Yoga is for everybody...right?
According to a recent article by The Good Body, over 34.4 million people are practicing yoga in the US.
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However, most yoga practitioners and teachers have privileged identities. That is, they identify as white, cisgender (sex assigned at birth), and/or heterosexual. Considering the cost of most studio memberships, they likely identify as middle-class. To add, most practitioners and teachers are not living with a disability.
We’ve extensively reviewed research published in academic hubs (Race and Yoga, Practicing Yoga as Resistance) and online forums (Shock Over Black Woman in Yoga Class Stirs Outrage) and found that most people who identify as a person of Color, gender, or sexually diverse, low-income, disabled, or bigger-bodied do not feel welcomed by yoga, training programs, or studio communities.
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We Have a Solution: What is the Decolonizing Yoga Workshop?
Decolonize (verb): to free from the dominating influence of a colonizing power
The Decolonizing Yoga Workshop is a four-hour immersive experience and training designed for individuals and studios committed to anti-oppressive values and actions.
Meet Your Instructors
As Black queer womxn with a combined ten years of professional and personal investment in yoga, meditation, multiculturalism, and social justice work, we've got your back in this journey
Natalie Malone, MS 200RYT
Natalie (she/her) is a Black queer woman scholar, yoga instructor and therapist who disrupts western colonized wellness by centering Black feminisms and liberatory principles. Natalie is a fourth-year counseling psychology doctoral student at the University of Kentucky studying Black women's sexual, spiritual, and holistic wellness. Natalie integrates holistic healing and wellness interventions into her research and clinic work.
Monyae Kerney, MA 200RYT
Monyae (she/they) is a 200hr registered yoga teacher. Her flows are inspired by nature and take on a sensual, neo-soul vibe. They believe yoga is for everybody and every body, and they intentionally infuse a meditative spirit into the practice. Monyae upholds that yoga is mind-body poetry that exists on and off the mat. Viewing yoga in this way has been instrumental in her wellness practice. As a graduate of Teacher's College, Columbia University's spirituality mind-body institute, a current counseling psychology PhD student, and a former social justice scholarship recipient for her yoga teacher training, Monyae is passionate about yoga that moves beyond the Asanas and into an everyday embodiment of the eight limbs. They have partnered with many organizations committed to justice and holistic well-being for marginalized populations, including the Audre Lorde Project, Black Women Healing Retreats, the Center for Healing Racial Trauma, and the BK Yoga Club. Monyae asserts the importance of accessible mind-body-spirit modalities for Black, Indigenous, and queer identities and yoga representation on thicc (with two c's) bodies.
Previous Collaborations and Presentations
Folks Natalie and Monyae have worked with in the past on related subject matter
What to Expect
A Sneak Peak at the Schedule
Name and examine your, your studio's, and most of your clients' social identities and locations (e.g., identities of privilege and marginalization).
Discuss inconsistencies between the core values of yoga and wellness practices and spaces.
Recover historical memory and outline the influence of colonization on yoga in the West.
Part 1: Learn the Work
Build an action plan in consultation with experts for decolonizing your personal practice and studio:
Asana (postures)
Meditation
Business mission, values, and statements
Pricing and equitable access
Staff and equitable recruitment and retention
Building a liberatory wellness space
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Part 2: Get to Work
Decolonize Your Practice
Let's do this in community
Individual Registration
$200.00
One small investment, one lifetime commitment.
Studio Registration (all staff granted access)
$350.00
Make this a collective investment and commitment of $150.00 more. Please note that you will pay $200 via the registration portal and send the remaining balance directly to the NJM Offerings PayPal (link here).
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A team member will contact you to collect information (e.g., name and email address) on staff members from your studio who will attend.
Corporate Partnership
Price varies
Please email natalie@njmofferings.com directly if your corporation or franchise is interested in hosting one or more Decolonizing Yoga Workshops for instructors or clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
No Question Is Too Small. If you have a question unaddressed here, please send your inquiry to natalie@njmofferings.com
Is the Decolonizing Yoga Workshop online or in-person?
This first edition of the workshop is online using Zoom, so you will need a Zoom account. We hope to offer the workshop in person in the future!
Will the Decolonizing Yoga Workshop be recorded?
Yes! We will record the content presentation but not experiential learning or small-group discussion.
Who is the Decolonizing Yoga Workshop for?
This workshop is for anyone ready to examine the impact of colonization and oppression on their yoga practice! Oppression works at the individual, interpersonal, and systemic/institutional levels. What that means is that we all have decolonizing to do.
Who is the Decolonizing Yoga Workshop not for?
This workshop will be challenging for anyone without a personal commitment to the decolonization of wellness spaces. We will not stand for any forms of oppression (e.g., racism, sexism, heterosexism/homophobia, cissexism/transphobia, ableism, etc.) during this workshop.
I'm a bit confused about how to sign up - help me out?
Click here to access the registration portal through Zoom. After you register, you will receive access information and automated reminders leading up to the event.
Do you accept any forms of payment outside of PayPal?
Purchases made through the website are PayPal only.
My studio consists of two instructors - me and one other person. Should I still select studio registration?
Absolutely! Studio registration is the best deal for two or more instructors since it is $50.00 cheaper than two individual registrations ($400.00 total).
What should I bring to the Decolonizing Yoga Workshop?
Bring the following items:
Materials for notes
Yoga mat
Comfortable clothing
An open heart and mind
A spirit ready to receive