Did you know today is yogaRIOT’s birthday? We turn FIVE today! 🎉 yogaRIOT’s doors were first opened on July 3rd, 2015. This picture was taken today as we prepare to re-open our doors and welcome you all to our new home 🤗
#5years #yogaHOME #yogaCOMMUNITY #yogaRIOT ...

If you were in last night’s Restorative flow, you got a sneak peak of the new studio! 👀 Annie taught live FROM the space (pictured above!!) for the first time! We will soon be teaching AT our new home! Stay tuned for more sneak peaks and updates 🤸‍♀️ #new #yogaSTUDIO #yogaRIOT ...

108 SUN SALUTATIONS ☑️ View our Instagram story or check our Facebook post to watch the whole practice 💪

How did you celebrate today? 🎉
#InternationalYogaDay #SummerSolstice #SolarEclipse #FathersDay #NationalSelfieDay #yogaRIOT ...

...and to celebrate we’re doing 108 sun salutes! Get your yoga in with us at 9 AM (PST) in Sellwood Park or virtually- yogi’s choice! 😉 If you’re joining us virtually, try practicing outside if you can!🌿 In the spirit of #NationalSelfieDay, please take a picture of your practice today and share it with us @yogariotpdx and tag #internationalyogaday 🙏 Maybe even include your father or child in the #selfie 😊 #fathersday Get ready for some fun sun salutations ☀️ #solareclipse
Not too late to sign up— link in bio‼️ #yogaOUTSIDE #yogaRIOT ...

#Repost @wildroga ・・・
How are you
Stepping out of your comfort zone?
Asking questions?
Stepping into play?
Making rituals that work for you?
Focusing on the rhythm?
Feeling into that rhythm?
Celebrating small wins?
Listening to the beat?
Releasing your inner critic? (Ok, trying...but still!)
Improvising?
Trusting your steps?
Trusting your voice?
Acting from a place of love?

My practice has changed, it has turned into a series of small bursts of moving, dancing, laughing and sometimes tears but at least once throughout the day I’ve asked myself how am I stepping

Out of
Firmly
Completely
or Into TRUST of myself and others.

Practice.

What is your practice looking like these days? Doesn’t necessarily need to be yoga mind you. It can be your music, your art, your cooking, your routine, your expert burrito rolling skills! ...

Join us for 108 Sun Salutes in Sellwood Park this Sunday to celebrate International Yoga Day! Sunday is also National Selfie Day, Father’s Day, and the annual Solar Eclipse! ☀️ Wear your cutest mask (not while you’re on your mat) and come to a social distanced yoga practice at 9 A.M. View our story to see where we will be located in the park!
This class will be taught by Annie and will also be live streamed for those who want to join us from home anywhere in the world! 🌎
Link to sign up for either version of the class in our bio 🤗 #internationalyogaday #108sunsalutes #yogaANYWHERE #yogaOUTSIDE #yogaRIOT ...

Again.
Again.
I watched a video again today. Of a black man being murdered by the police again. In Atlanta again. In Boston. In Minneapolis. In Portland. In America. Again.
Say his name. Again.
Rayshard Brooks. Again.
George Floyd. Again.
Breonna Taylor. Again.
He was sleeping it off in his car. Again. Asleep in her home. Again. Selling cigarettes. Buying cigarettes. Eating at Wendy’s. Driving home. Walking home. Eating at home. Again and again!
We will march! Again! We will express rage! Again! We will insist on MURDER CHARGES AGAIN!
Register to vote again! Defund police again!
Because we can not become complacent, again.
Because the sound of our brothers’ and sisters’ pain is too loud to not hear it. Again. @wonder_devocion
#blm #rayshardbrooks ...

Thank you yogaRIOT for sharing your platform. I’m Mira, and I work @livingyogaor as a Training & Equity Facilitator. I wanted to share my thoughts not as a yoga teacher or practitioner, but as someone committed to doing antiracist work for the long haul. A bit about me: I identify as a queer South Asian woman. My mom is Pakistani and my dad is Indian, and I’m the daughter of immigrants. I’m often reminded that my life is shaped by histories of colonialism, racism, and the ways these work to exploit land and labor. At the same time, I recognize that within this diverse South Asian community, anti-Blackness is rampant. Just as White people are called to address and dismantle racism and anti-Blackness in their communities, South Asians need to do the work too. Being in solidarity with Black folks and communities means channeling money to Black-led organizing; educating ourselves about the history and continuing legacy of racism; understanding how caste oppression and colorism intersects with anti-Blackness, and being willing to interrupt and dismantle the oppressive hierarchies that exist in our communities; recognizing the inherent anti-Blackness of the model minority myth; and listening to and supporting the demands for institutional and systemic change. I’ve benefited and learned so much from activists, writers, scholars, and folks speaking up about injustices. If you can, support their work financially and amplify their voices, because what they do is critical labor. @blackwomenradicals @wellreadblackgirls @laylafsaad @kendriana.speaks @resmaamenakem @dalitdiva @thepolisproject @decolonizethisplace
#blacklivesmatter #blm #southasiansforblacklives #amplifymelanatedvoices ...

