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Equity Statements for Yoga & Wellness Professionals

Over the last two years, our world has changed. We are experiencing a global pandemic that lays open for all to see the ways in which our culture and systems have sustained inequities and oppression. The cry for us to speak out has intensified and many feel compelled to issue statements, commit to action, increase accountability, and to use our voices to interrupt, to name, and to show solidarity.

Equity statements are often seen as the first thing “to do.” And so individual professionals and organizations scramble to “get it right.” 

The truth is that crafting an equity statement is actually part of a longer process. 

In this three-hour online workshop, we’ll spend time in community learning fundamental terms and definitions, and exploring frameworks and practices that will support us each in this process—a process that is inherently personal, inherently messy, and inherently growth-oriented.

We’ll ground together, discuss equity, privilege, power, and oppression, and how we can each cultivate a personal voice in the work of speaking out about our values.

The outcome of this workshop won’t include a list of action steps or check-boxes; participants won’t leave knowing the “right” way to create an equity statement. 

Participants will leave with greater clarity around the basic principles of equity statements, their purpose and intention, and how to be in the ongoing practice of relationship-building—a central focal point in any equity process.

This workshop is designed for yoga and wellness professionals. The contemporary western yoga wellness industrial complex would have us believe that there is no place for equity statements—that we are “all one.” What does an individual yoga teacher need an equity statement for, you might ask. Why would I, as someone who works as part of a yoga studio or community, benefit from considering this practice?

Because we are not all having the same experience. Period. Though we are “all one,” energetically and spiritually, it is very clear that we are not treated equally within our systems, our schools, our housing market, and yes, even in our yoga studios and wellness centers. We cannot separate our lived experiences from the work of healing ourselves and supporting others in healing; we cannot ignore the ways in which we carry our privileges into how we show up as teachers or space-holders.

Acknowledging these complexities and naming what we intend to do about it creates the potential for trust and accountability with communities who don’t hold the same privileges. And if we believe that the world we want to create is a community of equality (all-one) then we must begin by naming and disrupting the separations that prevent this from being so.

Our online presence—our website, social media, and larger branding identities, will all benefit from greater transparency about values, reparations processes, equitable access, and the intentions we hold as space-holders while seeking to facilitate healing practices.

We’ll meet on Zoom, Friday, November 12th, noon-3pm Pacific / 3-6pm Eastern.

15% of workshop proceeds will go directly to the National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition.

Please note: in order to ensure that registrants get the very most out of this learning space, we will not be recording or offering replays of this workshop.

Registration is now closed.
Contact Tristan if you have any questions!

 

Workshop Facilitators

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Tristan Katz they/them

Tristan is a white, transgender, nonbinary, and queer writer, educator, and digital strategist based on the ancestral land of the Cowlitz and Clackamas peoples, now known as Portland, OR. Tristan offers justice-focused marketing individual and group mentorship programs for yoga and wellness professionals, along with editing, web and graphic design services, and workshops and trainings centered around queer identity and transgender awareness with an anti-oppression and intersectional lens. They are proud to sit on the Board of Directors at Accessible Yoga—a non-profit working, through education and advocacy, to share the teachings and benefits of yoga with those who have been marginalized, and to identify and remove barriers to access, build strong networks, and advocate for an accessible, equitable, and dynamic yoga culture. You’ll find Tristan on Instagram at @tristankatzcreative.

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Christopher Hirsh he/they

Christopher is a white, queer, non-binary person located in what is now known as Portland, OR—the traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, and Molalla peoples. They are a multi-disciplinary artist, educator, anti-oppression facilitator, and coach. They have spent the last six years studying and connecting meditation/mindfulness, the breath, movement practices, and nervous system regulation techniques with an intention to resource the human body, mind, and spirit, and deepen our capacity in moments of individual and social change. They work with groups and individuals to prioritize ongoing education, promote authentic accountability, and invest in positive action. They’ve trained in performance technique, trauma-informed care, energy medicine, Yoga sciences, breath and vocal production, active listening, psychological first aid and so much more. You’ll find Christopher on Instagram @christopher_hirsh.

 

What’s with two white people offering this work?

We believe it is critical that white people develop their understanding, consciousness, and practices to create the conditions for change and liberation in our communities. As white people who have been invested in our own processes of learning and growth for many years, we believe we are uniquely positioned to support other white people. If you are Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color and want to join to see what we are offering, please do—we have ample experience working across difference and we thank you for your trust. We also know that the most likely participant in an Equity Statement 101 offering will be white; this is the natural course of entry-level social justice education: it’s mostly for white people. And we also know that entry-level work is often much more exhausting for non-white folks to facilitate. Our teachers of color ask us to get our people. So here we are.

If you believe you should learn from teachers of color, we absolutely support your choice and have many colleagues and teachers to recommend. In fact, we’ll be offering recommendations at the conclusion of our workshop. There are abundant opportunities to learn this work from teachers and facilitators of color; we both continually and regularly invest in that practice, and believe you should, too.

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October 20

The Art of Skillful Facilitation: Presencing Race, Gender, & Collective Healing.

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January 15

Creating Safer Spaces: Trans Inclusion in Yoga & Wellness