Race and Yoga (now Critical Yoga Studies)

This article provides a critical discourse analysis of interviews, speeches, social media posts, and writings produced by members of the Nation of Islam to explore how they define, describe, and use yoga in their holistic medicine practices. I argue that for Black women members of the Nation of Islam, yoga is a tool used to resist white supremacy.

Muslims use yoga to reclaim their health and create new Islamicized bodies by prioritizing self-health, self-care, and physical and spiritual fitness. Furthermore, I argue that Nation of Islam members’ embrace of yoga is a result of the organization’s unique religio-racial identity which defines them as Asiatic Blacks and part of a broader pan-Asian decolonial movement. My research contributes to the growing focus on Black Muslim women’s knowledge production and creative agency.