It’s the time of year that we all know and love. Time for reminiscing fondly about 2014, with lists about the most popular TV shows, books (my personal favorite topic), albums and movies, and planning and predicting for 2015.
Continue reading “2015 Fitness Trend Predictions: Where Does Yoga Land?”
The majority of my career has been spent in fields where diversity is lacking: travel/tourism, public relations/marketing and yoga. Despite the limited number of professionals who look like me, I’ve managed to create a network of contacts, associates and friends who understand the unique challenges people of color face in our shared industry.
Yoga, both as a community of practitioners and as a career, is facing a critical review. Many students feel a sense of otherness while in studio. And while you can find many photogenic yogis on Twitter and Instagram, it’s not likely that you will find a brown or black face among the well-known teachers and leaders at yoga conferences and events. Yoga may bring to mind peace, love and good feelings, but it’s also a business and a billion dollar industry. It’s hard to get excited about investing in an fitness environment that prices you out and doesn’t embrace you when you do venture into a class.
Knowing the challenge of representation in the yoga community, the growth of running clubs started and run by African American men and women has given me hope for what could happen to yoga. Groups like Black Girls RUN!, Black Men Run and Run2Live created multi-city communities from people who felt unwelcome in mainstream running clubs but still wanted to participate in the sport. Black Girls RUN! has been on my radar for about a year now. While they’re runs are far too early for my blood (seriously, what does 4:45 a.m. look like?), I have friends who swear by the camaraderie of the group, clocking multiple-mile runs two to three times per week. The same high they get, heels pounding the pavement and sweat flying while they surpass personal records and create memories, is what I’d like to see created for men and women of color in yoga.
Now that I’ve made the comparison, I will point out that yoga is a different beast. For starters, most people practice yoga in a studio, which can be a restrictive cost. Running starts at walking, which requires minimal equipment (shoes, hat, iPod for music). Issues about costs can be addressed by offering classes at a reasonable rate in the communities that aren’t being exposed to yoga. Additionally, the running groups participate in races, which is another layer of satisfaction – who doesn’t love the thrill of a race and getting a medal? Yoga typically isn’t associated with competition or awards. By setting and achieving individual and group goals, yoga can create that feeling of accomplishment that some derive from running.
I was lucky enough to be in a certification course with two other Black women. I’ve kept in touch to learn more about their experiences of being a student and in finding a place to be a leader. The USA Today article and the founders of the running groups have inspired me to create a network of independent and in-studio teachers of color. Though Dallas is not considered a major hub like an Atlanta, NY or DC, the city is fitness-focused and greater visibility of black and brown yogis can bring additional people into the fold.
What is the multicultural yoga community like in your city? Do you see a unity like the running groups, or is it more disjointed? What are you doing to create a more inclusive community?
Recently, someone made a statement that changed my perspective on what I’ve been doing (or more importantly, not doing) since finishing yoga teaching certification a month ago.
We are often so busy either doing things, or making plans to do things, that we often don’t take the time to enjoy the fact that we’ve done them. Take time to just be.”
Much has been made of our culture of busyness, in which everyone is constantly on the “go,” on their “grind” and in no-sleep mode (which never made sense to me because good lord I am cranky without rest). If your social media timeline isn’t filled with mentions of the flights you’re taking, the meetings you’re having with the folks just like you and the after-hours networking over dark liquor and Cuban cigars, then what are you even here for?
I say to those folks “Mannn, hush!” If you build your self-worth on the highly curated and specially-selected experiences of others, you’re setting yourself up for failure. I admit, I wanted to be in the studio, teaching others and being a boss at it, immediately after finishing the program. I feel the desire to become one of those extra-flexible yogis from Instagram on a regular basis, even though my hips and back clearly haven’t gotten the memo to let go of that stiffness (working on it).
And then it hit me: in the last year, I’ve completed a Master’s degree, started a new job and kicked butt at it AND completed a 200-hour certification for yoga. I deserve to take a moment, even a month or two, to just sit in the cut and enjoy. So what if I don’t wake up until 11 a.m. on Saturday. I earned it. So what if I decide that sweatpants on the sofa night trumps working out. A practice of wellness and fitness allows for a day off. Unlike the folks who just have to let you know every time they and their smart phone cross the threshold of the gym, I live low key. No selfies from the mat or while holding a dumbbell. My focus is me, gaining energy and strength and peace of mind or whatever it is that I need during that session or class.
