As Americans begin to imagine and navigate a future after President Donald Trump, many Black people and people of color have been left to grapple with the psychological ramifications of what his presidency represented. Over the last four years, the rise in white supremacist violence, outright acts of racism and xenophobia, and the lack of an adequate safety net for Americans have only served to compound the trauma that Black and brown people experience on a daily basis. Amid a pandemic that has predominantly killed people of color and the ongoing fallout of racial justice protests that shook the country in 2020, BIPOC yoga instructors in one of the country’s fittest states have taken it upon themselves to advocate openly for the wellbeing of their communities - even in the face of public criticism.

This brief interactive piece features Kristi Trujillo, a Native American yoga instructor, and Ali Duncan, a Black yoga studio owner, both Coloradoans who give voice to the two most underrepresented and disenfranchised groups in American history. The two women are reclaiming the practice of yoga for their communities. Below, Kristi and Ali share some of their personal insights on how yoga is innately political, and the role of wellness in creating a better society.