YogaRoots On Location (YROL) is a University of Pittsburgh supplier which features a 200-hour virtual anti-racist Raja yoga teacher training and a collective of liberation and joy workshops for professional development and continuing education trainings. It was founded in 2014 by Felicia Savage Friedman who has been studying the art of Raja yoga since 1989. Felicia began teaching in 1995 and was among the first black women instructors in Pittsburgh.
Following the requests from her community, Felicia opened YogaRoots On Location to not only share Raja yoga but also to include aspects of life that were not always addressed in other trainings such as strengths-based, anti-racist, and anti-oppression curriculum. As CEO and founder, Felicia says her business focus was on taking yoga to places and spaces where people lived, worked, and played instead of her students coming to a specific building. The story and mission behind YROL is centered in the dreams of Felicia who realizes that Raja yoga, and East Indian practice, at its core is a liberation practice. As Felicia has been practicing the art of Raja yoga for 30 years and has noted that it saved her life, the foundation of YogaRoots On Location is to share the same lessons and experiences with others.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a need for creative thinking to ensure YogaRoots On Location could still be accessed during a time when so much was shut down and there was a rise in demand for anti-racist professional development within organizations, thus leading all training and workshops being available virtually. In a twist of fate, the virtual option proved to offer more accessibility to all and YogaRoots On Location has remained virtual to this day. YROL also specifically tailors their trainings to each organization’s needs.
YogaRoots On Location is deeply rooted in its community. Felicia is a Pittsburgh native and Pitt alumna herself and raised two children, Cleveland and Maya in the East End neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. Maya also went on to become a University of Pitt alumna! Felicia was able to study and master the art of Raja yoga during her lifetime in Pittsburgh. This included studying throughout motherhood and even a divorce which she navigated with such grace, a friend, Germaine Gooden Patterson, recommended she share her practice with others. This led Felicia to begin teaching Raja yoga 28 years ago. Once she began to teach, she noticed a lack of black or brown yogis and was inspired to bring YogaRoots On Location to the Pittsburgh community years later.
Continuing her involvement with the local community, Friedman is not only the CEO and founder of YogaRoots On Location but is also a co-lead of the Pittsburgh Project. Felicia hosts several anti-racist and anti-oppression workshops throughout the year with community members and researchers. YogaRoots On Locations has presented several workshops specifically for Pitt’s Beyond Diversity Conference: one on Humanizing Institutional Protocols and Procedures and one on Collective Joy Practices.
Felicia has also worked with the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education, Office of Child Development as an Artist in Residence in 2017 with the Positive Racial Identity in Early Education (P.R.I.D.E.) program. Felicia created and implemented an integrative lesson that had children, families and teachers explore their understanding of skin shade, how it relates to racism and the importance of moving our bodies using a Raja Yoga framework and antiracist lens. From 2018-2020, Felicia was on the social justice advisory team charged with bringing the antiracist framework to Pitt’s Office of Child Development staff.
When asked if there are any special initiatives that YogaRoots On Location would like to highlight, they said the following:
“It is our dream to recognize our humanity and find the courage to end systems of racism, patriarchy, and capitalism together. We would love to invite folx to follow us on social media/subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned for opportunities to join our community. Add Patreon as a way to support and engage with our YROL community more regularly. And we would appreciate your patronage to engage with our New Sun Rising community to continue raising funds for community members’ scholarships for the Antiracist RajaYoga community members to access. Also, Felicia has created and developed and is now marketing The Cussin’ Yogini, which is a platform to share her artistic endeavors: buy her artwork, receive information about her first book We Are All Connected, We Are The StarDust Crew, which is a book about all the ways we are connected and support each other.”
YogaRoots is a proud diverse business. Following the lead of their black, female founder and owner, the team is made with people of varying identities including a range of races, ethnicities and gender expressions which YROL says states “all bring a unique and valuable lived experience, perspectives, and gifts to the works we do.”
YogaRoots On Location is an inspirational business that is rooted in liberation and joy. You can learn more about this business and all they have to offer on the YogaRoots On Location website.