The past month has been restful and rejuvenating in many ways. I missed the time with the BF and my family. I missed books. And I needed time to plan and determine what I truly wanted to do with the achievement of being a certified teacher and how I want to impact those around me. I think I’m in the groove now, which means ramping up my personal practice, getting out to new studios and connecting with more like-minded people.
Do you feel a similar pressure to always be in “beast mode”? How do you overcome the “Fear of Not Doing Enough” brought on by social media?
Here is the long and the short of it: I FINISHED!
After eight weeks of work, (some) tears, plenty of sweat and, thankfully, an absence of blood, the Scorpions completed the 200-hour Certified Yoga Teacher program. Much love to my fellow students, our trainers and the loved ones who dealt with our absence for those weekends. Although I’m convinced the BF secretly loved the training program because he got to watch college and professional football undisturbed all weekend!
Now that I’m finished, I’m seeing friends, sleeping and enjoying life. Even though I’m not in a studio 12 hours a day, I’m still working on my (semi-) daily practice because that’s the only way I’ll grow and start sequencing series of my own. In yoga training, we studied more than 100 poses, which only scrapes the surface of the full range of yoga poses and the ways your body can express a posture, from beginner to advanced. Below are some of the poses I will be focusing on as I commit to a daily practice, deepening my range of motion and moving to a higher level of understanding.
This pose gave me the blues for the longest time. I was making the mistake of thrusting my head back to reach for my feet without first learning how to open my chest and lift up out of the lower back. Best advice I got about Camel: Squeeze your glutes. Harder than you think, squeeze them, and press your hips forward. Use your inner thighs to stabilize and press into your shins.
I have a confession. I’ve fallen out of Crow pose, onto my face, no fewer than two times. Since I have cat-like reflexes, I managed to get an arm in front of my face before it met the floor. The damage from embarrassment was done. As you can see from the photos below, I have some work to do before I can achieve two goals in this pose: knees in the armpits and straight arms. Again, this is why I practice. I’m excited to see the progress in this, since I have dated photos of where I have been.
Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana)
This is one of those lifetime goal poses for me. Inversions scare most of us – the thought of being upside down, supporting oneself completely, can be scary. Once I learned about the proper alignment, I stopped throwing my legs over my head. Best advice I’ve received: engage your mula bandha (root chakra). Using the muscles in the center of your body helps to align the body, engage the thighs and torso and stay centered in an upside down position. Next step for me is to find my center and balance without the use of a wall.
Now it’s your turn: What is your challenge? Is it a specific posture? Finding an inspiring series? Tell me your favorite posture and how you’re working it in practice.
Entrepreneur and fellow Dallasite Courtney over at Think & Grow Chick inspired this post outlining September’s results and October’s goal planning and challenges. I appreciate the simple way she outlined her post and we all know that accountability helps move the needle. Here I go!
LAST MONTH’S RESULTS
I didn’t set goals for September the way that Courtney did so this section will be lean. Speaking to accomplishments in September, I did manage to post about my yoga journey not once but twice. At my 9-to-5, I got plenty of face-time with department leadership by proposing new projects outside the scope of my role. Finally, I managed to learn quite a bit by falling on my face – I might write about that experience – and saying “No” to a volunteer opportunity that I knew wouldn’t be fulfilled to the level needed by the organization leader.
THIS MONTH’S BUSINESS GOALS
This quarter of the year is all about development, from professional learning to expanding knowledge of yoga philosophy.
CURRENT CHALLENGES
CURRENT SUCCESSES/WHAT’S WORKING
Next week we graduate from the teacher training – I expect it to emotional and exciting – and the real adventure begins. Eight weeks has flown by quickly.
Check out Think & Grow Chick and join the B-Side Facebook group for inspirational discussions with female entrepreneurs!
The straw had been laid to the camel’s back, and that back was broken. The emails kept rolling in, alerts had my cell phone vibrating back-to-back and the to-do list was growing. Finally, I threw up my hands. The stressed feeling was familiar and there was no way to alleviate it while remaining in the situation causing it. Finally, I told myself: “I’m taking a mental health day.”
