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.
