The BE was created to be a safe space for people to do their work, to feel seen, accepted, and respected. The BE’s committed to ensuring that all people, including our BIPOC and LGBQT+ community members, are as comfortable within our walls as anyone else. In policy and in practice we prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, religion, assigned sex at birth, sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, disability, age, marital, family, or parental status.

The BE was created to be a safe space for people to do their work, to feel seen, accepted, and respected. The BE’s committed to ensuring that all people, including our BIPOC and LGBQT+ community members, are as comfortable within our walls as anyone else. In policy and in practice we prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, religion, assigned sex at birth, sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, disability, age, marital, family, or parental status.

In the beginning, we assumed that if we simply continued driving our mission and vision of inclusivity, that it would eventually result in a colorful community reflecting the world around us. After all, we never considered ourselves to be just a neighborhood studio. We envisioned The BE as a destination for EVERYONE looking for a peaceful, supportive place. Well, that dream of perfect diversity didn’t magically happen. And in 2020, we were asked to do more. We realized that it was going to require more effort, new ideas, and a greater commitment of resources to create the inclusive BE that we envisioned. To meet the demands of our own mission statement, we have since been prioritizing our diversity and inclusion work.

Internal manifestations of our efforts

• We created The BE Mentorship Program, ensuring open lines of communication, professional support, and a greater mix of voices to lend guidance and feedback to new hires.
• We serve our local community, reaching out to better learn how we can serve those who have felt excluded from the benefits of yoga and mindful fitness in general, or The BE specifically. Staff has shared that these efforts are important to their professional development and job satisfaction.
• We have improved and clarified our systems for hiring, evaluations, raises, and internal communications. It has become clear that transparency and consistent systems create the atmosphere of trust necessary for staff happiness. We want to ensure that there is no question that all staff are given the same opportunities for growth and advancement.
• We have clear diversity and inclusion goals, with plans to implement these initiatives in all of our systems: staff hiring, training, class and events programming, employee evaluations, opportunities, philanthropic efforts, and community outreach.
• We have zero-tolerance for bigotry of any kind, including common microaggressions and problematic language.

 

We prioritize diversity in our recruitment, programming, and retention efforts.

We are actively seeking staff and instructors of all kinds! With a variety of different voices guiding our programming, we will be able to better understand and serve the needs and preferences of a broader community of people. With success, this should in turn create better diversity in our clientele. Interested in employment? See Want to Join The BE Team?

We support local BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women-owned retail vendors.

We carry and continue to seek goods produced by local entrepreneurs of color and national and international BIPOC-owned businesses for our retail store. Interested in being a BE retail partner? Email lauren@thebodyelectricyoga.com.

Personally, we are committed to continuing this work. Yoga philosophy teaches us to identify unconscious patterns of thought and habit, and then discern if those patterns are helpful, hurtful, or benign. And when we conclude that a pattern is not helpful, we set about replacing it with a new habit that is helpful or benign. We believe strongly in The BE, in what we stand for, and in what we DO. We’ve heard hundreds of stories of healing over the years. But with your help, we can do better. If you have ideas, questions, concerns, or recommendations PLEASE reach out to us. We are all ears! Email help@thebodyelectricyoga.com.

We partner and we give.

The BE has always been serious about giving what we can to our community, and we are learning to be strategic and intentional about it. We’ve worked on formalizing our philanthropic efforts, allowing for more transparency and impact, with a focus on improving health equity in St. Pete and beyond. The BE gives via four different avenues. Here are a few examples of what we are doing now through those four avenues:

• We offer free or discounted services or resources to the general public and to local groups to lower the barrier of access to health and wellness in our community.
• We offer in-kind donations to local non-profits to be used by their clientele or auctioned for their fundraisers. The BE sponsors events and donates gift certificates to area organizations for fundraisers of all kinds, but especially to support those organizations concerned with mental and physical health, children, and health equity.
• We provide financial assistance and work trade programs. The BE Present is funded by anonymous donors and The BE to make packages and memberships available to people who are experiencing financial hardship. Our Karma Team is a work-trade program that exists for those who prefer to spend time rather than money helping us with necessary maintenance in exchange for membership.
• We participate in fundraising efforts on behalf of charities. Donations are collected at our monthly Pier event to benefit local charities chosen each month that reflect The BE’s vision, mission, and culture. In the past, recipients of donations have included Pinellas County Chapter of the ACLU, Urban Yoga Foundation, Tampa Bay Watch, Equality Florida, Green Book of Tampa Bay, The Kind Mouse, REACHUP, Inc., The Make It Out Foundation, The FitzLane Project, Girls Rock! St. Pete, The Children’s Dream Fund, Queer Expressions, and more.

Partnership Styles

If you are interested in partnering with The BE, drop us a line at help@thebodyelectricyoga.com! Here are four ways we partner.

• BE at Your Spot. We send instructors to hold classes for your people at your space.
• BE with Us. We offer discounted bulk reservation packages for your people.
• BE Outside. Year-round we partner with local organizations and the City of St. Pete to provide free and low-cost yoga and mindful fitness classes.
• BE Local. Every month The BE partners with a local organization to raise funds and awareness for their their cause. We offer a free/donation-based Sunset Yoga at the Pier where all proceeds after expenses go to the non-profit of the month.