✨"In terms of personal space and physical space, children should be given some agency — because of how we're culturally conditioned, even as adults it becomes difficult to vocalize our needs and boundaries."
- Yogacharini Maitreyi
✨Yogacharini Maitreyi uses the viral Dalai Lama incident (where he asked a young boy to "suck his tongue") as a springboard to explore a deeper theme: agency, boundaries, and physical touch, particularly for children.
Key points covered:
The Dalai Lama incident as a lens — Rather than passing judgment, she uses it to prompt reflection on cultural norms around physical intimacy and whether something is acceptable because it's culturally conditioned or genuinely okay.
Children's agency — She discusses how children in many cultures (India, Mexico, etc.) are not given the choice to decline physical affection from adults, such as hugs, cheek pinches, or hair ruffling.
Personal story — She shares that as a child in India, she disliked being touched by adults due to her psychic sensitivity to their emotional energy. Her grandfather supported her boundary, and she established a firm "no hugging" rule as a form of self-protection.
Ahimsa and yoga philosophy — She connects this to the yogic principle of ahimsa (non-harm), asking practitioners not just how they might harm others, but how they allow others to step on their agency — whether from cultural unawareness, greed, or malice.
Cultural nuance vs. harm — She distinguishes between genuinely harmful behavior (citing "John of God") and culturally-rooted affection (e.g., David Beckham kissing his daughter), while encouraging open exploration of these questions.
The takeaway — Children should be taught respect and how to acknowledge others, but they should also be given agency over their personal and physical space.
✨ Be present. Be aware. Be involved.
If you would like to study in a rooted tradition with other spiritually mature students, see all of our online programs and events, including the 500-hour embodied expansion certification. See the link in bio or visit: www.arkaya.net/programsoverview
The online Arkaya embodied expansion certification happens once every two years. Applications are now open.
www.arkaya.net/teacher-training
Arkaya Foundation is a federally and provincially registered not-for-profit in Canada and in India. We are primarily volunteer run with a very small core team. We greatly welcome your support to help with the running of our programs!
https://www.arkaya.net/donate
