Yoga on the Stoop at the Brooklyn Museum: Responding to Social Unrest Through Contemplative Practice
Interview with Megan Miles, by Lauren Argentina Zelaya, Director of Public Programs at the Brooklyn Museum
Introduction
The Public Programs team has hosted yoga classes at the Brooklyn Museum in some form for many years, and as a recurring program since at least 2016. After being closed during the pandemic, we launched the current iteration, Yoga on the Stoop, on Saturday mornings shortly after we re-opened to the public in September 2020. Yoga on the Stoop took shape in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the civil unrest in response to racial injustice. While we couldn’t gather indoors during the pandemic, we realized we had a new opportunity to have the program take place outdoors to activate our large plaza. Our plaza sits on Eastern Parkway, a major thoroughfare, at the intersection of diverse neighborhoods in central Brooklyn. It became a widely utilized meeting place for thousands of protesters to support Black Trans Lives and Black Lives Matter during the protests in the summer of 2020.
At the height of the pandemic, I remained in central Brooklyn listening to the endless cacophony of ambulances, rallying cries for racial justice, and NYPD helicopters constantly flying overhead. I saw the neighborhood transform and mourned the shuttering of local businesses, including our beloved bars and restaurants that used to thrive after our popular First Saturdays program. As a cultural producer, my work is rooted in an artist-centered and people-centered approach. Without being able to connect with people in-person, I felt my purpose was lost and had many existential crises about the value of my work. We are known across the field for our flagship First Saturdays that historically welcomed upwards of 20,000 visitors in one night; and in a flash that program was moved online and then put on hiatus.
What role could I play? How could I leverage the Museum’s resources to support the movement for racial justice happening on the Museum’s steps? To offer people a place to feel grounded and solace during a time of tremendous grief and rage? How could I keep my team not only inspired — but let’s face it — employed and prove the value of their work in a moment of so much pain and precarity?
I had so many questions: What role could I play? How could I leverage the Museum’s resources to support the movement for racial justice happening on the Museum’s steps? To offer people a place to feel grounded and solace during a time of tremendous grief and rage? How could I keep my team not only inspired — but let’s face it — employed and prove the value of their work in a moment of so much pain and precarity? How could my team and I show up for the community when our building was closed?
Since yoga is a popular, grounding, and contemplative practice (and we have the outdoor space for it), it was a dream come true to offer people a space for movement and meditation. As soon as we could operationally support it, we piloted yoga outdoors while navigating the city’s regulations. By introducing the program outdoors, we created an inviting outlet for exercise, healing, and an opportunity for people to breathe together. It was also a way to offer work for local instructors whose source of income was interrupted by the pandemic. The new format was largely inspired by our neighbors who have used our plaza as a place to exercise for decades. While we used to host our Art and Yoga series in our majestic, sprawling 10,000 sq. foot Beaux Arts Court, the open air and visibility of the front plaza quickly became a favorite place for people of all ages, sizes, and ability levels to practice yoga on the weekends. In a rapidly changing Brooklyn, it also became essential for me to work with a diversity of yoga instructors and keep the program at an accessible price point as the cost of living, and participating in recreational activities, continues to rise.
As an art education practitioner, I am interested in expansive modes of engagement and ways of knowing. I’m particularly interested in movement and dance programs because they transform spaces to make us feel welcome and free. Yoga on the Stoop offers an opportunity for movement, exercise, and connection that emphasizes mental and physical wellness. Whether you visit the galleries is not even the goal. For me, it is more about positioning the physical space of the Museum as one of collective ownership, community building, and affirmation. I did my job if you come to the museum, feel good, and make a positive memory. Thanks to the legacy of decades of work by many educators and cultural workers before me, the Brooklyn Museum has become a more welcoming space for the community. As an almost 200-year-old institution, we have a history of colonialism and violence that we are continually evolving from. Yoga on the Stoop is a program that uniquely places care and connection as our goal. Museum admission is always included with the class so if people visit the galleries and feel inspired, that is the icing on top.
As a community builder, I have fostered trust and friendship with people who shape the culture in our borough. For this article, I sat down to talk with my friend, yoga instructor, dancer, and wellness advocate Megan Miles. I have long admired her warmth, humor, and groundedness. I took virtual classes with Megan weekly during the height of the pandemic and it became a way for me to maintain my physical, spiritual, and emotional wellness. The practice allowed me to continue to show up for others. I invited Megan to start teaching yoga with us at the Museum in 2020 shortly after she became certified as an instructor. She shaped classes to be responsive to the pandemic and the cultural and political moment we were in. Megan worked with us to offer a space where people could take a reprieve from the stresses they were experiencing, including the overwhelm of social unrest in response to anti-Black violence.
Interview with Megan
Lauren: Tell me about your journey into practicing and teaching yoga. What have you learned about yourself by teaching yoga?
Megan: I grew up as a dancer so it was a natural progression into the movement of yoga or asana. You naturally do a lot of yoga in the dance world when you are warming up and stretching. A lot of the cues go hand in hand with dancing and performance. I had teaching opportunities with dance and I wanted to branch out to reach more people. Also, my mom is very holistically inclined. My first breathwork experience was in middle school. I’ve been exposed to yoga — what it is and what it could be — since that age.
You learn every day when you have a consistent practice. The most important thing is that I feel like I can move slower. My worthiness is not connected to my mistakes or downfalls. As I am is enough and worthy. That is my favorite lesson.
What’s your earliest memory of visiting a museum?
It was at the Orlando Museum of Art. I remember it was an event called Arts Fest. I was 10 or 11 and my mom took me. I remember the space being very open and white with big windows. It felt fancy, quiet, and like I needed to be quiet. But not in a bad way — in a calm way. I remember the many pathways and paintings on the walls. I remember there were opportunities to make your own art.
