Many of us spend our whole lives performing. Sometimes we don't even realize we're doing it. Other times, we can feel it happening, but it's too hard to stop. It tends to happen in spaces where we feel like we can't be ourselves — where we feel like we don't belong because our identity isn't accepted. We also tend to perform in fitness spaces, which can feel exclusive and even hyperjudgmental for people of color, people in larger bodies, and
people with disabilities [1].
Yoga is a prime example of that kind of space. Even as the fitness industry (slowly) evolves, many Western yoga spaces have fallen prey to thin, white, and wealthy practitioners. This image isn't reflective of most people's experience within the practice, but it does make some yogis feel like outsiders. This is where "non-performative yoga" comes into play.
Abiola Akanni originally coined the term "non-performative yoga" in an effort to move Western yoga away from its obsession with image and performance. Instead, her inclusive practices prioritize body, sensation, and self. Here's what to know about Akanni's non-performative yoga, plus how to practice it yourself.
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Abiola Akanni [2] is a Nigerian-American yoga educator and founder of Iya.
Why Non-Performative Yoga?
"The practice of non-performative yoga came to me before I knew I was actually doing it," Akanni tells PS. Akanni spent most of her life in the predominantly white city of Seattle, and quickly learned how to perform in white spaces. At the same time, as a Nigerian American growing up in a "traditional Nigerian household," Akanni also found herself performing a lot around African Americans. She fell into an awkward space of not feeling like she was Black enough and not fitting in with white people either, she says.
That feeling persisted when she found her way into the yoga community. While Akanni loved yoga and the way it helped her mental health, she also realized how much she was performing in her work as a yoga instructor, striving to fit in with the predominantly white "super asana-based, very strong instructors" around her. As a Black or brown yoga instructor, Akanni explains, it was easy to slip into performance-mode "because the practice is so co-opted by Western ideals and non-POC. You feel like you need to slip into a pseudo-version of yourself in order to make the practice look relatable or to fit into it."
In Akanni's own classes, "I felt like a caricature of myself," she remembers. She was teaching in a way that didn't feel authentic, and for all her efforts to conform, Akanni still struggled to get a foothold in the community. "No one was coming to my classes. My classes weren't growing," she says. "White folks would come and walk out, but I also wasn't bringing in a lot of Black and brown folks."
"I felt like a caricature of myself."
Her first foray into what would become non-performative yoga was called "Trap Flow [3]," a hip hop-based yoga practice she created as a way to rebel against the traditional yoga studio model. Akanni ultimately coined the term "non-performative yoga" through a conversation with the facilitators of her yoga-teacher training. "I really want to cultivate a space for non-performative yoga," Akanni told them, and their response was enthusiastic. "That's probably exactly what you've been doing this whole time," they said. Akanni realized they were right.
The Pillars of Non-Performative Yoga
Akanni was inspired to create Iya, a yoga and wellness platform where she offers courses, live classes, and teacher trainings all based on the pillars of non-performative yoga. "I want folks to have autonomy to define what [non-performative yoga] means for themselves," she says. On a personal level, she bases her yoga practices on six key pillars:
- Mental health equity: "Everybody, no matter your race, your age, your gender, or your size, deserves to have access to resources that benefit their mental health," Akanni says.
- Education beyond asana: "A lot of the yoga that is touted in popular culture is very performative," Akanni says. It's often focused on asana (the physical yoga flow) above everything else, including the philosophy of yoga that Akanni has found so transformative in her own life. "The practice is multidisciplinary. It has so many facets and lenses, and asana is one small [part]," she says
- Representation of different bodies: With non-performative yoga, Akanni wants to showcase "different bodies in age, different body in race, size, genders." The goal is to show that yoga is available to everyone, even if the Westernized stereotype tries to say otherwise.
- Inclusive language: Yoga practices are often presumptive about people's physical abilities and goals, focusing on reaching a "peak" pose or a level of fitness that may not be accessible to or desired by all. Beginner, intermediate, advanced — you won't hear these terms in a non-performative flow. Instead, it aims to remove exclusionary, hierarchical terminology so everyone can feel welcome in the practice.
- Intuitive and creative sequencing: The sequences within non-performative yoga aim to be intuitive, "really focused on safety and alignment" and not just what the pose looks like, says Akanni. At the same time, it encourages people to be creative and express themselves through the practice. "That gives people permission to have autonomy in their body and move in their body in different ways," says Akanni.
- Adaptability: Non-performative yoga aims to be "adaptable and realistic for people's bodies," Akanni says. This includes using props and yoga blocks [4] for support, as well as enhancing body awareness and exploring the way your body feels in each pose. Each pose has multiple options to help people find the one that feels best for their body.
What Is a Non-Performative Yoga Class Like?
What's the difference between non-performative yoga and the practices you might be used to? The first thing you'll notice as a student, says Akanni, is how adaptable the classes are. "There is still a challenge," she says, but it will feel less like you're "laddering" towards some kind of peak pose or state and more like you're moving on a horizontal plane, where all pose options are equal. Props that provide support and accessibility are also a big part of non-performative yoga.
Language is also a noticeable difference. Hierarchical language — such as "beginner" or "intermediate" — often "clouds the yoga practice," Akanni says, because it invites your ego into the space. If you hit an "advanced" pose, you feel good; if you don't, you might feel like you've failed. Non-performative yoga aims to move away from those boxes and simply let the practice be. These practices also avoid placing the instructor above the students. "The instructor is just a guide," says Akanni. "The yoga is the teacher. The practice teaches you."
Akanni says the values and pillars of non-performative yoga continue to hold her accountable. Ultimately, Akanni hopes non-performative yoga will help initiate a change in the industry and how yoga is represented — one class at a time. "We're really wanting to...go against a lot of commercial yoga standards." It's time, she says, to "move away from that performative Instagram yoga and just make it real."
— Additional reporting by Chandler Plante
Maggie Ryan [5] was an assistant editor at PS. A longtime runner and athlete, Maggie has nearly four years of experience covering topics in the wellness space, specializing in fitness, sports, nutrition, and mental health.
Chandler Plante [6] is an assistant editor for PS Health & Fitness. Previously, she worked as an editorial assistant for People magazine and contributed to Ladygunn, Millie, and Bustle Digital Group. In her free time, she overshares on the internet, creating content about chronic illness, beauty, and disability.
