What Is Yoga Without the Namaste?

I found my happy place in a space free of microaggressions

Illustration: Astrid Caballeros

During the opening circle of the Starshine & Clay Retreat, the founder, Octavia Raheem, instructed the more than 40 Black and brown women assembled at Mandala Hall on Bald Mountain in Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia, to simply breathe. Eyes closed, legs crossed, and bottoms planted firmly on the ground, we exhaled…