Hey Y'all, I'm Amber, and I’m an awkward black girl who is 5’ 3’’ and 170 lbs. (Awkward - as evidenced by the fact that I just shared my height and weight in the first line of this.) I have meaningless tattoos, met my husband on Tinder, and my favorite time of day is happy hour!

 

While I love teaching classes in corporate spaces, I wanted a class with more people that looked - and ate - like me. I’d invite my people to sweat with me and I’d receive the following excuses: “But I’m not flexible.” “Can’t afford it.” “Girl, I’m fat. And we don’t do that.” I’d think: “Yes...and I can work with that. In fact, I want to work with that.” It became clear that people needed a space to say ‘Boy Bye’ to their beliefs about what yoga is or has to be. So I tapped into my comedy training to create a yoga class where Pranayama breaths, the almighty Queen Bey, and Broad City-esque reindeer games all belong.

 

You never hear people say “But I don’t want to laugh,” so Hot Mess Yoga gets people on their mats with humor and keeps them there by helping them feel safe, relieved, and accomplished. In class you’ll find me cussing, wiping my sweat mustache, and exuding all around black girl magic. This is my way of telling the world it’s okay to be messy AND do yoga.