Diversifying Who Teaches Yoga  to Make Yoga More Accessible to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities

At JP Centre Yoga, we are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse environment where everyone feels welcome to explore the transformative practice of yoga. Yoga is a practice that transcends boundaries, and by promoting diversity among yoga teachers, we have the opportunity to cultivate a richer and more comprehensive learning experience. Supporting a wide range of teaching voices allows our studio to tend to the diverse needs and interests of yoga practitioners from all walks of life, empowering them to find a sense of connection within their practice.

By expanding the pool of yoga teachers, we can provide a platform for voices that have been historically underrepresented within the Westernized yoga community. We firmly believe that yoga is for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, or ability. Thus, it is our responsibility to seek out and support talented instructors from marginalized communities, creating a space where all individuals can feel seen, heard, and respected. 

At JP Centre Yoga, we firmly believe that diversity strengthens our community and enriches our collective experience of yoga. One of the primary initiatives of our Yoga Equity Project is to offer scholarships and mentorship to prospective teachers from BIPOC communities, to support the equitable diversification of teachers, which through representation supports a diverse and expansive studio community of practitioners.

About the BIPOC Fellowship program

What separates our Fellowship from any other scholarship program is that in addition to offering a full scholarship to our 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training, we also provide a full year of mentorship, throughout and after the time of the training. Each fellow is paired with a Teacher of Color from the JP Centre Yoga teaching staff and meets with them weekly one-on-one to provide individual feedback and support as they complete the training and begin their teaching careers.

Our fellowship program was developed in conversation with past BIPOC trainees and teachers. Through our collaborative efforts we aim to provide specific support to new BIPOC teachers with the hope of further diversifying the leadership of the yoga industry. Your donation supports the JPCY community effort to build access for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color teachers and leadership.

The Increased Access Scholarship

JP Centre Yoga offers full tuition to an individual in each training cohort who is interested in primarily teaching to under-resourced populations - those who may not be able to normally afford or access yoga. If you would like to see more yoga programs in facilities and neighborhoods that have any number of barriers to access yoga, we want to help make it a reality!

What You're Funding

As practitioners of yoga, we know the power that this practice has to eradicate personal and collective suffering. At JP Centre Yoga, we do our best to create space for a more diversified yoga community, but we cannot do it alone. That is why we are reaching out to you to assist us in sharing the gift of yoga teaching with everyone.

Fellowship Program:

Full tuition for up to three BIPOC students.
Weekly one-on-one support between fellowship recipients and BIPOC mentors who teach at JP Centre Yoga. Mentorship lasts for one year, throughout the training and for 7 additional months post graduation.

Group Mentorship opportunities:

optional monthly affinity spaces for BIPOC trainees as well as anti-racism mentorship for white-identified trainees, led by BIPOC and white teaching staff respectively.

Increased Access Scholarship:

Your donation will also fund an additional full tuition of one teacher committed to teaching yoga in underserved populations.

In order for us to offer this Fellowship again in 2025, we need your help meeting our $12,500 fundraising goal by January 1st, 2025.

Donations are Tax-Exempt!

Last year we established a fiscal sponsor relationship with JP Centre/South Main Streets, providing us with 501c3 non-profit status! This means we can provide tax acknowledgement documentation and participate in employer match programs for donations made to our BIPOC Fellowship Fund and Dzaleka Refuge Yoga Programs!

A Little More Back Story...

The seeds of our BIPOC Fellowship were planted in 2015 when, in partnership with Yoga Diversity Initiative, we began offering a full scholarship for a Person of Color to attend every cycle of our 200hr Teacher Training.

In 2017, this evolved into two scholarship opportunity tracks: one that continued to be in collaboration with YDI for BIPOC individuals interested in becoming teachers AND another led solely by JPCY for anyone, regardless of race or ethnicity, interested in teaching yoga outside of studios in communities that have little to no access to the practice.

These educational pathways evolved once again in 2021 to offer fully funded scholarships, and weekly one-on-one mentorship from current BIPOC teachers to our fellows. The Fellowship Fund also covers the additional costs of incorporating mentors into the course material throughout the training, providing a monthly affinity group spaces for all BIPOC students in the training cohort as well as an antiracist affinity group for white yoga teachers and trainees.

2025 BIPOC Fellowship Fund

Support Three Fellows who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color in the 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Cohort at JP Centre Yoga

Team Members