Commitment to Accessibility
We all need physical activity for good health, but that doesn’t mean we have to overly exert ourselves to reap the benefits. Justine Fanarof teaches courses that will strengthen your heart, help build strong muscles, relieve stress, improve your mood, and help you feel supported and better about yourself.
Currently, less than half of U.S. adults with mobility disability report engaging in aerobic physical activity. Justine places sincere importance on providing each individual access to and comfort with the provision of our services. This includes consideration of the inequities in the systems that surround yoga and through which yoga is practiced that can exclude communities.
Communities without access include people of all kinds, including people with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, and less visible disabilities such as chronic illness, emotional challenges, and PTSD. They include seniors, veterans, those with vision or hearing impairments, and those of us who simply don’t feel comfortable in a mainstream yoga class setting. Issues of accessibility and inclusivity also extend to race, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Financial accessibility is another important consideration of which we should all endeavor to stay mindful. The list of people who need mindfulness help but who do not have access to such services can include pretty much anyone and everyone. Therefore, we must all continually adjust our own images of what a yoga practitioner or meditator looks like, what their practice may look like, and how that practice will change over time.
The foundation of Justine’s work is to support diverse populations and communities, providing them the opportunity to practice and study yoga and meditation safely, without harm or judgment. She centers her work on facilitating change in the areas of diversity, accessibility, and inclusivity in order to build communities that unite. She has taught a wide variety of students from varying backgrounds, including caregivers, the elderly, those using prosthetics and those in wheelchairs and/or with limited range of motion. She understands common barriers to physical activity and has tried and true strategies to overcome them with her work.
As a yoga teacher and practitioner, Justine Fanarof is completely bilingual in English and Spanish with additional proficiency in American Sign Language, Italian, and Hebrew, allowing her to communicate with and help a larger and more diverse client base.
