Yoga's origin texts suggest we are made of five layers. The outermost layer is known as our "food body" – the bones, tissues, blood, and nerves that motor us through life. The innermost layer is the "bliss body" – our divine consciousness where peace reigns supreme. In between the two is a complicated tumult of breath, energy, thoughts, feelings, and wisdom. If we only pay attention to the outermost layer in our practices, then yoga has limited value. The hallmark of an integrated practice is how we negotiate the inner mix with the outer world.

We are now standing in a very public square, where wellness and social justice intersect. Around this intersection stands the scaffolding of four hundred-plus years of institutionalized, legislated, monetized, and tolerated racism. For too many, it's dressed up in the facade of just getting along, of "not seeing color," and anecdotal red herring arguments that anyone can make it in America if they just work hard enough. At this intersection, we are either unwittingly benefiting from the structures around us, or suffering in their shadows. Neither condition serves the cause of wellness in any community.

The practices on which we hang our hats are critical to self-care, but to believe that we can meditate this problem away is known as a spiritual bypass – a super highway of "love and light" that speeds past the public square of injustice. With the same reasoning that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," we are not living the truth that all lives matter until we look at the fact and force of history and present that compel us to join the millions of hurting voices crying out that Black Lives Matter.

At Sun & Moon, we seek to do the hard work of rebuilding our share of the social scaffolding, and we commit to learning more and doing better going forward.
* We commit to ongoing implicit bias training and honest conversations among our teachers and staff.
* We commit to bringing in more voices of color to our regular teaching staff and visiting teacher roster.
* We commit to carefully examining where we are appropriating rather than honoring the culture that brought us yoga.
* We commit to expanding the portions of our teacher training programs that address diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in the yoga space.
* We commit to expanding our Yoga for Good program to leverage financial support for organizations that elevate the causes of Black and indigenous people of color.

We've encouraged our teachers to make space during classes for deep reflection. We also know that so many of you are committed to this work as part of your personal intentions, and as we all learn more, listen more, and donate more, here's a list of books, articles, podcasts, documentaries, social media accounts, and organizations that we hope will help guide you on your path: https://bit.ly/3hamTxI