I first came to practice yoga in 2013 as a college freshman at Georgia Southern Univeristy. What started off as something fun to do for a required physical ed. course elective, became a lifestyle change that ignited my passion for holistic health and wellness.
Yoga has helped me to connect with myself and the world around me on a deeper level. It has taught me how to manage through the ebbs and flows of life with more ease and less resistance.
After leaving college I moved out of state, first to Jacksonville, Florida, and now Los Angeles, California. If you have ever moved to a new place (and especially to a place where you have a limited social network), then you know that experience is not an easy one. Despite the challenges that came with moving to new cities, in both places I always found community through yoga. Yoga was the invitation I needed to explore my new city.
In Jacksonville it was the Riverside Arts Market, where I got to do yoga every Saturday morning overlooking the river, before shopping at the farmers market and small businesses. It’s also where I attended my first Yoga Fest and tried my hand at ariel and acro yoga.
In Los Angeles it was yoga at parks, museums, beaches, homes, and studios in Long Beach, Inglewood, South Central, and all around the city among folks who are just as passionate about wellness as I am.
In an everchanging world yoga has been a constant for me. Helping me to find stillness in the midst of choas. Giving me opportunities for community and connection. And always reminding me that I can return home, to my mind, body, spirit, and breath. Yoga is my reminder to check in with myself, and to be gentle with myself in every moment, especially when life is life-ing!
The thing I love even more than my yoga practice, is sharing it with others. Like the time I invited my coworkers to free yoga after work.
If you know me personally or follow me on social media, then there is a good chance I’ve invited you to some type of yoga or wellness function. It has brought me so much joy to be in community while practicing yoga and engaging in wellness.
Sometimes I still get a side eye when I share my love of yoga (yall know that look that says “We don’t do that.”). And reasonable so, as yoga, like many other things, are underrepresented for minority groups. I love to remind my people that yoga and wellness is for us too! And we especially can benefit.
I want to become a yoga teacher in order to expand the diversity and representation in yoga and wellness spaces, and bring even more opportunities for health and wellness to the communities I serve.
I decided to deepen my yoga practice by training at The Tree Yoga Cooperative (The Tree), the first studio I practiced at when I moved to Los Angeles. The Tree is a black and brown owned yoga school and wellness hub in South Central LA. Their training curriculum explores the role of social justice and community building in yoga, and doesn’t just teach yoga poses but explores the philosophy of indigenous cultures, and educates on the full and true history of yoga which was first derived in Africa. After completing my yoga teacher training I was hired to teach at The Tree as a teaching sub for gentle and beginner yoga classes. I am also spending this summer teaching kids yoga at local summer camp programs in Los Angeles.
I am forever grateful for my yoga journey and the beautiful opportunities I have had to share space and be in community with others.
Sending love and light 🧘🏽♀️✨
~Chelsey
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