“I have never been in a yoga class with more than 5 black men and even that is a reach. When I became a teacher, I felt that those in the black community, especially my black male friends, did not understand and laughed at the idea of me doing yoga and being a yoga teacher. On the opposite side of the spectrum, those in the white community have almost clung to me in a tokenized way. For most parts of my yoga journey I have had to think 5 steps in advance. How will the music affect my students? How will my students perceive me based on the music I play? How do I perform an adjustment without seeming threatening? Are students just in the class because I am black? How can I make sure that students feel safe with me yet also see that I am strong? These are only some of the things that I think about. Up until 2018 I was continually looking on Instagram to see if I could find another black male who taught yoga and was near. I wanted to have a community, I wanted to look around the room and see those who looked like me, not just feel welcomed in the space, but to see myself represented in that space.

It wasn’t until I moved to Portland and was asked to join BLACK MEN BEND and BLACK BOYS OM that I started to see my self represented everywhere (virtually). I was able to have these conversations with other black men about our teaching styles and how we can stand out. Before that time looking at Instagram for black male yogis was very hard to find. Now, with the click of a few hashtags, I can see that black people around the world are practicing yoga. Being a part of this movement for the past year and a half has changed my perspective on yoga in the world and more specifically my community. I now see how integral it is that the black community have a space where we are able to gather and practice together consistently, even if it is virtually. Having the ability to practice with black men around the world allowed me to ground down in my practice where I was. When I first came to yoga, my impression was that the ones who make an impact are skinny/muscular, white, males or females.
Continued below ⬇️ ...

“A message: My name is Day. I am a Black woman who practices yoga. I am the founder of @omthrivefoundation, a nonprofit organization that encourages healing from domestic violence trauma through yoga.
My practice started from desperation to heal my body. I was broken physically, mentally and spiritually. I very much experienced overt racism, covert racism, overtly covert racism on and off of my mat. The White women guilty of these offenses had NO CLUE that I came to the yoga studio to ESCAPE the abuse I experienced in my home. Had they known would they have treated me differently? Does it really matter WHY I’m there in order to be treated with civility? With compassion? With respect?
Obviously the majority of my yoga studio encounters were not unpleasant and I was blessed to find a community that embraced me. That is my goal with Om Thrive.
I am asking YOU to please ask yourself how your implicit bias plays a role in welcoming new faces, skin tones and body types to your studio. You may have NO IDEA why we are there but your studio may be the safe space that saves us.
Thank you @yogariotpdx for making space for me.” #BLM #BlackLivesMatter #blackyoga #blackyogis ...

#BlackoutTuesday ...

“A yoga that does not hold social justice at its heart is not a complete or true yoga.” - Lakshmi Nair, founder of Satya Yoga Cooperative

Annie and Kari, the teachers and staff, and every community member of yogaRIOT stands with people of color every day. Yoga is UNION. Yoga is BREATH. Yoga is LIFE. In a yoga practice, we find the tools to manage the world no matter what it throws at us. Yoga is not just a personal practice. It is a way of living in the world. Yogis are called upon by the sutras to create a world where people of color can go to yoga and feel safe, on the way home. Please VOTE. Your voice and your vote matter everywhere. Please actively openly support POC on social media. Please police the police. Please donate to causes that support social justice like @splcenter and @aclu_nationwide. Please recognize and manage your own inherent racism. Please raise children who know all races are human, equal, and in need of basic human decency. Please know that there is no justice until we all have equal protection under the law. #BlackLivesMatter #justiceforgeorgefloyd #justiceforbreonnataylor #justiceforahmaudarbery #yogaRIOT ...

Second (home) #StudioSaturday! 🏠 Guess which one of our teachers teaches from this space in the comments below arrow ⬇️ Stay tuned for the answer tomorrow, and don’t forget to share what your own studio is looking like too! #yogaRIOT ...

“A RIOT is the language of the unheard.” -Martin Luther King Jr. #yogaRIOT #breakyoursilence #standupforwhatyoubelievein #justiceforgeorgefloyd #blacklivesmatter ...

#FlashbackFriday to the very early days of yogaRIOT! Raise your hand if you’ve been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and practicing outside 🙋‍♀️ #yogaANYWHERE #yogaOUTSIDE #yogaRIOT ...