Since I was a teenager, mental health days have been essential to establishing a balance between the go-go mentality and just taking a day off to do nothing. All my sister and I had to do was simply ask and, if the wind was blowing the right way (and we’d been keeping up with other duties), my mom would nod and the PJs would stay on. Mental health days mostly consisted of watching junk daytime TV and eating three sandwiches in one sitting. Now, my mental health days are dedicated to yoga.
When I was at my most down, I was on the mat about five days a week. I’d come into the studio with my shoulders up to my ears, breathing shallowly. Each class left me exhilarated and exhausted, sweating through every pore in my body – I’d seen drops materialize on my shin in front of my eyes – and working muscles that hadn’t been used in hours. Yoga became a place where I could disconnect from all requests, notifications and expectations except my own. The same feeling from earlier iterations of mental health days mainfested itself as a reaction to my practice.
September is National Yoga Month, which means so much more to me as I go through teacher training. I write this post because yoga matters so much to me and as part of the #YogaMatters blogging contest put on by the Master of Public Health program at George Washington University. I couldn’t imagine going through life as a super-stressed, unhappy person, and yoga helped me find my center. This is not to say that I don’t still get stressed; I’m human. Yoga helps me find coping mechanisms so the stress doesn’t take over my life. Deep breathing, inversions, meditation, silence, creating intentions for my behavior – all of these form my practice. Practice is the right word because yoga is never perfected. Yoga is an ongoing journey that depends on my mental and physical well-being, and that changes from day to day.
Check out the #YogaMatters contest, and write about how yoga has affected your health.
Sponsored by MPH@GW Public Health
So I haven’t forgotten about blogging about my yoga training. Suffice it to say: it’s intense. I’m in a group of 21 students, from all walks of life, different ages and professions and reasons for being there. The days are long and there is a lot to learn. But I’ll get into that in a different post.
Today’s post is about the random thoughts I have floating around that I want to share with the lovely people who happened to click on this link.
Alright, off to prepare for this excellent four-day work week. Oh, and plot for my world take over. As always, I love your comments so please leave one.
With one week until I begin the 200-hour teacher training, I’ve been reflecting on how I will use my practice to make a difference. Should I volunteer to teach? Will I join a smaller studio to lead classes on evenings and weekends? In all my thinking, I must have put something out in the universe. And the universe is telling me that I need to be visible, whatever I do.
Last month, The Atlantic posted a story that was sure to get my click: “Why Your Yoga Class Is So White.” Though the studio I attend can boast a slightly more culturally and age diverse group of practitioners, I don’t think it would be too much of a stretch to state that when most people think of yoga, they picture a skinny, ponytailed white woman, able to bend and stretch into impossible positions. A 2012 Yoga Journal study cited in the article states that more than four-fifths of Americans yogis are white. The article goes on to talk about studios and instructors who are working to change this percentage by offering low-cost yoga in underserved communities. As a product of an underserved community (shout out to Southwest Houston), the reference to the role religiosity plays as the preferred method to improve health (greater than meditation or yoga) resounds with me. More often than not, we attended Bible study, worship services or another activity at the church as frequently as I now attend yoga classes. While I would not say that yoga practice has replaced my religious practice, I do find similarities between the two in the repetition of mantras and routines, charismatic leadership and group assembly.
Much has been made of Black American women and lack of prioritization of physical fitness. According to the Office on Women’s Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, 4 of 5 Black women are overweight or obese. As the daughter of a mother who struggled with her weight and imparted the need for wellness to me and my sister from an early age, I’ve managed to avoid any weight-related issues, in part due to my yoga practice. By being visible and discussing how yoga supplements my weight and aerobic training, I’m setting an example to my niece and other young women.
The second article to discuss the lack of diversity in yoga came from Forbes. I’d summarize this as the discussion of the “Columbising” of yoga by the West, first the British and then Americans. The separation of the physical practice from the mental practice of meditation is not a facet of yoga that I’d ever considered before. However, after recalling some of the obviously competitive people I’ve had the pleasure of being next to in class, this makes sense. The focus on a wholistic yoga practice, one which includes the exploration of the history and principles of the practice, understanding the body and exploring mediation, is part of the reason why I signed up for the teacher training.
