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Have you ever felt yoga or associated yoga as a “White thing”? While the roots of yoga are over 5,000 years old and link back to Northern India, somehow finding a yoga space in the U.S that is diverse seems almost impossible. In 2014, the Atlantic published a post called “Why Your Yoga Class is So White”, which stirred up conversation around this topic.
As a Black wellness traveler, practicing yoga allows me to access my wellness within, and it’s a wellness habit I love to bring on the road- read here for nine more easy healthy travel habits.
While I don’t have a routine physical class I attend when traveling, Yoga on Youtube has been an excellent resource to use to jump start the day or before bedtime to help wind down from a day of exploring with my husband.
When I first began my journey practicing yoga stretches on Youtube, it was difficult to find diverse yoga instructors. Similar to physical yoga classes, I found Yoga in Youtube to carry the same association as a “white thing”, but instead it was online.
As a Black individual who loves yoga, with Black friends who also love yoga, I knew there must be a space for “Black yogis” on Youtube. And there are!
Honestly, the deeper I searched the more diverse spaces I found within the yoga community on Youtube. These diverse spaces are created by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) yoga instructors/individuals sharing various practices like quick vinyasa flows, and all things yoga with their community.
Pro tip: If you want to take your yoga a step further, try incorporating a mantra, quotes that inspire you, use essential oils, or try practicing yoga outside.
Benefits of yoga
I often overlook the power of stretching, but it can do wonders for your body! Moving your limbs gently, feeling the slight tug and pull of your muscle relaxing as they lengthen.
Research suggests these magical movements ease your body and mind, improves sleep quality, and releases tension while increasing energy. It can also improve posture— this is especially important when traveling if we find ourselves doing novel activities. Even as little as 5 minutes of yoga a day, can positively affect the brain and mood.
Other surprising yoga statistics found from the Yoga Alliance about yoga and its health benefits include:
- 72% of yoga practitioners are women
- 43% of yoga practitioners are between the ages of 30-49 years old
- In the US there are about 37 million yoga practitioners
- 86% of yoga practitioners say they have stronger mental clarity than non-practitioners
- There are 5 main reasons most people start yoga: improve general health and wellness, flexibility, stress relief, to get physical fit and general fitness.
- Can make you happier and helps improve balance
List of yoga on Youtube for beginners:
Here are some excellent BIPOC Youtube channels to help you get your body moving. These channels are diverse, offering yoga stretches for beginners and yoga stretches for back. There’s also yoga stretches for legs (which are great if you’re a traveler like me) and classes for yoga stretches in the morning. I hope this list inspires your yoga practice as it inspires mine, from these various black yoga instructors!
All types of yoga:
Erica Rascon is a Black yoga instructor who specializes in Trauma Conscious Yoga Method, and she also talks about the benefits of essential oils such as peppermint oil for headaches!
Yoga by Biola A Nigerian-American yogi who shares accessible yoga, explores emotional well-being, self-care and more.
Mysore Yoga Teacher Training Institute (Samyak Yoga). This channel is created by Samyak Yoga Ashram located in Mysore, India. On this channel they cover all things yoga and the different practices (Hatha, Vinyasa, Samyak, Ashtanga).
Andrew Sealy is a Black male yogi who’s a vegan. Shared on his Youtube channel are beautiful combinations of yoga stretches, wanderlust and nature to help you realign your soul.
Channing Hixon, a Black yoga teacher who talks about diversity in Black Lives Matter movement. She crafts yoga Youtube classes for building heat and flows for releasing injustices and negative tensions.
The Mat Project is a yoga community. It provides free yoga training to children and women who are at risk or have experienced trauma. Their yoga channel is led by Shelley Nicole from Sovereign Hands Yoga for restorative and gentle yoga deep stretches.
Tiffany Rothe is a Black fitness instructor who leads different types of workout ranging from HIT to strength training, dance, and yoga, all with an emphasis on shrinking your waist and toning up your body.
Yoga on Youtube & meditation:
Bright and Salted Yoga is run by Arianna Elizabeth, a Black yogi. She creates an intimate space for other Black yogis to dive into their yoga positions and meditation practices.
Faith Hunter is a Black mediation and yoga instructor who also talks about spirituality.
LiveNaturallyLove is created by Denise Francis, who shares her journey of self-love as a woman of color. Her channel has a couple videos on how to mediate, and the benefits of yoga.
