For George Floyd: You deserved to Breathe. Your Life Mattered.

Dear friend,

We at Yoga Sanctuary join in solidarity with voices everywhere who cry for justice and an end to the murder of Black people WHOSE LIVES MATTER. 

George Floyd: Your life mattered.
Ahmaud Arbery: Your life mattered.
Breonna Taylor: Your life mattered.
Tony McDade: Your life mattered.
For all those whose stories were not told, heard, or believed: Your life Mattered. 
Black Lives Matter and they always have.

We understand now more than ever that insidious racism and inequities persist in our society, and that every single one of us needs to raise our voices and take action anyway we can. Not only in this moment but daily, we must examine: where have we been failing? 

Many translate the word yoga to mean union, and the idea of union, a sense of coming together into wholeness, is absolutely part of the yogic path. However the root word for yoga is yuj, which means to yoke or to bind.

If we bind ourselves to our own healing and wholeness, we need to not only turn inward to heal ourselves, but outward to help heal the world around us. We need to bind ourselves to our values, by standing up for them daily. And when our values are that #BlackLivesMatter, I have to ask myself, what I am I doing to move the world forward into a reality where Black lives are valued and protected? What am I doing as a Yoga Studio owner to ensure that we are breaking though the exclusivity and inequity that you can see when you look out into so many yoga classes- into a sea of white faces? 

At YS, Sara and Jen have had several conversations in the past year acknowledging these inequities that show up in so many yoga studios, including our own. We have committed ourselves to sustain these conversations as we search for meaningful action in order to promote equity and justice. We have taken small steps, knowing there is so much more that needs to be done. White supremacy is not comfortable to talk about: but being comfortable, I understand more than ever, is a white privilege. Real yoga is about being willing to investigate discomfort, to stay with it and then learn how and what to adjust (just as we do in a challenging yoga pose).

Today Yoga Sanctuary donated to the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance. It's only a start but it arises from our solidarity with Black yoga teachers and our hope that every small step matters as we say: I see you. It's your turn to be heard. Your voice matters in the world.

I hope we won't forget this collective grief, anger, and loss too soon. I hope we've reached a tipping point where change is the ONLY option moving forward, and that means each one of us has to do our part.

We are always open to your ideas and suggestions, to help us do our part.

Because everyone deserves to breathe.

Humbly,
Sara Rose, Jen, and the YS Family