Category: Blog

Categories
Blog Fat Kid Yoga Club Yoga

My Daily Yoga Practice

Like everything else, my yoga practice has changed a lot this year. Prior to the pandemic and shut downs, I practiced asana three or four times a week in a yoga studio, as well as several times a week at home. But in April all that changed. In recent months my practice has mostly consisted of mediation, chanting, journaling, and reading sacred texts like the Yoga Sutras, Upanishads, and event books about St. Francis of Assisi. Today, I thought I’d give you a sneak peek into my morning practice. I usually meditate or chant for 10 or 15 minutes but I edited down to about 5 minutes in this video. I hope you’ll join me.

As we head into the final weeks of 2020, remember that you don’t need to do 108 Sun Salutations to practice yoga. You simply need to practice awareness. Through that awareness you may discover your true Self. That is yoga.

 

Categories
Blog Fat Kid Yoga Club

Why don’t you teach yoga for…. ?

Occasionally folks will ask why I don’t teach yoga for back pain/cat lovers/teachers or some other ailment or affinity group. It’s not surprising that this question comes up since the West has appropriated yoga as a treatment for any number of issues. But, I’ve consciously decided not to offer yoga in such a way. Partly because I believe it’s beyond my scope of practice but also because I honor yoga as a spiritual practice. 

That being said, I know there are very real physical benefits to practicing yoga asana. So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite practices for undoing some of the effects that lock down life has had on my body. Sign up for Fat Kid Yoga Club today!

Stay tuned y’all!

-Marc

Categories
Blog Yoga

Join Me at the Accessible Yoga Conference!

I’m honored to be part of this year’s Accessible Yoga Conference and I hope you’ll join me October 9 – 11, 2020. This conference is shaping up to be the most accessible yet and includes a rockstar lineup of yoga practitioners, educators, and social justice activists. Click here to learn more and register for the conference.

Categories
Blog

Racial Justice and Police/Prison Abolition

In the United States, the police and prisons have always been used to harass, intimidate, and abuse Black people. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Although there are many books on the topic, here are a few that I regularly assign or recommend for my students. 

Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Davis – If you only have time to read one book, make it this one. (It’s also the shortest on the list).

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness By Michelle Alexander

Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America by Kristian Williams

Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid by William D. Lopez

When the Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border by Francisco Cantú

Bad Boys: Public Schools and the Making of Black Masculinity by Ann Arnett Ferguson

Categories
Blog You Should Be Resting

Boundaries are Self-Care

Do you know your limits?

The Cult of Productivity is powerful and if you don’t set strong boundaries you’ll end up burnt-out. But how do we set boundaries when the expectations for getting a job and earning tenure are constantly growing?

The first step in setting boundaries is to start with yourself. You have to know your limits. How many hours can you devote to your dissertation in a day and still be a functional human being? How many coffee meetings with colleagues can you really afford? Do you really want to review this article, or are you doing it out of obligation?

I became a professor in part because I wanted to help people and be a positive force through my teaching and research. If you’re like me, you can probably relate to that feeling and you probably struggle with feeling guilty or selfish when you have to say no to someone or an opportunity. But if you’re going to organize your life in a way that supports your mind, body, and spirit – you have to learn to prioritize yourself. Your time and energy are valuable. Setting boundaries can help you conserve both.

Schedule and Defend Self-Care

A good place to start is by looking at your weekly schedule. What’s on it? What’s missing? If you’re like me it probably includes a bunch of work-related tasks with a few personal items interspersed (I will go to the grocery store today). If you’re going to get good at self-care, you need to include it in your schedule. Many academics fiercely guard our writing time, but we get flimsy when it comes to self-care.

This week, you’re going to start small. Add one self-care item to your weekly schedule and defend it. It may be something that you’re already doing – the important thing is to get it on your schedule. It could be a walk around campus, an afternoon coffee break, or 10 minutes of listening to music before your next meeting. Whatever it is, write it down and do your best to stick to it.

Join the conversation on your favorite social network!

Each week I share self-care tips, practices, and inspiration for academics on this blog and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I’d love for you to join the conversation!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shouldberesting

Twitter: https://twitter.com/shouldberesting

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shouldberesting/

Categories
Blog Fat Kid Yoga Club Yoga

Fat Kid Yoga Club on Great Day Louisiana

Make it a Great Day with Fat Kid Yoga Club!

Jaclyn and I had a blast filming a segment about Fat Kid Yoga Club for Great Day Louisiana. If you don’t know Jaclyn, you should! She’s the owner of Jaci Blue – New Orleans’ only plus-size boutique, a self-love coach, and a curvy community organizer.

