𝐘𝐨𝐠𝐚 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲… I wrote this poem in late 2019 and performed it live at the Graduate Students of Loyola Marymount University Social Justice Poetry Slam while studying in the LMU Yoga Studies Graduate Program in 2020 right before the global pandemic shuttered all things in-person.
At the time, it seemed like there were so many bigger, more substantial issues going on that I never completed or shared the film I created to go along with my words… words that felt so personal to me at the time, but also seemed to speak to the frustrations and lamentations of colleagues, comrads, and community who felt some-type-of-way about their practice and positionality within the margins of the “Western yoga world.”
Now, several years later, I revisit this creative work in a post-pandemic world, with a post-graduate mind, and living in a still unfamiliar postpartum body.
Everything is different, yet my timeworn words couldn’t ring truer for me AND though some strides were made during the “social justice reckoning” of 2020+ the yoga “industry” still has much work to do in the realms of 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, and though motherhood has brought with it a current of quiescence, my 𝘺𝘰𝘨𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 of work continues, and I look forward to expanding my public offerings in the near future in the form of more classes, workshops, Teacher Trainings, and social/communal, creative contributions.
📣💬𝘐’𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶 — 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘨𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺?✨🙏🏽❤️
🎶 music: The Blue Pearl by Jesse Gallagher🎵