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The Local Cooperative Diversifying Denver’s Yoga Community
Satya Yoga Cooperative believes Denverites of color deserve a welcoming yoga environment—and the healing it brings—too.Victoria Carodine •
Not too long ago, Beverly Grant visited a yoga studio in the Five Points neighborhood of Denver. “I immediately got pissed going in there, with the way I was received,” Grant says. “The way they were looking at me.” To Grant, the message was clear: The Front Range yoga community was white. At best, she was different; at worst, she was unwelcome.
Lakshmi Nair knows the feeling all too well. After moving to Denver in 2004, the veteran yoga instructor spent a decade searching for a studio where she felt comfortable. “I didn’t see a lot of people of color teaching yoga,” Nair says. “Not even practicing.” So, in 2018, Nair started Satya Yoga Cooperative, a Denver-based network of teachers focused on healing Black and brown bodies and minds. The group hosts lessons for those looking to practice but also organizes teacher trainings—the hope being that greater diversity among instructors will draw more people of color to yoga. “You want to learn from someone you think could understand, right?” Nair says.