News

Local project that pays people of color to do yoga is thriving

SOME OF THE more than 50 students who take part in Yoga Equity Project classes at Otter Creek Yoga stop for a photo after a recent workout. Photo courtesy of Joanna Colwell

MIDDLEBURY — In 2020, Joanna Colwell launched a radical program at her yoga studio in Middlebury. The Yoga Equity Project would pay people of color to take classes there. The idea was to make Otter Creek Yoga a more inclusive space by breaking down two of the barriers that prevent some Black and Brown folks from taking yoga classes: the cost, and the fact that most yoga classes, especially in Vermont, are primarily filled with whiter, wealthier people.

THIS LOGO FOR the Yoga Equity Project was created by Will Kasso Condry, a prominent Vermont artist and who is, himself, a person of color.

“Get paid to relax” was the first slogan Colwell used when advertising the affinity space class, which is also taught by a person of color. Five years later, the project is thriving and has recently inspired another Vermont studio, Laughing River Yoga in Winooski, to create its own Yoga Equity Project modeled after Colwell’s.

Here’s how it works: Yoga students participating in the project get a $20 stipend each week they attend a class at Otter Creek Yoga. Some participants use their stipend to come to the affinity space class, which is just for folks of color. Others use theirs to come to any general yoga class at the studio. “It has totally changed the demographics of our studio,” Colwell said.

A recent BIPOC class included nine college students, two older community members, and two 10-year-olds. Eight other college students of color participated in a general yoga class later in the day because it fit their schedule better.

“More than 50 students attended the four classes offered that day at Otter Creek Yoga, and half of those folks were People of the Global Majority,” Colwell wrote in a recent email to the project’s supporters.

JOANNA COLWELL, WHO started the Yoga Equity Project, poses with Sasha Quattrocci, who commutes from Richmond each week to teach the class in Middlebury.
Photo courtesy of Joanna Colwell

So how can a little yoga studio in Middlebury pay for the program? The first year, Colwell did a very yogic fundraiser. She and a friend asked folks to sponsor them in a challenge performing 108 sun salutation over 90 minutes. The next year, after a successful six-week trial run, the Yoga Equity Project got a $25,000 grant from an anonymous donor through the Vermont Community Foundation.

In addition to paying participants, the money goes toward paying the instructor, Sasha Quattrocci, who commutes from Richmond each week. The Yoga Equity Project gets its 501(c)3 non-profit status through the Community Resilience Organizations, a Vermont nonprofit that supports smaller projects focused on racial equity and climate resilience around the state.

“It’s all about helping Vermonters who are the most marginalized get through this time we’re living in,” Colwell said.

The same anonymous donor has funded the program each year since, and this year doubled the grant to $50,000. Which is great, says Colwell, because the program is still growing. Colwell hosted a party at the studio last week to celebrate the five-year anniversary and invited more than 90 people who have recently participated in the program.

“Because of that grant, we’ve never had to say ‘no’ to anybody,” she said.

Later this month, Otter Creek Yoga is adding a second BIPOC-only class to its weekly schedule.

The project, said participant Kristin Hocker, “has helped me settle into a new yoga home in addition to making Vermont my new home. It has been wonderful to practice in a space that is committed to yoga beyond the asanas (yoga poses), including the practice of being a beloved community, fostering social justice through reparations, and embodying an authentic sense of belonging.”

Share this story:

More News
News

Voters OK $3.5M to replace Vergennes/Panton water main

Residents of Vergennes and Panton on Wednesday voted in favor of spending up to $3.52 mill … (read more)

Homepage Featured News

Middlebury scientists are among Trump’s targets

Executive orders by President Trump have cast a shadow over millions of dollars in federal … (read more)

News

A dozen run for spots on Bristol library board

Without a doubt, the most crowded races on Bristol’s Town Meeting Day ballot this year wil … (read more)

Share this story: