This Yoga Instructor Is Holding Space for You
One woman’s quest to create sacred spaces for all bodies
For many women, the journey to authentic self-care involves meaningful practices like meditation, mindfulness, and yoga. As I searched for a more spiritually grounded and inclusive yoga practice in my hometown of Austin, Texas, I came across predominantly White studios that focused more on the effects of yoga on the body than on the holistic well-being of the practitioner. Then I discovered the Sacred Feminine Yoga workshop run by Melanie Holst-Collins, where she attempts to make yoga more accessible and meaningful for women of color across communities.
In this workshop, there were women of color of all ages and body types dressed in fashionable clothes meant to make them feel sensual. Though the studio room was intimate, dark, and welcoming with sensual music, my body immediately tensed up when we were asked to line up our mats in front of a mirror that ran the length of the wall. Some of the poses Melanie modeled for us were familiar to my body, but then we were told to touch our bodies in front of the mirror, looking ourselves in the eyes.
Under Melanie’s instructions to “make it extra,” we picked up the tempo, moving our hips off the mats, each of us in…
