Is this class actually for everybody?

Is this class actually for everybody? This very relevant question was posed by Kathryn Bruni-Young the other day. 👇

Every day I see more and more classes promoted as accessible for every body [or “for all levels.”] On one one hand this is so cool, inclusion is popular, amazing! On the other hand, are all these classes actually for everyone? I usually think no.

My class is not for every body...

In my class there is a fair bit of getting up and down from the floor. If you can’t be on the floor my class likely isn’t for you. If you don’t understand English my classes won’t work for you. This list could go on. Some people make their classes more accessible by teaching standing only. Others use chairs. Others focus on floor based movements. What works for one person might not work for another. Accessible might mean different things.

But is my class for every body? No.

I think inclusion is a practice, it’s not an end point.

If a class isn’t for everyone it’s ok to say that. AND it would be good if we created more options that were for more people.

Yoga for all, movement for every body, safe space, trauma informed, what do these words really mean? Are we really practicing this and reflecting on how we can do better?

I purposely don’t use the phrase in my class descriptions. There’s no way I could promise that. I think saying it’s for everybody would be a disservice. Saying it’s for everybody and then discovering oh, nope, actually I can’t do that lends to subliminal messaging that says there’s something wrong with me if I can’t do a class that is labeled for everybody.