How Clarity in Teaching Benefits Us All: The Curvy Scoop with Michelle Marlahan (Part Two)

I’m so excited to bring you Part Two of our convo with Michelle Marlahan, yogini and studio owner extraordinaire at It’s all Yoga in Sacramento! Today Michelle gives us the scoop on how and why teachers make classes welcoming (or don’t).

Miss Part One of the interview?  Click here to check it out!

What advice would you give to other studio owners about creating an accessible yoga environment?  What makes it worth it to do this?

On one hand, the practice could always be offered as “inclusive” because that’s what Yoga is. But I’m struck right now by another point of view: I think there are certain types of yoga that are not great for certain types of people/circumstances.

Hot yoga, for example, might not be great for someone recovering from an injury who is really fiery and has anger issues. The heat would loosen them up to where they could easily go beyond safety, and could really aggravate their nervous system.

Additionally, if you’ve never done yoga before, you’re pretty much straight off the couch, 50 pounds overweight (e.g., my husband), a power yoga class is not a great starter for you (in my opinion). It’s too fast, it’s too much, it’s too soon.

I guess what I’m thinking is this: just like I am really clear about what type of studio we have, it serves all teachers/owners to be really clear about what they are offering, and make that very clear in the advertising.

Of course, all studios and teachers can be kind and welcoming and respectful toward every person who walks in the door. That’s the heart of it.

What do you think prevents studio owners from making space for many different people to practice yoga?  What would you say to these concerns?

Fabulous IAY students

Oooo, I could get into trouble on this one. Honestly, I think a lot of it is teachers not knowing how to handle different situations. Not knowing what to do for a curvy person when you had planned a side crow. It takes more thought, more skill in the moment, it can disrupt the flow or thought process if a teacher isn’t used to it. I don’t think these topics are often covered in teacher trainings (it’s hard enough to get to the core essentials in 200 hours). Maybe also not thinking of it—not thinking about how the practice is for someone in a body different from ours.  And maybe part of it is being clear about who you want to work with, which will narrow your audience.

I don’t want to bag on teachers — when I was a new teacher I didn’t know how to handle a variety of situations. We just start teaching, do our best, and learn from each experience as we go along.

What inspired you to make space for the Curvy Yogis photoshoot at your studio, and what results have you seen after it?

IAY Lovin'

I do my best to make space for what teachers/students want to do at the studio — different kinds of workshops, parties, one woman considered having her wedding there. All of these things are Yoga as related to connection, study, growth, love, mindfulness. The Curvy Yogi shoot was a full-on celebration of life — nothing more Yogic than that! There’s still a sweet buzz from that connection — talk online and in the studio and deepened relationships. And just by talking about it around the studio and online, awareness and sensitivity grows among students.

In one of our conversations, you mentioned that you think things like Curvy Yoga are part of “a larger movement of yogis and beyond toward self-acceptance, compassion, kindness.”  Could you say more about that?  How are you seeing this unfold?

Mmmm, I see that in the discussions that have happened around advertising in yoga magazines, I see it in slam poetry, I even see it in my 15 year old stepdaughter who has some of the “normal” (not to say “good”) teenage obsessions but seems to be, at least in her group of friends, not trying to fit into the physical stereotype of beauty.

In addition to your work with It’s All Yoga, you’re also an inspiring blogger!  Tell us more about your blog and what readers can expect there.

Fierce Michelle

My blog started through the first teacher training I offered. One of their assignments was to blog through their process — some homework and also whatever came up for them. Figured it wasn’t fair to not do the same.  So in the beginning it was very much teaching-related. It’s morphed several times and is on the precipice of a more formal shift to something I hope will be serving on a number of different levels.

It will have free yoga breaks (from 5 minutes to full-length audio classes), recipes, poetry moments, and stories from life. All offered from the feeling that we (I) are so driven to work and focused on the bottom line that we (I) forget to take care of ourselves. It’s called Love Wasting Time — but it’s really about cherishing, savoring, and finding sacred pause.  I’m super excited about it.

People can sign up for the launch announcement at www.lovewastingtime.com, and in the meantime I’m doing my thing at www.blogasana.wordpress.com.

I know I’ll be signing up!  Won’t you?

A thousand thanks again to Michelle for opening up this conversation about how more than wishful thinking is required to create a truly inclusive yoga class and/or studio.

Also, Michelle and I want to know—what do you think encourages (or discourages) teachers to make their classes accessible for more people of all shapes, sizes and abilities?