Why Non-Performative Yoga Is the Breath of Fresh Air Your Practice Needs

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.

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.

Abiola Akanni is a Nigerian-American yoga educator and founder of Iya.

"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."

Her first foray into what would become non-performative yoga was called "Trap Flow," 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.

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:

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 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 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.