hi, i'm jam. i facilitate
anti-oppression sessions for yoga, mindfulness and wellness practitioners, spaces and teacher trainings as well as provide related private consultation. i do so with a decade of experience.

jamilah malika abu-bakare is a senior teacher, mentor lead and anti-oppression teacher trainer with New Leaf Foundation since 2014, as well as teaching faculty for Kathryn Bruni Young’s 2020 Mindful Strength Teacher Immersions and Brown Girls Yoga collective member since 2011.

as the studio manager of a Kula Yoga Annex (2010-15,) she initiated immeasurable change in the downtown Toronto yoga community with director, Christi-an Slomka, through the positive space initiative, introducing consent cards, daily $8 classes, childcare during practice, brown girls yoga, queer yoga, a gender neutral changeroom as well as anti-oppression trainings and communications for staff and students regarding appropriation, language, transmisia, fatphobia, anti-blackness and more. 

she is grateful these conversations are so much more welcome now and to lend her decade of experience towards more just yoga communities. in addition to teaching trauma-informed, mindfulness-based yoga, jamilah is a writer and artist (SAIC MFA ’19.)  

hear jamilah malika on Kathryn Bruni's
Mindful Strength podcast

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM

WATCH JAMILAH MALIKA IN NEW LEAF FOUNDATION TRAININGS

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OFFERINGS

an embodied practice in the world

as practitioners, what does it mean that our yoga and mindfulness practice is embodied and in the world?

join jamilah malika abu-bakare for a workshop about the practice of anti-oppression: define important terms, reflect on key questions and practice opening your perspectives to experiences you may not know. 

together we reflect on how can we dismantle systems of power using the same tools we learn in our mindful movement practices.

yes, this conversation is challenging and complex, join it and cultivate a consistent ongoing practice towards more just yoga and mindfulness communities. 

90 MINUTES PLUS 30 MINUTE Q+A

BOOK THIS WORKSHOP

positive space initiatives - best practice

as directors, managers and teachers of a wellness studio or organization, what are ways we can interrupt power in our spaces and exchanges?

join jamilah malika abu-bakare for a workshop to learn how anti-oppressive initiatives might look for the community you want to build: consider what is practical and possible with best practice models and means to start the conversation internally and, thereafter, externally as well as how to sustainably keep it up. 

with five years experience as a studio manager, jamilah offers insight and expertise to prepare your team for potential pushback.

yes, there may be resistance and this will take time – inform your commitment to care with a deeper understanding of the ways power can harm in the spaces we are responsible for.

90 MINUTES PLUS 30 MINUTE Q+A

BOOK THIS WORKSHOP

anti-oppression for YTTs

training yoga teachers in anatomy and not anti-oppression affects their capacity to connect with students and causes harm.

invite jamilah malika abu-bakare for a workshop to consider how power shows up in our personal practice, yoga studio culture and classes. the role of teacher is a position of power; understand how bias, language, sequencing, modifications, props and introductions are opportunities to connect with more care to your students. 

unpack appropriation and allyship as separate and related ways we show up or don’t as teachers. 

yes, you will make mistakes, because teaching is a practice – make space for reflection and inquiry in preparation and explore what accountability can look like when mistakes happen and our students become our teachers.

90 MINUTES PLUS 30 MINUTE Q+A

BOOK THIS WORKSHOP

private consultation available for organizations and individuals:

who require guidance and support to integrate anti-oppression into their professional and personal life in wellness and more widely

to address questions/concerns regarding promotional material and/or online presence, and/or

to launch or sustain programming and/or operational initiatives

CONSULTATION

donations

if you have been transformed through jamilah’s teachings in the past through her steerage at Kula Annex or any training she facilitated that transformed your capacity to think through the ways your power has impact in the world, please feel free to acknowledge and support her continued work by sending funds to her directly by EMT to jamilahmalika@gmail.com

anti-oppression is a practice akin to your movement/mindfulness practice, many tools of the latter support you in the former, let's get to work!

Based in Chicago, IL
EMT donations accepted at jamilahmalika@gmail.com

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