BLACK LIVES MATTER
Sea Change Yoga is angry and heartbroken for the family and friends of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and myriad other Black Americans who have experienced discrimination, intimidation, violence, and death in our country. We stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and with our Black community members. We recognize that our society has been governed by a belief system rooted in white supremacy for too long. And, as an organization led mostly by white-identified people, it is our responsibility to do more.
Racism is the opposite of yoga. In Yoga, the first principle of ethical behavior is Ahimsa, often translated as nonviolence or compassion for all living things. Considering Ahimsa, yoga teacher Donna Farhi suggests we ask ourselves, “Are my thoughts, actions, and deeds fostering the growth and well being of all beings?” (link). The Bhavagad Gita, a foundational yogic text, puts action at the core of a yoga practice: “Yoga is skill in action. Do every action to the best of your ability.” In yoga we aim to achieve a state of oneness, a level of consciousness, in which we feel connected to all beings. We recognize that we are all one. Far too often yoga in the West has become a practice of self-improvement rather than a practice for our collective healing, and well being. In its truest form, there is simply no room for white supremacy in modern yoga.
Sea Change Yoga believes that yoga and racial justice are intrinsically linked. We can’t have one without the other; taking action to free all beings from harm and rise as one is a part of our yoga practice we fully embrace. Trauma-informed practices teach us to stop asking, "What's wrong with us?" and, instead, ask, "What's happened/happening to us?" We can utilize the embodied practice of yoga and trauma-informed principles as a framework for examining our position within a racist society, and we can be leaders in the yoga community to help facilitate this often uncomfortable and difficult lifelong process.
Sea Change Yoga is committed to work together as staff, board, teachers, community partners, and students to learn what steps we need to take to further our commitment to racial equity and justice. We invite your feedback and participation as we reflect, plan, and take action. Today, we commit to:
Initiating the development of a scholarship program for Black, Indigenous and People of Color to participate in yoga teacher training.
Providing paid racial equity training for our white teachers in the next 10 days and continued, consistent, and meaningful ongoing trainings in the future.
Amplifying Black, Brown, and Indigenous voices by compiling and sharing an anti-racism resource guide including books, articles, podcasts, trainings, etc. with a focus on the intersection of wellness and racial justice.
Establishing a Race Equity and Justice committee to examine the organization's policies and practices in order to identify ways to become more anti-racist and to identify new opportunities for action. The establishment of this committee builds in organizational accountability for taking steps towards becoming anti-racist over time.
“If we do not begin to shift the conversation of yoga to center love, justice and truth telling then, as a people, we will not survive. As a culture and collective of yogis we must go deeper, dig deeper, and use the platform of yoga to create healing, justice and peace.” - Michelle Cassandra Johnson
Will you join us in committing to action? Here are a few resources to get you started, more on the way soon.
READ: Skill in Action: Radicalizing your Yoga to Create a Just World by Michelle Cassandra Johnson
BLOG POST: "I need to talk to spiritual white women about white supremacy" by Layla Saad, Part 1 and 2
CONVERSATION: The Wellness of We, Day Five: Wellness Beyond Whiteness - How to Get Free and Imagine a Wellness Beyond Whiteness with Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Michelle Cassandra Johnson, Anasa Troutman, and Seane Corn
PODCAST: Yoga is Dead, Episode 1: White Women Killed Yoga
WEBSITE: Decolonizing Yoga