the studios, writing the books, and yes, offering new interpretations of the texts.

The fact that women have so thoroughly embraced yoga tells us something profound about both our spiritual hunger and the tradition’s capacity for growth. Unlike religious structures that have maintained rigid hierarchies, yoga has proven flexible enough to honor its roots while flowering in new soil.

Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Women

The feminine perspective isn’t about creating division or claiming superiority. It’s about wholeness. It’s about recognizing that spirituality belongs to everyone, regardless of gender, that devotion (bhakti) makes us all equal in the eyes of the divine. As Krishna tells us in Chapter 9, verse 32:

“No matter your birth, race, gender, or caste, even if you are scorned by others, if you take refuge in me, then certainly you will attain the Supreme goal.” – BG 9.32

And perhaps this is why yoga has thrived under women’s stewardship: because we’ve intuitively understood this message of inclusion. We’ve created spaces where everyone belongs, where spiritual authority isn’t about hierarchy but about service, where wisdom is shared rather than hoarded.

The Distinction That Changes Everything

Through this year of deep study and vulnerable conversation, I’ve come to understand a crucial distinction that I believe can liberate us all: the difference between religion as an institutional force and spirituality as our inherent birthright.

Religion, with its rules and hierarchies, has too often been wielded as a tool of control, determining who can speak, who can interpret, who can access advanced teachings. But spirituality – that spark of the divine that exists in every living being – knows no such boundaries. It flows freely, speaks through any willing vessel, and recognizes no artificial barriers based on gender, race, or social status.

When we step onto our mats, when we guide our students into meditation, when we share the wisdom of these ancient texts, we’re engaging with spirituality in its purest form. We’re not bound by the limitations that patriarchal religious structures have tried to impose. We are inheritors of wisdom, carriers of light, voices in an ongoing conversation with the sacred.

The Sisterhood of Courage

To my fellow yoga teachers, especially those who struggle as I have with stepping fully into your voice: we are not alone in this work. We stand in a lineage of women who have refused to accept that wisdom belongs only to others. We are part of a sisterhood that spans centuries, connecting us to the bold women of Seneca Falls and extending forward to the students we serve today.

Your voice matters. Your interpretation of these teachings, filtered through your lived experience as a woman, brings something to the tradition that has been missing for too long. When you teach, you’re not just sharing poses or breathing techniques – you’re offering a perspective that includes, that nurtures, that sees the sacred in the margins as clearly as in the center.

The yoga community is predominantly made up of women, yet for too long we’ve received these teachings primarily through masculine interpretation. It’s time for us to trust our own understanding, to share our insights with confidence, to know that our spiritual authority is not something we need to earn or apologize for – it’s our birthright.

Moving Forward with Trust

As Nischaladevi and I continue this podcast, as we keep exploring these ancient texts through contemporary feminine eyes, I’m learning to trust that this work is not just worthwhile – it’s essential. Every time we offer a different perspective, every time we find new meaning in familiar verses, every time we speak with authority about our spiritual experience, we’re creating space for other women to do the same.

The path forward isn’t about rejecting tradition, but about expanding it. It’s about recognizing that spirituality is vast enough to hold all our voices, wise enough to be enriched by our diverse perspectives, and sacred enough to deserve our full participation.

Don’t be afraid of your own power, dear sisters. Wrap it in love, share it with compassion, but don’t hide it. The world needs what you have to offer. The students in your classes need your authentic voice, your unique insights, your willingness to stand in your voice with grace and confidence.

Trust each other. Support each other. And remember: in this work of preserving and sharing sacred wisdom, you are not alone. We are part of something larger than ourselves, something that began long before us and will continue long after. Our voices matter. Our perspectives are valuable. Our courage to speak creates space for others to find their voices too.

The conversation continues, and there is room for all of us at the table.

Reclaiming Women’s Voices in Yoga Philosophy

This blog post emerges from a recent talk I gave as part of “A Woman’s Gita” podcast, created in partnership with my co-host Nischala Joy Devi and supported by Yoga Gives Back—an international community of yoga teachers who donate classes to uplift women and children in India as gratitude for the gift of yoga.

Welcome to my first blog post. I’m Kamala Rose, and I want to share why I’ve devoted my life to yoga, and why I believe women’s voices are essential to the future of yoga philosophy. My teaching focus for many years has been on the Bhagavad Gita as I see it as a meeting place where the essential idea of Eastern worldviews can be discussed and made meaningful in our modern lives.

