Hi everybody! My name is JoAnna and I'm a yoga instructor in both Vinyasa & Kemetic yoga styles. It is something I can enjoy and can bring to others as a form of pleasure activism -- doing something you love to help your community. Yoga has some fabulous health benefits. Browse Healthline and you'll see several that have to do with relieving stress and improving conditions such as hypertension. As a pleasure activist I'm bringing yoga to the BIPOC community to improve general health, particularly with hypertension.
BIPOC? What does that mean? The letters stand for black, indigenous people of color. I do belong to that community. I can avoid cultural appropriation in two ways. First, I'm teaching the full spectrum of vinyasa yoga. There are 8 limbs of yoga. Many people only focus on asana, the movements and poses, ignoring the cultural and philosophical aspects. I can actively teach 2 and inform about the other 6. Second, I also teach an African based form of yoga, Kemetic. My mom's family is from that part of Africa. Again, I must pay it the same respect in my classes. By avoiding appropriation I can "decolonize" it or remove disregard for the cultures that created yoga.
Getting back to my mission I seek to demystify yoga. There are several myths about it that prevent the BIPOC community from engaging. First, many believe it to be a religion. No, it is not. It is the union of mind and body or spirit and body. Second, people often believe that one must already be flexible and athletic in order to practice yoga. That is not accurate. It is for all bodies at all ages. There are adaptations for just about every pose and there are accessories one can use to assist into poses. Basically, there aren't any pre-requisites. Finally, people think it is expensive. It doesn't need to be. There's no need to spend hundreds of dollars on specific clothing and special mats or to join an expensive gym or club to practice. My goal is to bring it to people virtually and later this year to bring it to cultural & health centers as well as farmers markets and festivals in BIPOC communities.
This goal is part of the reason I am competing for #yogawarrior2021. You can read more about it and vote for me at this link. The more grants and competitions I can win the less I need to charge people for classes because I can keep my operating costs very low. Eventually, I plan to further my studies in both Kemetic and Vinyasa as well as meditation. Help me help the community improve health by preventing and reducing hypertension in a gentle, inexpensive way. Thank you for all your support.