My bio
About Sheena Sood, PhD — Sociologist and Politicized Healer
I’m a sociologist, activist scholar, and politicized healer with experience in studying social movements and healing justice, yoga and decolonization, and immigration and cross racial and transnational solidarity.
My research examines immigrant and racial justice, South Asian American politics, critical yoga studies, and the rise of global ethno-nationalism.
While my earlier research used ethnography and interviews to examine how South Asian (Desi) American and immigrant groups in the Northeast U.S. engaged in political activism prior to and after 9/11, my newer research project brings a critical anti-imperial lens to the global practice and popularity of yoga and new age spirituality.
Book Project & Courses
My current book project “Om-washing Yoga: Self-care and State Violence among the Global Far-Right” considers how yoga and mindfulness programs are routinely and increasingly used in and by police and law enforcement academies, militaries and veterans, far-right vigilante groups, and border patrol forces to advance their cultural and political agendas.
Currently, I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, PA. I earned my PhD in Sociology from Temple University in 2019.
Teaching
As an educator, my teaching philosophy is one that is informed by engaged pedagogy, hands-on learning experiences and activities, and creativity and mindfulness to allow students to bring their personal lives and reflections and creativity into the classroom. I also value bringing critical thinking and reading and media literacy into the classroom.
For a sample syllabi of the sociology and criminal justice courses I have developed, please see my Teaching page.
What yogis are saying
Shesheena B., Yoga Warrior Tales parent“The biggest win has been seeing my daughter use child’s pose as a place of refuge when she is upset. It’s so settling as a parent to see your child access tools to take care of themselves. I know that she has a tool for life.”
Philadelphia, PA
Noura E., Yoga Warrior Tales parent“Sheena has used yoga as a way to help Naya breathe, meditate, be aware of her surroundings; and to understand that yoga is for the heart, the mind, the spirit as well as the community and environment. I am so happy to continue working with Sheena and to see her grow out this project for many more precious young ones.”
Philadelphia, PA
Satya B., Yoga Warrior Tales program“My name is Satya. I love my yoga class with Sheena Aunty. I like getting to solve a problem when we have our yoga adventures. Sheena Aunty is very kind, so I feel good when I am in the class too. I love being a yoga warrior.”
Silver Spring, MD
Roshni L., Decolonizing Yoga Workshop“Honestly, it blew my expectations out of the water. Dr. Sheena Sood is brilliant. She is simultaneously compassionate and passionate inviting you to become inquisitive and reflective about how yoga is used and how you use yoga within your practice. Her energy is safe and welcoming, while also challenging you to face the discomfort that comes with understanding the colonization and decolonization of yoga. I will remember this experience as empowering and be sure to reflect that forward.”
The Well Studio
Greg, Decolonizing Yoga Workshop“It was not what I was expecting. I thought the focus was going to be on white/Western appropriation of yoga, but this workshop went much deeper in the the (many) histories and roles yoga has (currently) played in the machinations of capitalist elite. I feel like there is so much to take away. Perhaps most tangibly will be really examining the list of ways we can invite a decolonized yoga practice into the spaces where we hope to teach. I feel like every yoga teacher in training should experience this workshop.”
Studio 34
Abby, Decolonizing Yoga Workshop“This workshop allowed me to deepen my understanding of what ‘decolonizing yoga’ actually means and to think more critically about the ways in which yoga isn’t inherently peaceful or liberatory. I’m also a therapist and have been reading Decolonizing Therapy by Dr. Jennifer Mullan. Both in my reading and through this workshop I’ve viewed my work and yoga practice through a more critical lens. Previously held beliefs that yoga and therapy are and could benefit all are gone (in the best way possible).”
3 Queens Yoga
As a politicized healer, the yoga offerings, healing communities, and workshops that I offer build on a lineage of “healing justice” models that envisions collective care, ancestral practices, and anti-capitalist, abolitionist values as central to cultivating power and resilience to empower our communities toward liberation.
Workshops & Talks
As a workshop facilitator and public speaker, I have given talks on and curated programs on “Decolonizing Yoga” at Yoga Teacher Trainings, as well as research presentations and panels at national and international conferences such as the American Academy of Religion, the Yoga Darshana Yoga Sadhana Meeting, the American Sociological Association and the American Studies Association.