HEY FRIENDS!
WE can’t wait to get to know you!
Building community is super important to us. We want you to feel seen and heard (even if you choose to not run your camera!). We hope you will pop into those REAL TIME classes a few minutes early to get know us and the other community members, maybe dive into a check in question or two found in the chat, or to let us know if you have any questions or concerns before we get started so we can support your needs and to help you find what will work for you!
MEET THE TEAM
Head to our Instructor Bios to get to know each instructor or speaker a little bit better! We’ve introduced our weekly and guest instructors and speakers by having them answer a few interview questions, so we can start the practice of showing up authentically in this space!
A REMINDeR oF 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. IT IS ALWAYS 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.