Finding My Voice in Ancient Wisdom

My journey with the Bhagavad Gita began in an unexpected way. As a blonde kid from the Midwest, India seemed impossibly distant until my father’s academic work brought my family to India and Krishna into our home. His research on Max Mueller’s translation of the Upanishads, inspired by a flash of insight during a flight home from India, introduced me to a world where mystical knowledge was real and accessible. That same trip included a meeting with Indira Gandhi – a moment that imprinted the power of India, and Krishna, on my young consciousness.

This early exposure led me to spend thirty years in an ashram, diving deep into the Gita and the spiritual psychology that accompanies it. I’ve studied with traditional Sanskrit teachers, including Mr. Ramaswami of Krishnamacharya’s lineage, and explored the text through various academic institutions. Yet even with all this experience and support, I still found myself doubting my voice when it came to sharing these ancient teachings.

And therein lies the heart of why we need a feminine interpretation of the Gita.

The Courage to Act: Beyond the Fruits of Action

One of the verses we most wrestle with in the Gita speaks directly to this challenge:

“You have a right to action, but not to the fruits of action. Let not the fruit of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.” (2.47, Devi/Rose)

This verse forces us to ask the hardest questions: What is your motive? What’s the why behind your action? In our transactional, capitalist society, we expect rewards for our efforts. But as yogis, we must have the courage to practice satya – honesty – about our true motivations.

For women, this verse carries particular weight. Why do we hold back our voices? Why do we feel timid about expressing ourselves, especially around spiritual or religious ideas? The answer lies partly in our societal conditioning. Our voices are often not heard in spirituality, just as they’re not heard in many other spheres. This silencing makes us hesitant to speak about our understanding of yoga, worried that our personal comprehension might be too shallow to speak confidently on such profound subjects.

But the verse also warns against attachment to inaction. By not doing something, are we avoiding out of fear? For women, there’s deep psychology here –  we become habituated to not speaking our voices, creating a different kind of attachment that comes from the same place as attachment to results.

The Gita speaks of sattvic action in karma yoga: do what needs to be done, not what you want to do or what will make you look good. I believe this is a perspective that women can uniquely bring to spiritual dialogue – understanding necessary action, not ego-driven action.

The Purity of Inner Knowledge

Another profound verse speaks to the nature of spiritual wisdom:

“Indeed, there is nothing in this world as pure as knowledge. Once the path of Yoga is perfected, one knows that wisdom is within.” (4.38, Devi/Rose)

Here, Krishna speaks of jnana—mystical knowledge and insight. This isn’t knowledge of how to fix a car or build a website, valuable though those skills are. This is transcendent, revelatory knowledge that comes like Einstein’s flash of insight about light, “like a raindrop or a birdsong” dropping into consciousness.

I remember my father’s story of his dissertation insight – how the whole picture came to him “like a drop of water in his mind” while flying home from India. He used words like “epiphany,” and “satori.” That’s the kind of knowing yoga offers: insight about Reality, about oneself as a spiritual being, about the essence that exists within us and connects us to everything.

The path of wisdom requires shraddha – faith. In our modern era, we struggle to put faith in concepts like Krishna or Brahman, foreign as they may seem to Western minds. We often seek external validation—association with charismatic individuals or certain certifications—to prove our knowledge. But yoga asks for a different kind of knowing, beyond degrees and approval.

This requires faith in the tradition itself, in a path that has guided generations of practitioners through the eightfold path from ethics to samadhi. As yoga practitioners, we can put faith in this tradition beyond any personality or certification. Then comes the courage to trust our own experience.

Traditional translations often say “he who is perfected in wisdom.” When we read this as women, it’s easy to exclude ourselves. But when we understand it as “one who knows the wisdom within,” the path opens for all of us – which is a fundamental strength of the Gita. It declares that everyone can know this wisdom; gender makes no difference.

Most men I know in the yoga community are strong and intuitive enough to recognize how women see the world differently and would benefit from greater peer discussion to make yoga theory more practical.

Claiming Our Authority in a Post-Lineage World

After spending decades studying the Gita and sitting with traditional teachers, I still doubted my voice. Even when recording our podcast, I questioned whether I knew enough, whether my knowledge was perfect enough to present this subject. But there is no perfect – you can’t know everything about the Gita. At some point, you must trust what you know and recognize that this knowledge is valuable to others.

