How Being “Other” Changes Your Yoga Practice

For people who carry trauma, oppression, or identities outside the dominant culture, yoga may look and feel different:

• You might need more grounding and less stillness.

• You may need permission to keep your eyes open.

• You might prefer movement over long holds.

• You may need language that doesn’t trigger perfectionism or shame.

• You might need a teacher who honors your boundaries without question.

• You might need to be given modifications in a way that makes you realize WHY, so that you don’t think you’re “less” or “wrong” for accessing a pose differently.

Your practice doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Yoga is not about performing a shape—it’s about returning to yourself in a way that feels safe and sustainable.

The ultimate goal of the way that I incorporate yoga into 1:1 guidance work with clients so that each client understands WHAT a tool is for (why this pose? why this breath?) and WHEN to use it, so that they don’t have to wait for their hour-long yoga class to chill them out and can learn to respond to what their nervous system needs moment to moment in their daily routine. Working 1:1 with me WILL change how you show up in a yoga class because you will learn to advocate for yourself and have confidence in giving your body what it needs, no matter what the environment is.