Courage and Kindness: Yoga, History, Civil Rights, and Lessons From My Time in Alabama April 26 2026

I am back from traveling to Alabama. The first part of the trip was a week on the Gulf Coast. The second part of the trip took me to Montgomery, Selma and Birmingham walking and exploring our nation’s history around enslavement, civil rights and so much more. The trip surprised me. I was astounded by the natural beauty throughout our visit. During the first week we visited several small towns, wildlife refuges, and stayed in a home on the coastline. On the road trip, we committed to only driving on back roads. We saw farmland, wooded areas and many small towns, some prosperous and some quite impoverished. I know that I would need to spend much more time in an area to really understand its society, but my takeaway was that there was much more to Alabama than I had imagined.

I cannot remember being as moved by a tour as I was during our time exploring the history of the Black community. I was also shocked and embarrassed about how little I really knew about the enslavement of people and the civil rights movement. I had chills and sadness exploring The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma and tracing the routes of civil rights leaders in Birmingham. Each of these three days we met fascinating people including a gentleman whose uncle joined the march across the bridge with Martin Luther King (and later walked with President Obama and then Vice President Biden) and a woman whose grandfather was a Tuskegee Airman. It was a trip that left me saddened, embarrassed and invigorated to do more.

What does this have to do with yoga? While reflecting on the trip, I thought about the great natural beauty that I saw, the beauty of the human spirit to withstand hardship and its ability to stand up to injustice. We met so many kind, friendly and helpful people that my flagging faith in the beauty of mankind was restored.   It made me think of the quote by Howard Zinn:

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness."

So, this week in my practice I am thinking about courage and kindness. I will   channel my inner warriors, setting an intention to continue to learn more and further my commitment to helping our country be the best version of itself; a country that respects, supports and honors all its citizens. As Mahatma Gandhi told us, "If you want to change the world, start with yourself."  

This week in class let's find our own inner warriors for good, and reflect on our own courage and kindness through our practice. By the way, Rosa Parks practiced yoga for many years, starting in 1965. What great shoes (bare feet) to follow in!

See you on the mat!

Namaste,

Julia Anne