Written by Zaakhiyah Bikha and Wardah Hartley

15 June 2020

The ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement in the United States has had a ripple effect throughout the globe and has even had us examining our own yoga community. The sad reality is, that much like the international yoga community, the South African one is still very white washed and those not fitting the western image of a yoga teacher  – are more often than not, marginalized or deemed inferior to white counterparts.

This is something that has been spoken about among black and POC yoga circles for years but never really addressed or raised in the broader yoga community until now. The reality is, in order for the status quo to change, the uncomfortable conversations need to be had, non-white yoga teachers and students need to be given a voice in the yoga community.

This is where Yoga In Colour plans to make a difference. Yoga In Colour (YIC) is a movement that bloomed out of the need for inclusive representation, diversity and community healing. It was the brain child of yoga teachers, Zaakhiyah Bikha and Wardah Hartley. YIC is dedicated to giving visibility, building community and creating safe spaces for yoga teachers and practitioners of colour to heal, grow and share knowledge. 

 “There are so many incredible black and POC yoga teachers in South Africa but they are not really celebrated or given the same opportunities as their white counterparts, this movement is going to change that – we want to provide a platform for them to shine,” says Wardah.

 The first project they are tackling is the ‘Yoga in Colour One-day Online Retreat’ which will be on Saturday 20 June. 

“We have so much we are planning to do going forward but first up on our agenda is our one-day retreat, where people will get a chance to move and breathe with some amazing yoga teachers who also happen to be black and people of colour (POC). Non-white students and teachers have many painful experiences they have encountered at yoga studios and this retreat will give everyone a chance to heal and perhaps even let go of those feelings,” says Zaakhiyah.

These are some of the teachers that will be part of Saturday 20th event:

The Retreat will host a panel discussion, the topic - “How do we make yoga studios more integrated spaces for both teachers and students.”  The panel discussion will take place from 14:00-15:00pm Saturday 20 June via ZOOM – all welcome to contribute to the conversation.

The event is donation based. All proceeds will go towards empowering people of colour that would like to pursue a career in yoga.