The Teapot Collective

At Teapot we have Values & Guidelines which we strive to embody when engaging in any teapot related things. We’d love to hear your thoughts. What resonates? How do these values and guidelines make you feel? Perhaps you notice that something is missing?

Authenticity

• We oppose oppression in all of its forms and work to create an anti-oppressive space so people can show up as they are.
• Confidentiality is important allowing for people to show up authentically. Everything that is shared in the space should be kept confidential unless you get consent to share from the person, or if we at Teapot deem there’s a safeguarding issue.
• We embody all eight limbs of yoga, not just asana (movement). We strive to spiritually acknowledge the practice, the lands that it originates from and the teachers who came before us. We acknowledge yoga’s history in all its complexity including that the practice has been used and continues to be used as a tool to oppress. May we hold this complexity and nuance as we practice together in community.
• Consent is essential in creating a space where people can be authentically themselves. We ask if people would like advice, not giving advice without their consent. We normalise saying no and it’s okay to withdraw from any practice or workshop with Teapot.
• When you feel you’ve said something in the wrong way, pausing and rewinding is encouraged. If you’re impacted by something someone else in the group has said, we encourage you to surface this and invite others to pause and rewind. We hold space to show up authentically especially when it’s challenging.

Healing

• We encourage our community to practice radical honesty wherever possible, particularly around how we are feeling.
• We acknowledge that we can hold multiple different truths alongside each other and that this can be complicated and beautiful.
• We validate each other’s feelings and experiences. How you are feeling is true, because you are feeling it. You are justified in feeling how you are feeling.

Joy

• We take time to celebrate who we are, celebrate our community and the love we have for each other.
• We mindfully take note of the joyous moments during our time together at Teapot and we encourage each other take that joy with us throughout our day.

Learning

• Across Teapot we are committed to a lifelong journey of learning; continuously learning more about ourselves, each other, our communities and the world around us. We invite you to join us on this journey of this forever-blossoming collective learning experience.
• We take time to get to know each other and build deep and meaningful connections where we can laugh together, cry together: experiencing the full spectrum of emotions.
• We give ourselves the time and self-care needed to learn. Urgency is a colonial tool. We embody slow and careful learning where we don’t need to agree or understand straight away. Doubt is welcome. We take time to integrate our individual and collective learnings.
• We value the process of learning, rather than simply the outcome. We invite you to share how your views or thoughts have changed and what this means for you. Learning new things and then changing your mind about something is magical. We invite this magic to come into reality.
• Together we hold each other on this lifelong journey of learning with care and compassion. We show compassion towards ourselves and each other; meeting people where they are at with no judgement. At Teapot we aim to facilitate this and also ask our community to uphold this too.