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How yoga studios can impact the cultural landscape of a city

Tomas Sobek
/
Flickr
Practicing the warrior pose.

Back in the 1990s, we began to see coffee shops pop up in cities all around Michigan — Starbucks, Caribou, Biggby.

Now, a similar trend is happening with yoga studios, here in Michigan and nationwide.

As the Washington Post’s Lyndsey Layton put it:

“To track the economic transformation of Washington, here's a simple rule: Follow the yoga mats.”

How do yoga studios change the cultural landscape of a city? Are these changes positive or are long-time residents being kept away from the table?

Those questions have drawn the attention of Dr. Leslie Kern, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada.

Last year, she published a paper in Science Direct exploring this very topic, entitled “Connecting embodiment, emotion and gentrification: An exploration through the practice of yoga in Toronto.”

Listen to full interview above.

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