What is the difference between teaching yoga and meditation at a museum? What are some possibilities? Some challenges?
There can be a lot of distractions in front of or inside of a museum. There are other things going on around you. With yoga, you are trying to pull back from distractions. It’s a good challenge to tap into, and there are a lot of opportunities when there are distractions. There is also an opportunity to creatively theme your classes around the art. Our bodies are art too. The shapes that we make with our bodies are art. Museums have large spaces where we can have more people, and more space to do something big. When you’re in a yoga studio, it’s a smaller space where you have to be more intimate.
Does it feel different to look at art after you practice yoga or meditate?
Yes! It feels different to notice anything after you’ve done asana. Meditation is still within yoga. Asana, or movement, and meditation taps in to calm your mind. Anyone who has studied or moved or trained in any capacity understands that the calmer you are, the more understanding you are. You’re also more susceptible to absorb information around you. When we are calm, we tap into the parasympathetic nervous system. Our sympathetic nervous system is what causes fight or flight when we are facing fear. Whereas our parasympathetic nervous system gets heightened when we are able to be calm. We feel safe and can move slower and more consciously in what we are doing. When you are in the museum with a calm mind, you can pause, go slow, notice details, read, move with more fluidity and at your own pace. It’s different to look at art after practicing yoga. You can breathe a little bit better.
I am an energetic person. Museums feel big. When I see a lot of space, I think that I am supposed to fill it up. Living a calmer life helps me not worry about that space and just take it for what it is.
How can creative contemplative practices such as yoga support social justice in and beyond Museums?
Anyone who is on a social justice path knows that journey is loud. With anything, you have to have balance. With the loudness, you need quiet and calm. You need restoration.
When I think of social justice, the first word that comes to mind for me is access. Access is a huge part of the path to social justice. When I think of access, I think of the plethora of implications: access to movement, healing, safety, and not being judged. It’s not just about physical access. A yoga practice can go hand in hand with social justice. Anyone who is on a social justice path knows that journey is loud. With anything, you have to have balance. With the loudness, you need quiet and calm. You need restoration. Movement and meditation can welcome calm, rejuvenate you to who you are, your truth, and provide clarity. Your mission, your goal, your truth, your why becomes clearer. Yoga is meant to be accessible. How you absorb things and how you treat others is all a part of it. Bliss, calm, and happiness is the goal and that is what we are all looking for. Yoga means union.
People are dealing with a lot of burnout and workers remain underpaid in nonprofits. In the field of museums (and across industries) we’re seeing a call for more care for workers. For example: better pay, health insurance, and benefits. I am not suggesting yoga will solve these problems, but do you have any advice for museum professionals based on how you shape your own life? Both in your experience as a wellness instructor and as a freelancer?
It’s simpler said than done, but the first thing is prioritizing self care. You have to take care of yourself while you also call the decision-makers to action. Remain consistent. When it comes to movement, meditation and yoga–that is just one way we define these practices in the West–it’s helpful for you to lean towards your truth. When you stand your ground, you are confident in what you feel and what you say. When you prioritize taking care of yourself beyond what is expected, you are in a calmer state and you can see the shapes you want to make and the way that you want to show up. You can step out of your ego and show up how you want to. When you do that, it trickles to others in your work space. When a team is unable to accomplish more than is asked of them, more resources are required to reach a goal.
When you start to take care of yourself, you start to prioritize your time differently. You step away and you put boundaries on the time you give to others, whether it’s your job, friends, or family. Put space in your schedule — the nooks and crannies of self care time — and make it a routine, whatever that may be. Yoga, fitness, art, or make rest an activity. The more you prioritize self-care, the more clarity you have.
Gratitude:
I want to thank the team that makes Yoga on the Stoop possible including: June Lei (public programs coordinator), Greem Hai Pa Lee (our producer for Yoga), Keith McGraw (AV tech), Jorge Vazquez and Ricky Poleon (Electricians), Chris Voss, Jessica Cox, and Felix Herrera (Visitor Experience & Engagement), Jose Dicianni and Frank Gambino (Assistant Maintainers), Isabel Varban (Corporate Relations), and Laval Bryant-Quigley (Director of Marketing).
Lauren Argentina Zelaya (she/her)
Lauren Argentina Zelaya is a cultural producer, curator, and DJ based in Brooklyn, NY. In her role as the Director of Public Programs at the Brooklyn Museum, Lauren curates and produces public programs that welcome over 150,000 visitors annually to engage with art and build community in new and unexpected ways. Lauren is committed to collaborating with emerging artists and centering voices in our communities that are often marginalized, with a focus on creating programming for and with LGBTQ+, BIPOC and immigrant communities.
Her recent projects include Mona Chalabi: The Gray-Green Divide, Nobody Promised You Tomorrow: Art 50 Years After Stonewall, and yasiin bey: negus. Known and respected equally for her nail art and her fierce commitment to bringing art and culture to the people, Lauren was named one of Brooklyn Magazine’s 30 under 30 in 2018.
Megan Miles (she/her)
Megan Miles is a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Instructor. Her movement knowledge and background is rooted in dance having studied many styles from classical ballet, jazz to hip hop for over 20 years. Her love for yoga began over 10 years ago after feeling the need to balance a fast paced career traveling and working in the dance world. Since receiving the benefits of the healing nature of the practice, she’s been passionate about guiding her community to also find healing and power. She’s proud to be a Black queer woman in the yoga and wellness space and has committed to making yoga more accessible and enjoyable for everyone while sharing yoga’s roots.
