This session is a powerful one and I’m extremely honored to have Marshawn Feltus as my guest this week. Just before his 18th birthday, an altercation he recalls as “senseless street violence” escalated into a fatal shooting and landed him a 38-year prison sentence. During his incarceration, he took his first yoga class that forever altered his life then took the seat of the teacher to lead over 800 men in Ashtanga.

After serving almost 19 years, Marshawn opened up ACT Yoga, the first studio in the underserved Chicago-Austin area. ACT stands for “Awareness, Change, and Triumph.”

We sit down and talk about the mental benefits of yoga, and why he finds this practice to be so valuable. Being in an underserved community, he shares his challenges with de-mystifying yoga (“I thought yoga was for skinny white women, like I thought basketball and football were for the brothers.”), and how he tries to make this practice sustainable and attainable more than a one-time experience on the mat.

Learn more about Marshawn:

Yoga Service Council

Facebook

MUSIC:

Stereo Cube, Luster

FRIEND OF THE SHOW:

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See you on the mat. Much love and good vibes.

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