Introducing our new MA reps

By Centre of Yoga Studies|December 17, 2021|Uncategorized|1 comments

Erica Morton McGill

I am a writer, yoga teacher and space holder, and lifelong student. For over ten years I worked with The Art of Yoga Project, a non-profit bringing yoga and meditation to incarcerated and at-risk teenage girls in the San Francisco Bay Area. I composed the organization’s guidebook on teaching trauma-informed yoga and crafted an extensive curriculum, designed to offer contemplative practices in prisons and schools.

After years of studying with dedicated teachers at home and in India, I opened LA Yoga Club, an ashtanga yoga shala and apothecary based in Los Angeles, CA. LAYC focused on the development of students’ personal practices, aiming to grow resilience, adaptability and agency. I also co-authored the bi-weekly LAYC Almanac which explored rhythmic, vital living at the liminal, sometimes crusty edges where moon cycles, movement, tarot, psychedelics, science, breath, art and the occult meet.

At present, I lead yoga retreats and workshops, and write Yogafolk, a full moon publication that centers people who practice, seeking the spiritual in the mundane. I write to connect people to their bodies and hearts; and to re-story relationships to ourselves and each other through somatic practice, and community gathering. I also sit on the board of The Social Imaginary, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that seeks to explore how power might be differently held and shared in yoga and wellness spaces. I aim to create circles of kin, where co-creativity, meaning and imagination are centered.

I am currently working toward an MA in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation at SOAS University of London, an undertaking that melds my interests in technology, medicine, religion and people. I am honored to be a CYS representative and look forward to seeing you all at upcoming talks and gatherings.

Krishna Khunti

A symbiotic creation of east meets west (as an Indian origin British born women), and with a passion for yoga from the start; I am a strong believer in hands-on experience as well as theoretical, and have relished in spending over a decade (predominantly) in India, with the aim of immersing myself in the deeper understanding of Yoga in the lands of its origins (and in certain ways mine).

My plans and vision are to keep diving further into the depths of my own learning and development at SOAS, so that I may be able to create more enriching, inclusive and accessible Yogic and wellbeing initiatives, and further bridge the gap between India and the west.

I’ve been on an incredible journey and come out the other side in the avatar as a ‘Modern day Yogi’/ Wellness professional DJ and a Conscious Curator. From learning Hatha at the Yoga Institute in Mumbai, Ashtanga in Goa, venturing to Varanasi and learning Kriya, monasteries in Ladakh, to following a regular practice of meditation at the Dhyana centre to name a few endeavours.

Through it all, I have had the privilege of putting many of my learnings and observations to use by sharing them through various outlets; from writing articles for renowned publications, creating short guided meditations for large media platforms, TEDx speaking, curating retreats and teaching workshops globally. To a longstanding working relationship with a Dharavi (India) based NGO, for whom I have been curating and conducting meditative practice classes and young women development initiatives for over seven years.