Melanin Mala: A free Yoga celebration

 Yoga teachers from several states and many traditions will gather June 5th in Birmingham to call in world peace through breath, movement, and chanting.

The “Melanin Mala” Project takes inspiration from the Global Mala Project, a global yoga peace project that aims to unite the global yoga community to form a “mala around the earth” through collective practice.

The free, three-hour event in Birmingham’s East Lake Park will take place from 11 am to 2 p.m central time, and feature 108 sun salutations, with each round dedicated to a life that was lost to injustice. Various BIPOC teachers will lead the practice on the park’s tennis courts.

The event will begin with a collective “AUM” chant “to unify all participants and set our intentions,” and will feature a labryrinth for participants to walk in contemplation.

With a focus on black and brown bodies, and healing the pain of racial injustice, the Melanin Mala Project is believed to be the first such gathering of its kind.

“This is an opportunity to gather brown bodies and educate them on the importance of movement while grieving,” said yoga teacher and event organizer Adi Devta Kaur. “Melanin Mala is a space to acknowledge our pain and begin to process it.”

The event features community elder yogini Maati Sanovia Haleemah Muhammad, the founder of   Ka Vibrations Yoga, as well as more than a dozen yoga teachers from Alabama, Indiana, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee.

The event is open to all people of all abilities. Free snacks and drinks available.

A list of teachers and more details about the event is available at https://www.theblkyogitribe.org/registration.