HEY FRIENDS!
Community and Connection.
We were born out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to connect. We missed our studios and gyms, our routines, our community, and the energy that comes from sharing a space. Except something else happened, we also kind of liked it. We started listening to our body more, but still got that little push if we felt like we needed it. We got to roll right out of bed and into class or right into bed after. Taking class didn’t take up so much of our day and left time for other things, like spending more time with family, ZOOM dates with friends, reading, catching up on a show, getting outside more, doing laundry that we’d been avoiding, and for a lot of us, making our first attempts at sourdough.
It seemed like the perfect time to embrace moving forward, rather then just going back. This is may be an online platform, but we still run a lot like your hometown studio. Our “in person” classes use ZOOM to help us connect in REAL TIME. REPLAY on demand classes are also offered for those days when your schedule just doesn’t quite line up with ours.
We’re cutting commute time and adding more time to reflect on how we honour ourselves and our community.
Our Promise
Yoga and fitness is for everybody and every body.
Except it’s not. At least not right now.
The predominant image of the health and wellness industry is upper to middle class, white, cisgender, straight, able-bodied, thin identifying. And even if you meet all of this criteria most people who fit the bill still feel like they are not enough.
We hope to help change that.
Brittany here, the founder of On and Off the Mat with Friends. And guess what... I identify as middle class, white, cisgender, straight, able-bodied, thin (but not thin enough). I have invited a few of my friends to help me start this endeavor. I expect them to be critical of how the show up in this space. I expect them to be constantly reflecting and taking action against overt and systematic racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, ableism, cultural appropriation, and spiritual bypassing. That also means I expect everyone in this space to do the same. Likely we will mess it up, but we must be willing to grow - to value impact over intention.
This isn’t enough. Representation matters.
As we continue to grow as a community we will be adding a more and more diverse group of instructors to our our roster as well as having our instructors decide what they want to bring to the table in terms of class style and offerings.
It is each person’s responsibility to learn about their privilege. It should not be expected that it someone else’s responsibility to teach them.
We understand that these conversations can be uncomfortable and you may want to walk away or change the subject, but we also recognize it is a privilege to be able to do so.
If we start to show up for each other, to support each other by looking within ourselves, to acknowledge and embrace our differences rather then pretend they do not exist, we can shift the status quo.
Meet the team
Instructor Bios to help you get to know each of our instructors or speakers a little bit better! We believe in the value of sharing our stories from the silly to the serious.