How many black men in their late 40s do you know teaching yoga and wellness? I met Reggie about 10 years ago as he began his mindfulness and wellness journey at the age of 40. Our conversation here, about what it means to practice being well, had all the threads of love, health, grace, peace, and joy (words he used in an email exchange after our talk). It’s a different kind of talk than the ones I normally have on this podcast, and that's because Reggie's emergence into this practice has come from half a lifetime of pain, grief, disappointment, and other feelings he says are necessarily ones you can't shy away from.
Of note for me, as I continue to learn about the wellness and yoga world in Denver: Reggie found his practice here in Mile High at a yoga studio called Kindness Yoga. Incredibly, given Reggie's deep and subtle work in this world, this studio has closed because its white male owner was canceled in 2020. Growth in any industry is difficult, and social accountability in the early 21st century is particularly swift and deep (if you're willing to be accountable!), and I want to bring up this interesting intersection because the Kindness closing is something I've wanted to explore on this podcast as well.
Reggie and I discuss all kind of things in our talk: the racism, the microagressions, and the sorrow and grief that he has had to get through to begin teaching what he has to say. His organization Active Peace Yoga launched about a month before George Floyd was murdered, for example. Since then, he has been talking nonstop about activism, peace, and yoga in his lived experience in his body. Enjoy!
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Terms:
1. Asana: postures
2. Sadhana: a spiritual practice or way of life
3. Karma: the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, which help decide their fate in future existences
4. Ahimsa: non-violence or non-harming
5. Sadhakas: someone who follows a certain sadhana with the aim of achieving a certain goal
6. Bija sound: a single-syllable sound that can be used in meditation
7. Satya: truth
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References:
1. Active Peace Yoga with Reggie Hubbard
2. Reggie Hubbard on Instagram
3. Kripalu event - Permission and Refuge: A Meditative Livestream Experience
5. Toni Carey
6. The Weeks Well episode with Eddie Stern
7. The Weeks Well episode with Seane Corn
9. The Weeks Well episode with Monique Schubert
10. Activist in Residence Program At Kripalu
12. The Weeks Well episode with Jivana Heyman
13. The Weeks Well episode with Anjali Rao
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Episode credits:
Original music by Kim's band Governess.
Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks.
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