AltarHouse

Offerings

The "Woke Yoga" Workshop

Offering yoga in diverse communities 

Statistically speaking, the majority of people teaching yoga are young, female and white. If you are offering yoga in schools, for veterans, in prisons—you may be working with a population that is racially, ethnically or culturally different from you. You understand the benefits of yoga and are working to spread information and access to those who can profit, but the best teacher with the best intentions will face cultural landmines that can undermine the purpose and benefit of yoga. In this workshop, we offer suggestions for navigating many of those potential problems so that your program offerings can be most effective.

We discuss the importance of practicing and sharing “whole yoga.” Our premise is that the entire science and system of yoga—cultural grounding, ethical lessons, self-care practices, and mindfulness techniques—can enhance the benefits to clients, but also support the yoga teacher in providing consistently mindful yoga offerings.

This workshop welcomes (and challenges) anyone who wants to provide a more accessible yoga experience.

Native Yoga

Yoga at the Tribal Grounds of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation

Tamara Jeffries 

This yoga session was one of a series on health-promotion events offered by

the OBSN, a small, historically-rich Indian community in Alamance County, North Carolina. This session respectfully introduced the health benefits and traditions of yoga, while honoring the traditional tribal space and a branch of Tamara's ancestral heritage.

• July 8, 2017
• OBSN Tribal Center
• Burlington, NC

Chair Yoga

Sessions with Seniors

Tamara Jeffries + Santiba Campbell

We offered a gentle, whole-body practice that they were able to do from the comfort and security of their chairs. Our sequence was designed to accommodate a range of physical conditions, with an eye to increasing flexibility and mobility. The best part was the laughter! These girls just wanted to have fun.

First Friday Yoga Party

#ShakeYour Chakras and 

#GetDownDog

Wooing Nature invited us to shake it up yoga-style at their First Friday Yoga Party series. No soothing music and meditative states here! We practiced yoga to thumpin' dance beats, and enjoyed drinks and snacks in the beautiful space at HQ Greensboro downtown.

• Fridays, Fall 2016
• HQ Greensboro
• Greensboro, NC

Book, Blog and Media 

Development

When it's time to get your words off the mat and into the world, we can help. As a national magazine editor turned college professor, Tamara Jeffries has helped brilliant experts bring their books to fruition. She has worked with nutritionists, psychologists and M.D.s, and contributed to a number of health and wellness titles, including as an editorial contributor to the Journal of Yoga Service. She writes frequently about physical health, personal growth, family, relationships, and spirituality.

When you're ready to write a book proposal, manuscript, e-book, article or blog, she can help.

Mindful Munch

Eating with Intention

with Constance Brown Riggs, RD

We watch fat, carbs, calories, gluten... But are we watching ourselves when we eat? New nutrition science says that conscious eating may be a surer path to good health and ideal weight than following "official" nutrition guidelines or diet trends. This non-judgmental, food-positive workshop or webinar focuses less on what we eat than how and why. We discuss pyramids and portion sizes, food foreplay, hunger versus craving, and the role of memory, and emotions in what we eat. We mindfully examine eating habits through the lens of yoga principles while we practice "tasting" with all our senses.

Presentations

YogaFest NC 2019

Whole Yoga/Brave Space: Diversity in Practice

Tamara Jeffries + Santiba Campbell, Ph.D.

For teachers offering yoga service in “non-traditional” communities, the “Whole Yoga” model helps intentionally infuse asana practice with philosophy, history and culture to address nuances related to race, gender, body image, religion, identity and other diversities that impact students’ experience of yoga and their ability to benefit from it. This presentation helps yoga teachers acknowledge and address cultural difference and develop teaching practices that welcome diverse populations.

• March 23, 2019
• Raleigh, NC

National Association of African American Studies National Conference

Yoga While Black: Teaching a Historically Indian Practice at a Historically Black College

Tamara Jeffries + Santiba Campbell, Ph.D.

When Bennett College—a small, private, women’s college—added yoga to its course offerings, it became one of the few historically Black institutions to do so. But concerns and questions arose among the student participants. Our methods for addressing issues such as race, religion, body image, infrastructure and other concerns, are a model for teaching yoga on college campuses and for addressing issues of diversity in the broader yoga community.

• February 11-16, 2019
• Dallas, Texas

25th Annual HBCU Faculty Development Network Conference

Free Their Minds: How Yoga and Mindfulness Can Help Depressed Students Succeed

Santiba Campbell, Ph.D. + Tamara Jeffries 

Depression and anxiety are rampant on college campuses across the country, including at HBCUs. Progressive institutions are looking for ways to address this problem. To address the alarming number of students who report mental health challenges, Bennett offers yoga, mindfulness and contemplative practice programs—and collect data on the impact and outcomes. This presentation addressed considerations that go into offering yoga on a Black college campus, including addressing race- and gender-based trauma; religion and yoga; and cultural appropriation.

• November 1-3, 2018
• Jackson, Mississippi

Black Communities: A Conference for Collaboration

Yoga While Black: Bringing Mindful Practices to Historically Black Space

Tamara Jeffries + Santiba Campbell, Ph.D.

As an expansion of Bennett College's popular yoga course, we developed an interdisciplinary mindfulness program that crosses disciplines including media, psychology, business, literature, social work, women’s studies, and others. The goal is to create a campus-wide environment that supports mindful practice, as a way to address stress and depression risk among our student population. Here, we describe programmatic and research models and preliminary outcomes.

• April 23, 2018
• Durham, North Carolina

Depression on College Campuses Conference

Offering Whole Yoga: Developing an interdisciplinary yoga and mindfulness program at a historically Black college

Santiba Campbell, Ph.D. + Tamara Jeffries

Since Bennett College--a small, Southern, historically-black women's college--added yoga to its course offerings, the course has been in high demand. Students were looking for stress relief. We present our approach to serving the distinct needs of this student population.

• March 13-14, 2018
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Yoga Service Conference

Best Practices for Cultural Competency: A View from a Historically Black College

Tamara Jeffries + Santiba Campbell, Ph.D. 

Teaching yoga to the unique population at Bennett College points out the need to increase cultural awareness and eliminate micro-barriers in the yoga world. Using social psychology theories and yoga principles, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for yoga teachers to bring greater cultural awareness to their instruction.

• May 19-21, 2017
• The Omega Institute
• Rhinebeck, NY

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More?

We offer private and corporate classes, yoga parties, worship workouts, and yoga for seniors and youth. We can tailor a yoga workshop for your service organization or interest group. Interested in getting a class going? E-mail us!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~