This connects to what researcher Theodora Wildcroft calls “post-lineage” yoga. Through her doctoral fieldwork in the yoga community, she observed how modern yoga teachers absorb and share knowledge in collective spaces like studios, trainings, and festivals. She uses the image of spreading mycelium, supporting each other like a forest’s underground web. This organic, interconnected network stands in stark contrast to the conventional vertical lineages of traditional yoga – the father-to-son transmissions that move knowledge downward through hierarchical structures. Where traditional lineage resembles a family tree with clear branches and succession, post-lineage yoga functions more like the hidden fungal networks that connect entire forests, sharing resources and wisdom horizontally, peer to peer, in ways that are less visible but perhaps more resilient.

I suggest we need both, like a healthy forest. The deep roots of traditional lineage provide stability and connection to ancient wisdom, while the mycelial networks allow for adaptation, cross-pollination of ideas, and the kind of collaborative learning that can help yoga philosophy evolve to meet our modern needs.

This resonates deeply with my own journey. I’ve studied with the Theosophical Society, explored traditional Indian worldviews, embraced systems theory, and engaged with academic approaches that leave no room for intuitive knowledge. We’re often combinations of multiple influences, and that’s not a weakness – it’s an evolution.

Yet spirituality and religion remain areas where women are terribly underrepresented, despite these fields centering on interior knowing – something women often navigate intuitively. Today, women make up over 80% of the yoga community. We’re the ones doing yoga, teaching yoga—but we’re still primarily learning from men, quoting men, studying texts featuring only men.

Setting the Standard: The Great Person’s Example

The Gita tells us:

“A great person’s actions inspire others who follow by example. Setting the standard, others follow.” (3.21, Devi/Rose)

We’re living in a time when we desperately need new standards, ones not established by charismatic but flawed personalities, or by an inconsistent certification process that underrepresents practice beyond asana. This may mean supplemental training, mentorships, and community gatherings that emphasize continuing education.

Women’s voices are a powerful part of the dialogue about the future we’re shaping together. As yoga teachers, especially women, we must embrace and embody the role we’ve stepped into. We must let ourselves be part of the tradition we represent, allow our voices to be heard, and claim our own understanding of these verses. Finding practical ways to relate to the teachings on a consistent basis is what the Gita does best – it can be a crossroads of new ideas when most needed.

Why do we look at heroes winning wars as the model of righteousness? What about the people quietly feeding everyone, seeking no praise or recognition? Why isn’t the example of a mother who gives nine months of her life and body to gestate another human being, then feeds that person from her own body, considered the ultimate example of karma yoga and selflessness?

As women, we must consciously insert ourselves into this spiritual dialogue. The vital work of inspiring children to grow up as good people shapes future society – these are admirable acts fulfilled largely by women.

As more and more men are stepping into caregiving roles – for children, parents, partners – women’s perspectives may become a welcome addition to what is often dry and intellectual. It’s not an either/or – it’s a yes/and.

Living the Teaching

The Gita asks us to take this knowledge into our lives, into society, into the way we live and work. Don’t leave it in a dusty old book that you think you don’t understand. I challenge women in the yoga community: you understand more than you think. If you wrestle with getting in your own way or sometimes feel overwhelmed, you have insight into exactly what the Gita is discussing.

Taking time with texts like this is essential. You don’t need to know everything in a day, but you can understand key ideas very well and put them to work in your life. Take them off the page and carry them with you in your daily experience.

The Future of Women’s Spiritual Authority

Through “A Woman’s Gita” podcast and this blog, I’m exploring what it means to teach from your own voice—not from charisma or credentials, but from lived truth. We’re asking why so many women hesitate to share yoga wisdom, whether spiritual authority is evolving beyond institutions, and how women yoga teachers can claim their voices in this rich tradition.

This work reaches far beyond each of us as individuals. It empowers a community that is largely female. This is where we can stand up and claim our voices in the yoga tradition, trusting the wisdom that lives in our bones, the knowledge that comes from our direct experience with these ancient teachings.

If yoga is to survive as a fully integrated practice, with its beautiful teachings on the depth available to human beings, we must ensure that a greater percentage of yoga teachers are fluent in philosophy.

The voice within is worthy of trust. The wisdom you’ve cultivated through your practice, your life experience, your unique perspective as a woman—this is pure knowledge, as valuable as any traditional commentary. It’s time to let it be heard.

– Kamala Rose July 2025