With everything that’s transpired over the last few weeks, like many of you, I am horrified and outraged by much of what I see, hear, listen, and read. It’s also been a confusing time as I’ve been asking myself for days how I can help, where I can start, and what I can do to help support this movement and stand together.
Even though I am taking the time to educate myself, to listen to podcasts, to have discussions with friends and family, to donate, I wanted to do something that would bring people together, unite us in order to support the #BLM movement.
This is only a small first step, but I reached out to Luna and asked if a portion of the proceeds from my regular Sunday morning class could go to the local Montreal organization Hoodstock, to which they humbly agreed. Hoodstock is currently looking for financing to help in Montreal North, a borough extremely affected by COVID-19.
If you would like to start somewhere, if you’re unsure of what the next step is, I ask that you join class on Sunday to take a step forward as a community.
We often say we should dedicate our practice to someone, something. This isn’t about our practice on our mats anymore, it’s about more than that.
I hope, aside from this class, you can contribute in your own way to the #BLM movement. If you would like resources for local Montreal organizations you could donate to, please click here. If you would like more information on the Black Lives Matters Movement and how you can help, you can find it here. There is a lot more information out there, so I hope you show up, do the work, listen (please listen), and continue to have the difficult conversations even when our social platforms aren’t talking about BLM anymore.
I’ll see you Sunday.
- Francesca
Francesca's journey with yoga began when she felt she needed an alternative way to find a balanced life. In 2015, after having tried many studios, she found a connection with Luna Yoga and its community where, soon afterwards, she completed her 250-hour teacher training. It began as a physical practice, which with the guidance of many Luna Yoga teachers, slowly developed into a spiritual one. Through her own practice and training, she has come to believe that finding peace can start on the mat and slowly drift into regular everyday life. She aims to share and cultivate this idea with her students by focusing on connecting the body, mind and spirit.
In recent years, her teachings have found more creativity, fluidity, and mindfulness and include fun challenges for all levels. Her goal is to make asanas accessible to all yogis from beginners to advanced practitioners. She includes fun strength building exercises in her classes but also encourages yogis to trust their bodies, building confidence in the Self.
In her spare time she wanders the world as often as she can, spends every single day with her dog Pepper, and is always looking for an adventure alongside her partner-in-crime. If you need to find her look for her between the pages of a good book, at an inversion workshop, or in your local rock climbing centre.