5 Reasons Why Butch Yoga is Cooler Than Most Other Yoga Spaces

You might have already noticed that focusing on butches already makes Butch Yoga different from any other yoga space.

But what else makes Butch Yoga cooler than most other yoga spaces?

Never Fatphobic

Have you ever tried listening to some random meditation on YouTube that's supposed to be about self-love, or tried reading a book about healing yourself or personal development—and then they talk about losing weight as a goal?

It feels like a jumpscare every time! But it’s so common!

But nothing we do in Butch Yoga is ever with the goal of losing weight. 

If you're here because you want to do yoga to lose weight—then you are in the wrong place! 

The goal at Butch Yoga is to practice loving yourself more, as you are, right now.

You are worthy of love and care without changing anything about who you are. 

Your body is unimaginably miraculous, just how it is. 

And since you do have a body, part of loving and taking care of yourself means supporting yourself to feel less pain and more comfortable and relaxed in your body. 

So whether you're taking a group class or private classes with Butch Yoga (click here to talk to Joelle about taking private yoga classes), you know that you'll be welcomed, supported, and celebrated 

So I want to be extra crystal clear:

ALL BODIES ARE WELCOME AND CELEBRATED HERE!!!!!!

BUTCH YOGA WILL NEVER, EVER TALK ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT AS A GOAL!!!!!!

No Spiritual Bypassing

In a lot of yoga spaces, it can feel kind of phony, like the people are trying to act like yoga can solve everything and you're being "low vibe" if you're focused on anything that could be seen as negative. 

You can’t meditate your way out of a genocide.

You can’t cat/cow your way out of a capitalist empire.

You can’t self-talk your way out of transphobic institutions.

You can't do inner work to solve structural problems! 

At Butch Yoga, it's clear that the practices you do to support yourself can’t change the external factors that shape the world.

But the practices you'll learn at Butch Yoga will support you to feel more resourced, more courageous, more resilient, and stronger as you do your work to change the world.

Yoga is more than stretching so you feel good in your body. 

Yoga is a way to empower you to take action and live your values in this world. 

Not Cisheteronormative

When you’re butch, going to most yoga classes is different from how it is for straight cis people.

There's a good chance you already feel like you don't fit in most places, and in most yoga classes that can feel even more challenging! 

From getting misgendered by a yoga teacher referring to everyone in the class as "ladies" 😖 to just feeling like you stick out as the only queer person in the space—it sucks when you can't really relax in a space that's supposed to be relaxing! 

But when you're in a queer and trans yoga space, it's possible to let yourself let go more, and feel seen for who you are.

And it's not like everything shared at Butch Yoga is so over-the-top about butch or queer or trans!

But it's a butch, queer, and trans context for everything that we do here. 

Get a perspective on self-talk from a non-binary butch

who knows what it’s like trying to heal yourself, when it feels like none of the stuff out there is made for you.

Practical, without being preachy

Listen, I get that it can suck being told about this kind of stuff.  

Remember: you are doing your best under extremely challenging conditions!

You probably know doing stuff for your self-care is an important part of your relationship to yourself, but maybe you don’t get around to really working on that relationship as often as you like.

You probably already have an idea that yoga can help you (or you wouldn't be here!), but maybe you've felt intimidated about getting more into it. 

There's so much more to yoga than what you find in random YouTube videos and most group classes. 

At Butch Yoga, you'll be introduced to practical spiritual ideas from Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Chaos Magick (and more!), and you decide which ideas feel most useful for your life. 

Religion can have a major ick factor for so many reasons, like oppressive hierarchies and making people conform to doing things one way. 

At Butch Yoga you're encouraged you not to do things one way just because somebody else said to, and you're given space to consciously choose what feels right for you.

Not Boring!

Okay, okay, I'll admit it: sometimes when during a Butch Yoga class, I notice that I'm doing yoga teacher voice. 

It's kiiiind of like customer service voice, but a little slower and more soothing. 

But even when I'm full-on yoga teacher mode, I'm still throwing some jokes in there because that is just who I am 🤡

I used to think of my tendency to want to make jokes as a flaw, like I should hide that part of who I am to be taken seriously, but I’ve learned to embrace my inner goofy little guy.

I used to think I should try to be more like other yoga teachers, but I've learned that it's best to just be myself! 

And you're encouraged to be yourself, and to really love who you discover you are. 

So if you like your self-help with a little bit of silliness mixed in, then you’re in the right place.

There's so many more reasons why Butch Yoga is cool!

These are just a few of the reasons why Butch Yoga is cool 😎

And these felt like some of the important ones to let you know about so you can get more of a feel for the vibe at Butch Yoga. 

But there's more reasons that I want to let you know about that are not any less important! 

• Butch Yoga is a trans & queer owned small business! 
• Butch Yoga loves and supports sex workers! No SWERFS & No TERFS! 
• Butch Yoga brings an intersectional perspective to race, ability, class, size, gender, and sexuality, and the other factors influence our lives
• Butch Yoga gets to the philosophies of the teachings shared here, so we honor the practices without appropriating
• Butch Yoga takes action! Butch Yoga is about more than self-care, and we have organized free virtual meditations and group actions for Palestine, with plans for more in the future. 

If you think Butch Yoga sounds pretty cool, Joelle would love to talk to you about your experience in other yoga spaces, and what you want from Butch Yoga. Click here to schedule a time to talk to Joelle

Thanks for being here, and thanks for being you 💜