Leela Yoga & Wellness

02/09/2024

To my friends and professional peers working in education, as we aim to inform and empower our students, let’s do our due diligence and ensure that the information we share is accurate, and tells the whole story.

I will leave this article here about Claudette Colvin, who was the FIRST to refuse to give up her seat during the Civil Rights era.

Because colorism, light skin favor and White adjacence has always been “a thing”, Rosa Parks was placed in history as the first… share this truth with your students this month.

Claudette Colvin was the first black woman to refuse to give up her seat on a bus. Yet she never received widespread recognition for it.

01/11/2024

I am beyond grateful for all of the opportunities that I have to facilitate, encourage and hopefully inspire folks in areas of wellness, self care, activism, education and anti-racism.

Any time that these subjects can intersect within an opportunity is even better.

If you are a member of the Massachusetts Teacher’s Association, or an educator seeking encouragement around developing self care strategies for yourself, please join me, in collaboration with the organization’s Anti-Racism Task Force, virtually on January 24 for the launch of this webinar series! I’ll be presenting on this particular date, but each month there will be a different webinar.

Take a look & register if you see something of interest.

https://web.cvent.com/event/fcbeadb7-ebb4-423f-9143-73356699b0d9/websitePage:c601bfc3-4323-45d9-a8f2-9f0f0556dcbb

12/14/2022

Join us, December 19!!

During the month of December, I am hosting three FREE Arts & Healing Workshops across Boston Public Libraries (Boston Public Library) in Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury! 🎉

Each workshop is centered around vulnerability, forgiveness, and transformation! Featuring original artwork from my collection “Forgiveness is a Place: Welcome” to view and discuss. Following the discussion, enjoy a 45 min. yoga session with Marlene Boyette of Leela Yoga & Wellness (Adams St. location) or an art-making session.

Take home a free art kit to continue exploring your creative side! Registration is required, and space is limited. https://www.ayanamack.co/upcomingevents

This series of workshops is sponsored by Boston Ujima Project - they continue to do amazing, impactful work. So please continue to support them ✨

07/26/2022

Really excited to be collaborating with Company One Theatre again. Please join me this coming Saturday at Dewey Square as we take up and reclaim space together!

This Saturday! Join Marlene Boyette of Leela Yoga & Wellness for a free afternoon of rest and BIPOC-centered body reclamation on the Rose Kennedy Greenway!

Partake in restorative movement, breath work, and chilled herbal tea, paired with some spoken word performance and a special preview of C1’s current production of can i touch it? by Francisca Da Silveira. Unwind in the summer breeze and celebrate public art as a way to forge a more equitable and just city center!

RSVP:
https://company-one-theatre.ticketleap.com/branch-out-with-c1-toward-a-radical-existence/

Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture Boston

07/09/2022

See you tomorrow afternoon at 2PM!!!

(My weekly Sunday 11:30AM class at Jamaica Pond will still take place as well.*)

🌻FREE OUTDOOR YOGA🌻
Sunday 7/10 on the lawn (12 South Street). BYO mat.

10-10:45AM
12-12:45PM
2-2:45PM

🚸STOP BY 670 CENTRE STREET🚸
We will have a table outside on Centre Street, which will be closed to traffic thanks to . Come say hello! We’ve got some free giveaways and a raffle with prizes.
If you haven’t met our studio acupuncturist she’ll be there with us too!

04/18/2022

I’m just going to leave this right here, and state that what you don’t acknowledge + heal will continue to show up in your life over and over and over., impacting not only your life, but the lives of those in closest proximity to you.

Tend to your unhealed Self, in an effort to prevent the spread of hurt, harm and more trauma.

from my wise sister .nik

04/13/2022

Today marks year 7 since my father passed.

I miss him every day. There are so many things that I wish I could talk with him about, and celebrate with him.

Not a day goes by that I don’t feel his physical absence from my life.

If your father is still here and you are close with him, give him a hug today or give him a call.

I wish that I still had the opportunity to do those things.

Note: If you are close to my family, reach out to my Grammy today. She’ll appreciate it. 💛

04/12/2022

THIS SATURDAY !!
(repost*) Save the date!

We will be hosting our next LEAP Lab with a yoga class led by ✨

Marlene is a trauma-informed yoga and sound healing practitioner who has worked in the Cambridge area for a number of years. Next month, she will guide students in a family friendly yoga flow although all are welcome!

This class will be near the Kendall/MIT T stop, click the 🔗 in our bio to learn more.
We hope to see you here!

🧘🏿☮️✨

04/12/2022

Just a little love from you to me, courtesy of one of our second graders.

You can never have too much love, as far as I’m concerned. 💕

04/11/2022

Calling BIPOC Mothers in or near Boston:

This Friday, April 15, 2PM - 3PM at the in Roslindale I have the honor of holding space for BIPOC mothers, welcoming you to come and be held for an hour.

