I found harmony in learning yoga through Native Strength Revolution. The harmony I found reconnected me with my Indigenous roots. I am a member of the Leech Lake band of Ojibwe. Raised far away from my culture in Blaine, Minnesota, I always felt a little out of place. I practiced yoga on and off for about 10 years before I decided to be a yoga teacher in 2020. The stress of working through the pandemic in a Covid ICU as a respiratory therapist brought me to a place where I needed to strengthen my mind and body to survive. I scribbled in my journal, ” Yoga is the only thing that makes me feel good.”
A few months after the pandemic hit, while scrolling through Facebook I saw the opportunity from Native Strength Revolution to do yoga teacher training. They offered a scholarship for people who want to serve Indigenous communities. I thought it was a little too good to be true. I proceeded to check it out and contacted the founder Kate Herrera Jenkins of Native Strength Revolution to find out when her next teacher training started, and I applied. I began yoga teacher training in January of 2021. There, I met 23 other Indigenous people from different tribes across North America, who wanted to be yoga teachers. Many didn’t grow up with their culture either and were fully accepted as being indigenous in our group.
Once I felt the love and acceptance from the people in my yoga teacher training, I wanted more connection. I wanted to spread that love and acceptance. I wanted more exposure to Indigenous communities. I started teaching online for Native Strength Revolution.
I felt so inspired, I was one of the 1st members of NSR to train to run as a charity partner in the NYC Marathon in 2022. We participated in the 1st Land Acknowledgment to the Indigenous People in New York. This further increased the pride and harmony I felt reconnecting to my roots.
After the marathon, I started teaching in-person yoga to Indigenous youth at Little Earth of United Tribes and Migizi Summer youth program. The founder of Native Strength Revolution says, “We are the tribe that will not turn you away.”
As a member of Native Strength Revolution, my leader Kate supports my growth completely and presses me into my potential. She arranged a yoga retreat in Tulum, Mexico for some of her teachers, including me. I got to learn from her teacher Avelino May Xul. He shared thousands of Mayan Indigenous wisdoms with us. I became stronger as I reconnected to my indigenous roots by learning from other Indigenous yoga teachers across the Americas. There are over 40 NSR teachers across the Americas now. I spread the love and acceptance I learned with all people and want to share my journey. I would love to introduce you to some of the NSR teachers in the Midwest and what they provide to their communities.
Sabrina Mercedes
Sabrina is currently writing for grants to get a studio open in Southern Rural MN. She continues to work through independent contracts personalizing wellness workshops on mind, body, wellness, and connection. Her method of teaching involves meeting people where they are at and beginning a conversation with their own needs in mind.
Elizabeth Strong
Boozhoo, Anangikwe Indigoo. Miskwaa gamiiwi zaaga’iganing indoonjibaa. Makwa indoodem. Elizabeth Strong indizhinakaaz zhaaganaashiimowin. Star Woman is my Anishinaabe name. I am from the Red Lake Nation (in northern Minnesota). I am of the Bear Clan. Elizabeth Strong is my English name.
I have been practicing yoga for 15 years, and teaching for over 3 years within Indian Country and nearby communities. One of the most meaningful teachings of my practice is the connection to spirit. It is what drew me to yoga, and what helped me connect to my own spiritual self and path.
Over the years I have shared the practice with my community and surrounding areas. One of my longest standing classes is at our nursing home facility (Jourdain Perpich Extended Care), during which we engage in relaxation exercises, meditation, and some gentle seated poses. Another ongoing class that I offer is at our Obaashiing Treatment Facility. During these classes we engage in various exercises of the mind, body, and spirit, connecting to body sensations, emotions, and present time experiences. I often incorporate some teachings from Y12SR (Yoga of 12 step recovery) during these classes.
Periodically, I visit schools (Red Lake School District, Red Lake Nation College, and other local schools) and Boy & Girls Clubs to offer yoga to youth in our community as well. The goal is to have fun and tap into our body’s ability to calm and regulate from within. With the younger children we often play movement games, engage in fun breathing exercises, and/or visualization exercises. With the older youth, we will engage in a more traditional vinyasa style practice and meditation.
I find many roads and paths to connect to spirit, and learn the teachings of the east (a traditional yoga philosophy) and the teachings of my own ancestry (Anishinaabe ancestry). I find correlations and similarities, respecting and giving acknowledgement to both. When I teach and practice yoga in my community, it is often an amalgamation of many different teachings, all based on connection. My practice uses the body, movements, and breath in a prayerful way. I hope to continue sharing this practice for years to come, as I encourage all those who participate to tap into their own spirituality from within.
Haley Brianna
Haley Brianna is Anishinaabe from the Grand Portage Band in northeastern Minnesota. She has taught yoga since 2016 and her favorite style is yin. Haley spent 5 years traveling around the world, learning about the local wellness practices in the countries she visited. During this time, she began to understand the mind-body-spirit connection and became interested in yoga and meditation. She enjoys integrating what she learned overseas with her own indigenous knowledge. Haley is an adventure travel guide and leads women on empowering outdoor adventures all over the country. She is the Healthy Living Coordinator in her community, leading fitness and wellness programming for people of all ages. She is a diversity and inclusion specialist, where she works to promote anti-racism and equity in health. Haley is proud of her Anishinaabe heritage and connects to her culture through hand drumming, regalia making, beadwork, and powwow dancing.
IShe
IShe is a visual and movement-based community artist and educator working with local studios and organizations on short-term and long-term projects.
I teach regular aerial fabric classes through local aerial studios incorporating acrobatics, yoga, fitness, and dance. Thanks to the First Peoples Fund and Minnesota State Arts Board, I have had the funds to purchase a portable aerial rig where I have been able to develop my aerial creative ideas further and hold workshops for Natives in Native spaces in Minnesota. For example, collaborating with Indigenous Lotus at Indigenous Roots in St. Paul, Native Youth Arts Collective, the Boys and Girls Club at Little Earth of United Tribes in Minneapolis, and with my tribal community in Grand Portage. Through creative body movement, I am developing my Memengwaa project that juxtaposes aerial movement with fancy shawl pow-wow dancing (I started fancy dancing as a young child and still dance along the powwow trail). I did a few performances this year and collaborated with Stomping Ground Studio (Circus School), Vivid Black Paint (a nonprofit designed to provide programming through circus and the arts for BIPOC individuals), and Confluence (a BIPOC-focused Comicon part of Public Functionary).
I work part-time as a studio assistant for Makwa Studio, owned/operated by textile artist Maggie Thompson. I worked with the Minnesota Art Conservation Center and Minneapolis American Indian Center to preserve the large cedar mural by Grand Portage artist George Morrison. I have also been stepping into curation work with my first curation project at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and a fellowship through Emerging Curators Institute, both focusing on Native artists through the theme of dance and kinetic movement.
Miigwech (Thank you in Ojibwe) for reading.
Carla Drumbeater is a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, an Army Veteran, reiki practitioner, crystal healer, Thai yoga bodyworker, marathon runner, respiratory therapist, and Yogi. She resides in the west metro. She teaches Indigenous youth yoga and is expanding her teaching to veterans and adults. Learning to become a yoga teacher transformed her life. She is learning to be the healthiest person she can be. She enjoys sharing her knowledge with others.
