Friends, join us today on @neda ‘s Facebook page for a LIVE discussion on how to create a paradigm shift in the #yoga and #fitness industries. I’m talking to @melmelklein, @buddha_body_yoga, @diannebondyyoga, and @colleenmwerner about ways we can make change to ensure #inclusivity, #access, and an approach to teaching and practicing that’s in line with our values. All you have to do is go to NEDA’s page at 3 pm EST! •
#bethechange #whatayogilookslike #representationmatters #haes #yogaforall #yogaforeverybody #accessibleyoga #fatyoga #queeryoga #transyoga #nonbinary #fatliberation > #bodypositivity #bodypositive #bodypositiveyoga #bodyneutrality #allbodiesaregoodbodies
2019 has been a whirlwind year, that's for sure. So many of my relationships--with others, with myself, with concepts--look completely different from where I'm standing now than from where I was standing at this time last year. But rather than a sense that I've been standing still and watching the winds of change whip around me, it feels more like I gave in to the wind this year, let it carry me to a new vantage point, a new context to explore. I'm a little disheveled perhaps, but I'm grateful.
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My relationship with time saw a profound shift this year. For so long, I was constantly feeling the push and pull of simultaneous urgency and waiting. So much to do, so little time, right? And there IS so much I want to do--a book that's REALLY crying to be let out of me, projects I want to devour to sustain myself, be it financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually.
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Somehow it feels like I've been able to transmute time lately, as if the finite bounds of a second remain rigid, and yet within that container I've been able to find a whole minute, an hour, a millennium. The sense of panicked urgency has, at least for now, abated. Things are getting done, there's movement where there was previously stuckness, days feel full and mostly smooth, balanced. I'm working. I'm resting.
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At the same time, this year has passed so quickly. I keep thinking, "Didn't we just do this?" and realizing that was a week, six months, a year ago. I don't feel like I'm waiting on anything--I'm doing just what I need to at just the right time. For any given event, at exactly the moment my impatience would kick in during the lead up, suddenly, it's here: I'm on that flight. I'm hitting "send." I'm climbing into bed.
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I'm not sure if I've just gotten lucky, if my attempts to find more alignment in life have been working, or both. But I'm so grateful for this expansive time, this level of joyous productivity that isn't tied to my worth, just my desires and intentions.
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I'm bringing some of this calm, time-bending energy to a new class & location, starting tonight! Join me at @numiyogacp in College Park Mondays at 8 p.m. for some deep breathing, gentle movement, and restoration.
“Do what feels good to you.”
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“Follow your heart.”
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“Go with your gut.”
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Sometimes it’s framed as advice, sometimes as an instruction, but I hear these phrases across contexts and all the time. And it’s good advice...right?
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Maybe. If you’re really in tune with your body, your desires, your intuition, your resources, it might be great advice. But what if you’re not? What if trauma, capitalism, oppressive constructs, or pressure from a dominant culture or a social norm has cut off your ability to feel or interpret your wants and needs? If you’ve forgotten what “good” really feels like, how do you honor it?
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I’ve been there. In some ways, I’m still there, still rebuilding a relationship with my pleasure and agency. But I feel a lot less stuck than I used to, and a lot closer to glimpsing what a self-determined future might look like.
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Many of us, particularly those of us in marginalized bodies, have experienced the systemic demonization of our desires. This is not an accident—it’s one way that systems of supremacy strategically work to make us less free. Sometimes this means that what we most need or desire is held out of our reach, and we need to work together to liberate those resources and liberate our communities. But before we can do that, we need to understand what it is we’re actually reaching for, needing for, longing for, consenting to, saying a full-bodied “YES” to. Do you know what you want? In your heart? In your gut?
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We’re exploring these questions and what the tools of #yoga can offer us in our quests for #agency THIS SATURDAY, Nov. 16 at @willowstyoga in Silver Spring, MD. Join us for community discussion, personal reflection, and opportunities to connect to your body and desires through exploratory movement practices. The studio is #accessible and no prior yoga experience is required. Register at willowstreetyoga.com/pleasure (link in bio).
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📸 @cinlife •
#desire #pleasure #agency #pleasureactivism #yogateacher #accessibleyoga #bodyneutrality #fatliberation #queeryoga #transyoga #fatyoga #curvyyoga #bodypositiveyoga #yogaforall #dcyoga #yogadc #whatayogilookslike #representationmatters