The inspiration for this safe space comes from the play . There will be an opportunity within this space to build an altar of remembrance for those mothers who have lost children, my co-facilitator will offer a delicious tea for folks to take home, and I will guild those in attendance through a sound bath, gentle movement and moments of rest / stillness.

If you know of any BIPOC mothers who could use an hour to themselves this Friday, especially those who have lost children to police violence, please share this with them. 🤎

From :
Join Marlene Boyette from Leela Yoga + Wellness and Julissa Emile for an afternoon of holistic wellness inspired by Company One Theatre's upcoming production of Black Super Hero Magic Mama.

Together, participants are welcomed to create an altar of remembrance and lasting love, and unwind with guided meditation, sound bath, gentle and restorative movement / stillness specifically designed for BIPOC mothers and caretakers, paired with a unique tea blend to take home and enjoy–created just for this event by herbalism artist Julissa Emile.

Take an hour away from the demands of daily life to be in community with other mothers and caregivers and focus on YOU!

04/05/2022

[swipe left multi slide] Very moved to be tagged today by on her post on teaching Anjali Mudra commonly known as Namaste (some of letter below) .

I hesitate to write for years now because I need to be as certain as possible as a person with caste I write at all. in the spirit of welcoming dialogue I share my thoughts about Anjali Mudra as I have been tagged by a dear collaborator.

SLIDE 1 Hands palm to palm with thumbs by the sternum and fingers pointed toward chin

This hand gesture is used frequently during the practice of what we know as yoga and supports centering for balance.

Acupressure points activated when palms fully pressed together supports nearly entire body.

Known popularly as namaste: If namaste is about respect, let’s not namaste until we have assessed our caste and other privileges.

SLIDE 2 Further, in an attempt to control the narrative from a supposedly decolonial context, we are witnessing a trend from (casteD) South Asian yoga teacher circles that namaste is reserved for elders and spiritual teachers. Seems disingenuous as Hindu people do greet strangers amongst themselves with namaste (and maybe that’s the moot point. Themselves only. What to expect of endo-culture?).

This reinforces both spiritual bypass ofBrahmanical cooption of yoga’s root through caste and ageism. There may be room for culture, sure. But not until there is no room made for caste.

Colonization is colonization, Hindu or otherwise.

I THANK MY MENTORS: DALIT WOMEN WHO FIGHT 🙌🏾





A couple of years back (in 2020), after having some truly impactful conversations (which in reality were Master Classes*)with , following some inquiries I had around the use of “Namasté”, I began to revisit my practice and my teaching.

I stopped using “Namasté” and created a section within my existing elementary school yoga and meditation curriculum to explore Cultural Appropriation and the use of “Namasté” in the westernized practice of yoga.

04/05/2022

One thing I have learned over the years is that a seemingly welcoming place is not always a safe or supportive place.

More often than not (and especially these days*), folks are looking to check off boxes but are not prepared, nor have a genuine desire or the stamina to face, address or dismantle these existing problematic structures.

I am not suggesting that things can not be changed or that progress can not be made, but you can usually tell who is ready and truly willing to do the work and who is not.

You can also tell who is willing to let you do all the heavy lifting, so that they can shine a spotlight on you and your work, and say “Look, look… we DO believe in this”.

All I’m saying is be able to differentiate between who is who, and what is what, and don’t let anyone use you.

I am very grateful for the spaces I’ve been in that ARE ready to move forward, dismantle and rebuild. And I’m grateful to those who are NOT, who encourage me to continue using my Throat Chakra. 🗣🗣🗣

04/03/2022

I look forward to seeing you today, in person and virtually, at 11:30a - 12:30p.

Register via the LinkTree in my profile, or via their website, and be reminded that there are tiered rates available, in addition to reduced rates for the BIPOC community.
📸:

04/03/2022

Leaving this here as a reminder that all of your feelings are valid, and you can grant yourself permission to experience them, without being overtaken by them.

04/02/2022

“The more I use my strength in the service of my vision the less I am afraid.” - Audre Lorde
📸: 💕

04/02/2022

“The more I use my strength in the service of my vision the less I am afraid.” - Audre Lorde
📸: 💕

04/01/2022

Planting the seeds is not enough.

We must tend to the soil first.

And this takes close examination, patience, honesty, and care.

As I think about the seeds I plant, as a teacher + as someone digging my heels into social justice work… before I can plant a seed with the expectation of seeing something beautiful to grow… I need to be real and honest about the state of the soil; the soil is often the people… their minds, their hearts, their beliefs systems and biases.

Can they help bring forth something beautiful if they are not tending to themselves and examining themselves…

Just some thoughts on this Friday afternoon, courtesy of my classroom calendar.