An Open Letter to White Teachers & Members of IYNAUS Regarding the Recent Statement About George Floyd

I’m a white person, and I consider one of my roles in the social justice and racial justice work is to help other white people find their way into this work. So with that in mind, this is an open letter to white people in IYNAUS and on the IYNAUS board.

I’ve been struggling with my feelings about the IYNAUS statement regarding the uprising. I have been thinking about how to respond in a way that calls my friends in and lovingly invites you into a learning process. I love this community and I’m so glad you made an effort to be part of this moment. And I have wanted the yoga world to get more involved in the fight for justice – that’s why I joined together with friends and colleagues to help stage a session on social justice at last year’s IYNAUS convention. I'm struggling with my frustration about the people who did not take the invitation we offered at that session. I don't want to go too easy on you and make this comfortable. But ultimately, I want to thank you for being here. I hope you can hear what I have to say about it.

I'm offering 6 topics to go deeper on in the days to come. Skip to the bottom if you want to see what those are. 

That statement is very obviously not connected to how leaders of the moment think about the uprising. I think trying to go through it line-by-line and explain what is wrong would be too much to digest, or not give people credit for trying. I’d have to write a book about the struggle for racial justice to really explain it. I don’t think anyone would read that, especially if you haven’t already read some books about the fight for racial justice. So let me just start by saying this:

You know when you have a new student who shows up for your advanced yoga class and they assure you they know yoga and are ready for what you will teach, but while teaching the very first pose you can see they don’t. Their knees are bent, they don’t know how to use their legs or lift their chest. They clearly don’t understand alignment. You can’t teach them enough to catch them up in one class. You try to do your best, gently offer them corrections and alternatives, and then invite them to come to a more beginner class so they can learn the basics.

That’s where we are with this statement dear yoga community. You have come to an advanced class and you clearly don’t know the basics. And the thing about that when it comes to racial justice is that you are communicating to your people of color friends that you don’t get what they are dealing with. As well-intentioned as the statement is, that kind of communication does additional harm. It shows our colleagues that you haven’t been listening to them, or connecting to the reality of their day to day struggle.

That requires an apology and I hope IYNAUS will offer one, along with a commitment to do the work required to do better.

Meanwhile, I want to help. I’m glad you’re here – you want to be in a conversation about racial justice in America? Thank you. We need you, but only if you stick around long enough to learn how to be more skillful.

I see at least 6 topics that would help create a firmer foundation for IYNAUS and its members to connect to this moment. In the coming days, I will cover one topic each day. I’m not saying I am the singular voice on this – that would be wrong. I’m one white person who works in this world. I’ve done a lot of reading, and I have deep relationships with leaders in the field who hold me accountable. I have learned because of their patience, wisdom and willingness to take risks. You won’t get it all by reading my blog, you’ll just get my version of how to start. You also need to read the recommended books. You need to be willing to consider your own role in upholding systemic racial inequality. You need to be willing to do things differently, not just think differently.

Here are the topics:

White supremacy. We tend to think White supremacy refers only to members of the KKK, or armed neo-nazis marching in Charlottesville,  VA. Wrong! White supremacy is an ideology that permeates all of our systems. Most of us white people don’t really see it because white supremacy tells us we’re normal, we’re right, we’re obviously good. That feels good! It feels as natural as breathing air. We have to see how we participate in that system and what we can do to start breaking it down. This is critical work for yoga teachers because yoga in the US is completely entwined with white supremacy, and our studios are primarily white spaces. We can’t build relationships with other communities if we haven’t come to understand that. We can’t invite people into our spaces if we haven’t learned how to make them safe(r).

Overpolicing and criminalization of black bodies and black communities. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmed Aubery, and so many others (Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, Philando Castille, Sandra Bland, I could go on and on) – these murders are the culmination of everyday overpolicing and criminalization of these communities. It goes back to slavery. Slavery ended, but overpolicing became the default mechanism for reproducing the political and economic dynamics of slavery. It never left. Yoga teachers need to understand this and be able to understand how your studio is situated within this.

Allyship. There are specific principles and guidelines for being a good ally. White people can’t just show up and do good. Often times when we do that, we do more harm. If IYNAUS wants to be an ally, you have to know these principles. You have to be in relationship to them.

Outreach & charity vs. partnership and building together. Framing our work with other communities starts from an understanding that we know yoga is a white space in the US. Please don’t let me hear anyone contest that when the need for change is framed as outreach. Outreach reinforces the power dynamics of the current system. It suggests that we’re going to stay the same, and invite other people in. That won’t make change. What makes change is being willing to transform the dynamics of the relationship – to create real equality; to put people and communities of color at the center instead of centering white people. And to be willing to dismantle the power structure – including how resources are amassed and distributed – instead of struggling within it.

Systems of oppression and trauma and how yoga could help heal or harm that trauma. Yoga has a tremendous potential to address the trauma created by systems of oppression. But not if you don’t understand them. And definitely not the way Iyengar yoga is taught in many studios. As I have come to work more in the realm of addressing individual and community trauma, I’ve changed how I teach. Our work could be a very powerful antidote to white supremacy and racial justice, but first we have to do the work to be skillful witnesses and supporters for communities working through trauma.  

Action plans. There are clear things yoga communities can do. If IYNAUS intends to make its commitment real, we need action plans that start in the right place. We need to go deeper into inventorying our own participation in white supremacy before we think about outreach. 

This is my effort to be here for my community. I hope if you feel chastised or hurt by this critique, that you can instead turn toward the possibility of learning. I can say – after many years of trying to do this work, many years of making mistakes both public and private – it feels so much better to keep trying to do better, than to sit in ignorance and live in defensiveness when the critique comes.

If you have other topics you want to learn about. If you have specific questions, I welcome them. I also want to be clear that I’m not trying to be a voice that eclipses what people of color in our organization and in the movement are saying. I just want to do the work of helping support the white people who are willing to learn more. I want to create a space where we can center the voices of color who have spoken on these topics, and learn enough to be in a skillful place with them. That means if people of color say we're getting it wrong, we listen to them. Including me and including with this blog. 

With gratitude, love and solidarity forever...