Dharma

Photography by Leah Fassett @leahfeidh

Teaching SHErecovers Yoga in my community fulfills my dharma in more ways than one. Not only am I tapping into my love for the physical; I am providing for and serving others in my most aligned form. I’m helping to facilitate the healing and I’m creating accessibility to a practice that has far too many barriers. Taking a magnifying glass to everything that brought me here and to this feeling of THIS IS IT is no coincidence.

When I start to consider where this mission began for me, I instantly think of the studio where I took my first yoga class. It was a donation-based yoga studio in the heart of NE Minneapolis, MN called Yoga Sol.  I was able to attend this class as a high schooler, despite limited cash flow, because of its donation-based mission. I fell in love with the practice and wound up interning and eventually working for the studio after graduating from college. The energy I put into this space alongside my community, helped me link together everything I admire about yoga with my passion for civic engagement. When I really started to dive head first into the yoga world, I came to realize how pivotal this mission of accessibility truly is. 

As yoga instructors, we can’t close our eyes to what is happening in the yoga world today. There is a multifaceted exclusivity present that cannot be denied. I want so badly for this image to shape shift from money and small bodies to healing, inclusivity, and connection. We do this together with donation-based models that don’t turn a single soul away. We do this by showing up in new spaces and underserved communities. We do this together by educating our teachers to provide instruction for every body. We broaden our reach by showing up in every way we know how instead of solely showing up in the ways we were initially taught or considered the standard.

Teaching SR Yoga in my community is how I’m going to step up and show up. I didn’t learn this practice to only show up in studios. I didn’t come this far to turn people away. I didn’t come here to uphold the exclusive and capitalistic structure that is the picture of yoga in the West today. I came all this way to show up in every way I know how with the tools paramount to healing. My trauma informed training with SHErecovers knocks down barriers, creates access, and breeds inclusivity. Every part of my journey has taken me to this practice of resiliency and grace.

Photography by Leah Fassett @leahfeidh