And in response, the wellness industry has done as markets tend to do when they see the potential of profit: by commodifying culture, centering whiteness, and catering to wealth.

As a result, most people don’t feel welcome or safe showing up at a yoga studio or going into a yoga class. 

But yoga can - and should - be an accessible, equitable, and liberatory community of practice.

The yoga teachings emphasize our interconnectedness. But dominant yoga culture continues to mirror the dynamics of our society: systemic white supremacy, inaccessibility, and rampant gatekeeping. And while fantastic, diverse, socially-conscious yoga educators do exist, their voices and perspectives continue to be under-represented and under-platformed.

As a yoga community, we believe that we all can know better and do better. 

Through combining the ancient wisdom of the yoga teachings with modern practice that takes yoga philosophy off the mat, we can start to make change from within. From there, as a vibrant community of practice, we can be the change we want to see in the world.

Jivana Heyman

Jivana Heyman (he/him), C-IAYT, E-RYT500, is the founder and director of Accessible Yoga, an organization dedicated to increasing access to the yoga teachings and supporting yoga teachers. He’s the author of Accessible Yoga: Poses and Practices for Every Body; Yoga Revolution: Building a Practice of Courage & Compassion; and The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body.

Over the past 30 years of teaching yoga, Jivana has focused on welcoming all people to practice and celebrating our individuality and our differences. His work has focused on dismantling ableism in the yoga world, as well as emphasizing the intersection of yoga and social justice. His books, classes, and trainings support yoga teachers and yoga therapists in finding ways to bring creativity and collaboration into their teaching while still respecting the ancient yoga tradition.

Connect with Jivana:
www.jivanaheyman.com |  @jivanaheyman   |  facebook.com/jivanaheyman

Robyn Bell

Robyn Bell (they/them), is an accessible yoga teacher, an adept community builder, and the founder of Kind Yoga. They create affirming, adaptive spaces where practitioners of all ages, genders, shapes, sizes, and abilities can gather to explore supportive yoga practices and be celebrated for simply showing up as their full, authentic selves.

Robyn has a background in remedial massage and has been teaching yoga since 2013. They have been nurtured over the years by their teachers Rachel Zinman, Aesha Kennedy, Chloe Thorogood, and their treasured mentor Maria Kirsten, and have completed further study with international accessible yoga pioneers Jivana Heyman, Dianne Bondy, and Amber Karnes. Their teaching has also inspired by many members of the extended Accessible Yoga community.

They have been described by friends and colleagues as rigorously open-minded and open-hearted, deeply compassionate, and enthusiastic about bringing joy and delight to the practice of yoga. Robyn currently lives in rural Victoria, Australia and offers gentle Hatha-style, chair, and restorative yoga classes which center inclusion and accessibility, both online and in-person.

Zane r. Ali

Zane (they/them) is a writer, yoga and meditation teacher, parent, creative, studying doula and mindfulness teacher. Zane works for the Accessible Yoga School and the AccessibleYoga Association as a Social Media manager and Archivist. They are presently living on the indigenous land of Bulbancha where they reside with their partner and toddler. IG: @yoga_healing_me

Zane moves through the world as a queer trans nonbinary Black human navigating grief, neurodivergence, and chronic pain. These physical and mental impacts shapes their asana practice and sensitivity.

Zane has been studying mindfulness and yoga since 2015 as they hold over 400 hours in training with focus in anatomy, prenatal yoga, yin yoga and meditation. Zane has been guiding yoga classes since 2016 with a sense of adaptability, deep care and encouragement of exploration and curiosity within one’s personal practice. They currently sit on the Board of directors for the Interdependence Project as a gender inclusion advocate.

In the summer of 2020 Zane gave birth to their first child, and in this presence of being so close to death while giving birth to a human being, shifted them completely. They came into the knowledge of the intersection of Yoga and Social Justice by studying with teachers Michelle Cassandra Johnson (she/her), Tristan Katz (they/he) and Oneika Mays (she/her). Zane seeks to center connection, unlearning, equanimity and dismantling perfectionism when showing up within their community of loved ones and within their workplaces. They have held space for supportive listening, energetic prayer, group yoga classes, private meditation sessions, and uncomfortable conversations that integrate compassion in action. 

Amber Karnes, Co-Founder

Amber Karnes (she/her) co-founded the Accessible Yoga School with Jivana Heyman. She has since stepped back to work on other projects. 

Learn more about Amber's work: Website | Instagram