We know it can be intimidating to try something new – especially if you are in a bigger body. That’s why Jaclyn and I began offering accessible yoga for plus-size people in her shop last year. We quickly outgrew her space and that’s when we moved to Balance Yoga and Wellness.

At Fat Kid Yoga Club, we offer a fun, body-positive environment where you can feel good in your body in a truly judgment-free zone. It’s really healing to take time to be in your body – especially when the whole world is telling you that your body is wrong.

I have always been a fat kid and it wasn’t until recently that I got comfortable calling myself the F-word. For me, it’s been an important step in repairing my relationship with my body. I believe that EVERY body is a yoga body. Everyone, regardless of their age, size, or strength can practice yoga right now. In Fat Kid Yoga Club, we explore what’s possible in the bodies we have today.

Self-care is an important part of our practices. I encourage you to take water breaks and to ask questions. This is truly your practice and you are in control. I hope that by participating in Fat Kid Yoga Club you’ll feel confident to take other mainstream yoga or fitness classes without having to wrestle with your inner critic.

In the segment, I offer some really great tips on how you can make downward-facing dog feel better in your body – regardless of your size, strength, or level of flexibility.

I offer Fat Kid Yoga Classes Sundays at 5:30pm at Balance Yoga and Wellness located at 120 S. Cortez Street in New Orleans. Don’t live in New Orleans or can’t make it to the studio! No problem – I also offer Fat Kid Yoga Club Online!

Categories
Blog You Should Be Resting

What is Self-Care?

Bubble baths and fancy chocolates are nice, but there’s so much more to self-care.

Let’s start by satisfying our critical-academic voices: self-care is commodified; self-care is performative; self-care is privileged. Now we can move on.

In workshops, I teach that self-care is organizing your life to support your mind, body, and spirit. This involves establishing sustained practices to promote wellness and developing techniques that mitigate emergent situations and stress. This includes the feel-good things, like the bubble baths and chocolates, but it also includes adulting-things like doing the laundry and paying your bills.

If you are reading this, you are probably good at taking care of yourself. So let’s take a moment to celebrate all that you’ve done today to support your mind, body, and spirit. But, if you’re like me you may find yourself feeling stressed out and grumpy in spite of your best self-care efforts.

Self-care involves practical things like knowing your limits and setting boundaries. It includes moving your body (for fun!) and eating well. Personally, yoga, meditation, and journaling are major parts of my self-care regimen. In the coming weeks, we’ll talk about intentional adaptation – learning how to coast when we can. To adapt we may need to let go of expectations, and that’s okay! You won’t be alone in this, we’ll be building community along the way. And let’s be honest, self-care is hard and sometimes you deserve to treat yourself.

I’m excited to share my favorite self-care practices with you and pick up a few tips from you as well.

Join the conversation on your favorite social network!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shouldberesting

Twitter: https://twitter.com/shouldberesting

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shouldberesting/

Categories
Blog You Should Be Resting

You Should Be Resting

Self-Care tips, practices, and inspiration for academics.

The modern-neoliberal university is insatiable. More students. More publications. Unlimited service. It’s easy to see why so many of us are burnt out. I believe there is another way and I invite you to find it with me.

Each week, I’ll share my favorite self-care tips and practices via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the occasional blog here.

These practices will be geared for the academic context, but everyone can benefit from them. I’d love it if you joined me, check the links below to find me on your favorite social network.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shouldberesting

Twitter: https://twitter.com/shouldberesting

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shouldberesting/

Categories
Blog Sociology Yoga

Braving Body Shame

What’s your body shame story?

I am honored to participate in the inaugural Braving Body Shame conference. This conference is important because it is intersectional and accessible. It brings together diverse stories and experiences to demonstrate the impact of body shame on all of our lives.

In terms of accessibility, Braving Body Shame is FREE and fully online. There are also options to receive interview transcripts.

The conference launches in February – you can learn more and register on the Braving Body Shame website: https://bravingbodyshame.com/

I hope you’ll “tune in” to hear my story!

Categories
Blog Sociology

Participants Needed for a Study on Size-Discrimination and Hiking

Are you a plus-size/husky/curvy/fat hiker? Then I want to hear from you!

I’ve partnered with Laura Burns to study size-discrimination in hiking. Currently, we are seeking participants to complete a survey on their experiences hiking and shopping for hiking gear and clothing.

We’ve already exceeded our goal of 500 completed surveys – but we need your help to obtain a more diverse sample. To date, our sample is 90% White and roughly 96% Women.

We would love to hear from more people of color as well as men and non-binary folks.

The survey should take about 20-30 minutes to complete, and the results will help to move forward the conversation about weight stigma and discrimination and ultimately create change! For more information and to complete the survey here: https://forms.gle/aduT79n9CPLbkgac7