Yoga Konga shares African Yoga, or Kemetic yoga that originated from the city of Kemet in ancient Egypt. This yoga form aims at connecting with divine consciousness.
Body positive yoga:
Jessamyn Stanley, a Black yoga enthusiast who teaches yoga for all as well as yoga for bigger bodies. She has an awesome “Size Doesn’t Matter Yoga Challenge”, and also shares yoga stretches for beginners.
Edyn Loves Life, is a Black yoga teacher that’s plus size, teaching the art of self-love through yoga. She helps empower others and build their confidence.
Dianne Bondy Yoga. This Black instructor teaches yoga for bigger bodies. Her yoga on Youtube channel also talks about diversity, and body positivity.
Adapt To Perform, run by Ben Clark, teaches accessible workouts and wheelchair yoga positions. He also shares nutrition and motivational advice.
Yoga equipment list for beginners
Whether you’re a beginner yogi who practices at home or one who enjoys practicing on vacation — here is some equipment for yoga anyone could use.
- Yoga mat. These are great for practicing yoga on, and some mats are lightweight which are excellent for traveling.
- Yoga pants. We all love yoga pants! Both comfy and snugly these pants are great for practicing in and for traveling.
- Sports bra. For protection and support of your twins.
- Yoga blocks. These are great for at-home use.
- Yoga straps. This equipment is great for helping you stretch further and get into those tight spaces.
- Water bottle. Grab a water bottle to help you stay hydrated during yoga. My favorite is a hydro flask, which doubles as a great travel water bottle as it’s great for keeping your beverage either cold or hot.
- Mat wipes. Sanitize and clean your yoga mat with natural disinfectant wipes.
- Yoga socks. These socks come in handy when you’re practicing yoga in the cold. There’s both toe-less socks and socks with grips so your feet stay nice and warm.
If you’re interested in learning about more gadgets, read more my popular post — The Best Equipment for Yoga.
Why yoga is for everyone
In fact, research from the Yoga Journal shows the benefits of yoga is ever expanding. Providing evidence that yoga can improve wellness and health, help with pain, provide clarity and help boost your immune system. While yoga spaces can sometimes be the opposite of diverse, don’t let that scare you away from channeling your own inner yogi.
Understanding the benefits of yoga, and knowing there are other BIPOC yogis just like you, will provide even more inspiration to try that downward dog or head stand you’ve wanted to try. There’s also the Black Yoga Alliance and Yoga Green Book to learn more about black owned yoga spaces.
Personally, I have experienced the beautiful healing power of yoga. After I was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury from a concussion, practicing yoga along with traveling, and incorporating more simple healthy foods and snacks, helped change my transformational energy.
Before yoga, some of my symptoms from the traumatic brain injury were: severe migraines, dizziness, severe headaches, depression and more. I was nervous to try because of these uncomfortable symptoms. But, after a few months of practicing yoga on Youtube, the intensity of my symptoms declined.
Now I practice yoga weekly, to help with my symptoms and my husband will even practice with me! This is my transformational story, but yoga on Youtube really makes yoga accessible to everyone.
Whether you need yoga for back pain, bigger bodies, or restorative practice for healing, yoga on Youtube for beginners has something for everyone. You can use it during travel, when you need a quick pick me up session, or a break between long working hours.
Yoga isn’t a white thing. It’s a wellness space for everyone.
Yoga on Youtube and travel
Moreover, once you start your yoga journey, yoga and travel can be a powerful tool. You can visit new studios when traveling to learn more about that culture and its yoga ties. As a Black female wellness traveler, trying yoga at different yoga studios has been another way for me to connect with people and taught me how to maintain wellness and health while traveling. I’ll admit, sometimes it’s been hard to meet yogi friends while traveling.
However, every yoga studio I’ve encountered has always been welcoming, as we inhale and exhale through the beautiful flow of doing yoga together. It’s rewarding and even comforting to follow the lead of the instructor. Besides, once you’ve become familiar with the different yoga poses, you can follow along in any language!
After all, yoga is all about the inner work, helping you to be more mindful and grounded. There is so much power in practicing yoga abroad, or on Youtube with other BIPOC. It serves as reminder that reminder that everyone can do yoga, and wellness is for everyone.
Additional wellness-related resources:
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Very insightful tips.
Thanks for this ! There is also OM GREEN Wellness for straight up power /vinyasa flows
I’ll have to check those out, thanks for sharing! Do you have a favorite you recommend?