Maya Breuer
Presenter
Maya Breuer, E-RYT 500, has been teaching the practice of yoga to support health and wellbeing for many decades. She has created a number of programs that provide education about yoga for the BIPOC community. Maya founded the Yoga Retreat for Women of Color™ in 1998, to share the benefits of yoga and meditation with participants from around the world. The retreat has become a celebration and a joy-filled experience for many. Through her Santosha School of Yoga, Maya has provided training and certification for yoga teachers to continue carrying the torch of her vision for greater diversity in yoga. As cofounder and President Emeritus of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance, and Emeritus Trustee of the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Maya continues to serve the yoga community.
Maya has contributed to many magazine articles including “Do Politics Belong in Yoga?” (Yoga Journal); “Why Yoga Teachers Say that the Practice is Essential for Times Like These” (citizentruth.org); “The Meaning of Om” (Shape.com); “Yoga Myths to Stop Believing” (Forbes.com); “Reporting on Crises? How Yoga Can Help Cope with Stress” (International Journalist Magazine); “Calming Yoga Poses That Yoga Teachers Recommend for Soothing Stress” (PopSugar); and “What Is the Best Way to Introduce a Yoga Practice to A Teenager at Home?”(Porch.com). Her work has also been featured in Black Enterprise Magazine, Essence , Heart and Soul Magazine, Common Ground, Black Women’s Health, Upscale Magazine, and more.
While participating in yoga research, Maya served as consultant and coauthor of the NIH sponsored study, “Back to Health: Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Minorities with Chronic Low Back Pain” conducted by Boston Medical Center. Maya continues to study and promote the evolution, revolution, and contemporary perspectives of yoga.
Upcoming Programs
Resources
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A Yoga Revolution for Women of Color
Women of color have, historically, taken care of others while placing themselves last, says Maya Breuer. She proposes a Yoga Revolution.
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The Yoga Retreat for Women of Color: An Opening to Spirit
A spiritual awakening inspired Maya Breuer to create the Yoga Retreat for Women of Color in 1998.
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Maya Breuer Brings Roots, Rhythm, and Soul to Kripalu
Many women who have participated in Maya Breuer's Yoga Retreat for Women of Color have now become certified yoga teachers and are bringing yoga into their communities.
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Yoga Is for Everybody
It’s 4:30 in the morning, an auspicious time for angels, gods, and yoga practitioners who are doing morning sadhana.
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‘What I Know’: A Black Woman’s Words
Maya Breuer, co-founder of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance and an Emerita Trustee of Kripalu, reflects on institutionalized oppression, the intersection of spirituality and activism, her place in the Black Lives Matter movement, and the opportunity for change within Kripalu.
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Maya Breuer’s Reading, Watching, and Listening Recommendations for Black History Month
The cofounder of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance and Emerita Trustee of Kripalu offers a selection of work by Black artists, writers, and musicians.
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10 Black Yoga and Meditation Teachers Who Are Changing the World
We kick off Black History Month today by recognizing 10 Black yoga and meditation teachers who are making an impact in their communities and beyond, and inspiring other teachers with their voices and their work.
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Where Yoga and Politics Overlap: My Women’s Week at Kripalu
When yoga teacher Tracy Ramos read the description of Women’s Week, she found it hard to believe that there were people out there merging the wakefulness and wholeness and truth of yoga with the will, the grit, and the “good fight” of political activism. So she came to Kripalu to see for herself.
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Finding My Seat in the Circle at the Yoga Retreat for Women of Color
The diversity Kiesha Battles experienced in school and the workforce seemed to disappear when she entered yoga spaces. At her yoga teacher training, she was one of two people of color in the room.
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How Yoga Supports Women's Empowerment
Kripalu CEO Barbara Vacarr sat down with four Women’s Week presenters to discuss what "the revolution within" means to each of them, and why gathering together is so important.
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Women, Power, and Being the Change
Wise words from Maya Breuer and Jana Long, cofounders of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance.
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