“Getting out of the Hood” through South Central Yoga

Founder Wisdom #081 - Rita Ortiz Contreras

Podcast Episode Description

South Central LA: an area of Los Angeles where 31% of its inhabitants are below the poverty line and over 72%, are people of color. As a Mexican immigrant, this is the city Rita Ortiz Contreras grew up in. She spent her childhood in an area with a widespread lack of social support, and when it came to yoga it never seemed to be in the realm of possibility for her neighborhood. From what she saw in mainstream media, yoga was an activity reserved for thin, white, affluent women. So yoga wasn't a big part of her life. But that would soon change. After working in the Army and the fashion industry, she finally sparked her passion for yoga. Determined to make this practice more accessible to those in her community in South Central LA, Rita tells us of how she helped instruct at a yoga non-profit known as The Tree South LA and how she decided to work with others to open up their own POC-owned and run yoga school known as The Tree Yoga Cooperative.