I write all this to say that I recall the feeling of being the only person in my class, and how it required me to get outside of my comfort zone and where I thought I belonged. That sense of not belonging gave way to a more peaceful, less stressed version of myself as I deepened my practice. Becoming an instructor allows me to be part of breaking the mental and visual barrier, one that keeps men and women from discovering the healing properties of yoga. This will be on my mind as I take my first step on the mat as a student next week, and will guide me for the subsequent eight weeks.
For some inspiration, check out the following social accounts: Black Yoga Superstars and Hippie Heathen.
Photo courtesy of Dave Rosenblum via Flickr
There is a saying that I’ve seen for years but only recently come to understand: “If your dreams doesn’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.” Once I made the decision, or the decision was made for me, to stop letting my work contribute only to the bottom line of other people, I truly got this phrase. Fear can be a big motivator; it can move you forward or it can keep you in one place. Once I got the swift kick in the tail that made me reevaluate my career trajectory and start looking at additional streams of income, I used any residual fear to move me forward.
With a bit of fear and a lot of excitement, I am super happy to tell you that I signed up for the 200-Hour Training Program with Sunstone Yoga Academy. The classes at Sunstone are what kept me sane and in phenomenal shape for the past 18 months, and the philosophy of their teaching resonates with me. I want to learn how to instill the feeling of peace and the ability to leave stress on the mat that I receive after every class with others. So, I’m taking my first step.
Clearly, I don’t mind being “different.” One goal in doing this, aside from learning more about my yoga practice, is to expand the visibility of African American yoga practitioners. While I know several women who integrate yoga into their exercise program, some view it as an Eastern practice at odds with Western Christian practices. I want to change those minds and help them discover a new way to keep the body and mind healthy.
I’ll be detailing my progress on here (because, of course I will) once the training begins next month. Until then, if you’re in the Dallas area, check out Sunstone (if you’re near the Skillman Live Oak location, holler at me so we can meet up). Are you a yogi (or aspiring to be a yogi)? What do you enjoy the most about your practice?
Right now, I’m wrapping up my last call with Mia Redrick, and I want to get some reflection in as I listen to her advice to our group. The fact that I, the woman who refuses to wake up before 7 and can’t imagine caring for anything that doesn’t walk on four legs, have been learning from Mia, who markets herself as The Mom Strategist, for the last year resulted from a combination of timing and need. After I got fired last year, I was in need of inspiration and direction. A travel industry client turned friend Tawanna of Mom’s Guide to Travel recommended that I have an initial call with Mia to learn about her services after telling me how much Mia’s guidance had helped her.
The first call was like talking to that friend/mentor/auntie who told you exactly what it was with a firmness and warmth. After discussing what I was trying to do for myself and my potential business, I had to mention the most obvious point: I’m not a mom. Knowing the insane amount of time management, patience and planning that women who are both mothers and entrepreneurs need to be successful, I wasn’t sure I was in need of the same guidance. Mia reassured me that her advice and insight applied to all, and that I would find value in the group setting combined with one-on-one conversations.
Value is just the beginning of what I found with Mia. Her straightforward approach and the fact that she could relate to nearly every heartache the group had been through gave us the space to be honest. From the importance of outsourcing, outreach and collaboration to product planning, the fact that I wasn’t a mom didn’t mean much as I gathered nuggets of wisdom. Above all, Mia preached self-care, which was the word that I needed after a year of stressing as a young professional.
I would recommend that anyone who wants to learn about how to run a business without running themselves into the ground reach out to Mia. I’ll miss being able to email her with my inner thoughts (I may still tweet her though) but I’ve gained some friends and contacts through the group that will continue to inspire me as I figure out what I’m doing while knowing it’s okay that I don’t have all the answers.
Thank you also to the ladies in my group:
Tawanna Browne-Smith – Founder of Mom’s Guide to Travel
Rani Robinson-Kiganda – Founder, CEO of Craft Web Solutions
Christine St. Vil – Author of Whose Shoes Are You Wearing, Founder and CEO of Moms In Charge
Rita Roane Blackwell – President, That Wine Girl
Mia Clapp – Clapp Studios (Photography)
Crystal Morgan Marable – Founder, Graceful Girlz
