A New Year’s Resolution for Queer and Trans People of Color
Qui Dorian talks about his passion for yoga in 'A New Year’s Resolution for Queer and Trans People of Color: Forget the Gym, Occupy Yoga Studios' on QWOC Media
Qui starts out sharing his frequent sense of alienation as queer, trans, brown, man in yoga studios. He says,
I can’t stand the fact that every time I walked into a yoga class the teacher is a skinny white woman who looks at me funny and then asks if I have “ever done yoga before?”
But goes on to explain his love for yoga and his "dream of seeing a queer/trans/brown/round yoga studio in every community."
And [as a trans man], I love that yoga made me not hate my body anymore. Yoga teaches me that I can be in my body, even if it hurts and I don’t want to; that anybody, in any body can change themselves, their communities and the world; that how I show up to the mat is how I show up in my life; and that if I can’t be compassionate with myself, when I practice, I can’t expect to do the same when I take on the world’s challenges.
Qui articulates a fierce commitment to share the gifts he has been given with his communities, saying
Being out, and present, and seen, as a trans man of color, especially when my comrades and community don’t have the ability to do so, is worth the effort, worth the pain; I can and will dive in, surrender to this purpose, because yoga has taught me how.
Read the full article at QWOC Media: 'A New Year’s Resolution for Queer and Trans People of Color: Forget the Gym, Occupy Yoga Studios' by Qui Dorian
If you are interested in Queer and Trans Yoga, you may want to join the Queer and Trans Yogis group on Facebook.