This space holds the thoughts, musings, memories, and work of the Tranquil Space Teachers Collective. It serves as a community conversation board as well as a place for the deeper examination of our values, history, members, experiences, and evolution.
Please click on the button below to submit writing, photos, or notes. We welcome entries from teachers and students connected to Tranquil Space.
I’ve been thinking about holidays.
Last month Juneteenth National Independence Day became a federal holiday in what seemed like record time. I saw the news that the Senate had unanimously passed its bill, and within two days the House had also passed the bill (not quite as unanimously) and President Biden had signed it into law.
For me it was a pleasant surprise in at least two ways. After the nationwide (worldwide, really) protests that followed George Floyd’s murder in late May 2020 and the almost predictable backlash in reaction, which included an increase in voter suppression tactics around the 2020 election and has now developed into overheated and inaccurate rhetoric against “critical race theory” (not to mention the proposal of at least 250 new laws in 43 states that would restrict ballot access), I wasn’t expecting such an emphatic demonstration of near-consensus on anything relating to race. Plus, who knew that anything could be done that quickly in Washington?
Of course, I soon came down from the momentary high. A new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in Texas in June 1865 (two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation) doesn’t do anything to end systemic racism—to address police brutality, or housing inequality, or food deserts, or environmental injustice, or failing schools, or (again) the need for voting rights protection—to give every American a fair chance at “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
District Fray Magazine published an online article this May introducing the Tranquil Space Teachers Collective and interviewing Alyson Latham, a founding member. Here is an excerpt:
Described on its website as “neither a for-profit entity nor a nonprofit entity, the Tranquil Space Teachers Collective is accepting donations to support maintaining the online directory and hosting monthly benefit classes.
“We are letting it be a living entity and seeing ultimately what direction it takes,” Latham says.
Beyond the goal to rebuild the Tranquil Space community, the Collective is also looking to engage in conversations around important issues such as inclusivity, anti-racism, fair labor practices and cultural appropriation. Each month, the Collective hosts an online, donation-based class, supporting aforementioned causes and more, including an upcoming June event supporting Covid-19 pandemic relief aid to India.
I am sitting down to write this blog post on the Sunday after Derek Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and culpable negligence manslaughter in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. There’s a sense in which that seems appropriate to me, in a coming-full-circle way. I feel a little bit like the TSTC social justice statement began to take shape in the days and weeks A.G.F. (After George Floyd)—as Carol Collins and I texted each other about #BlackLivesMatters protests and 6 p.m. curfews in D.C., as Nicole Griffin and I emailed each other about Yoga as a tool for social change, as I worked both taking a knee and “hands up, don’t shoot” into my Zoom classes.
The summer of 2020 prompted me to revisit my Yoga manifesto. TSTC teachers, do you remember having to write and share your Yoga manifesto as one of the first TT2 assignments? Do you still have a Yoga manifesto? If yes, is it the same as when you started TT2?
The first sentence of my Yoga manifesto was, and is,
For 18 years, Tranquil Space yoga studios were lovingly tended to. There was tremendous intention behind every little detail and a steadfast dedication to nurturing community. After moving back to California and unsuccessfully seeking something similar, I now realize how much trust was baked into the ethos of Tranquil Space. Hands-on assists are controversial almost everywhere else, but at Tranquil Space they were cherished. We were known for our signature style of vinyasa yoga and our consistency across teachers and classes. Our community trusted us to not just meet their expectations, but also to make them feel special. We learned everyone’s names, paid attention to the lighting, offered fresh tea and cookies, spritzed lavender spray, perfected playlists, remembered birthdays, and more. People felt a deep sense of belonging when they stepped through our doors. They felt seen, cared for, connected, and held. Tranquil Space was a sanctuary for so many of us as well as a catalyst for evolution and healing…
