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Anti-racism and commitments for my yoga business

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Anti-racism and commitments for my yoga business

Olivia Marley

I haven’t posted anything on this blog or my social media ever since I became aware of the murder of George Floyd and have been reading about anti-racism. To be honest I haven’t known what to say – I’m quite a private person and always intended my online presence to only be about yoga. But in the time I’ve been quiet I’ve been doing a lot of reading and thinking (and sharing content I support, believe in, or simply like on my Instagram stories. To those people that already noticed the change in my stories content and have unfollowed me because of it: SEE YA 👋🏻).

In the time I’ve been quiet I’ve learnt a few key things:

  • I used to think the term ‘white supremacy’ only related to right-wing extremists. Now I realise how wrong that was

  • That it’s not enough to not be racist. In a society that is so unbalanced, I need to be actively anti-racist

  • Following on from that, keeping these thoughts to myself isn’t just about being a private person any more – it amounts to passive support of the status quo

  • That as a liberation practice this work falls well within the remit of the traditional philosophical roots of yoga.

One thing I keep thinking is that I can’t imagine how jarring it must have been for Black social media users when other Black people were killed by the police and people like me just carried on posting their normal stuff as if it wasn’t happening. I’m so sorry.

I also wondered what all the businesses who posted their black squares on #blackouttuesday were actually going to DO to change. So as well as continuing with my reading list and doing this work in my personal life, here are the things I commit to doing in future to try and improve my yoga business:

  • Speak to my students to find out what it is like to attend my classes as a Black person or person of colour and consider how I can make them more inclusive

  • Run regular fundraising classes to support the Runnymede Trust

  • Learn more about cultural appropriation and the role it has played in modern yoga, and to adjust my teaching accordingly

  • Do more training with BIPOC teachers, having realised on reflection that most of my training has been with white men

  • Keep supporting the businesses I love that are owned by Black people and search for more to support (and if you're not sure why that is important, try watching Trigger Warning with Killer Mike on Netflix).

I'm sure I'll make mistakes with this work and apologise wholeheartedly for those in advance. Any advice, thoughts or comments are very welcome. Let's be better 💜