Columbia City resident and writer for The Stranger posted the following reflection on the opening of Tiger Lilly Yoga at Rainier and Genesee:
Photo by Charles Mudede
Yoga is not new to Columbia City (the neighborhood already has two such businesses), and the gentrification of this racially diverse part of Seattle is quite honestly old news. A PCC Market is soon to open in the neighborhood’s core, there are several fancy apartment projects in the surrounding area, and the community will have a raw bar when the construction of the seafood restaurant Salted Sea is completed.
So, what is interesting about
Tiger Lily Yoga, which plans to service the needs of the diverse community (their website promises “LGBTQ Yogis,” “Yogis of color,” “Yogis with a lil extra badunk-a-dunk”) when it opens its doors on the first day of next month?
It replaced Believe in One Body JC, a black American business that once provided Christian-themed
street gear to young people who wanted to be faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ and hip at the same time. The fashion critic
Marti Jonjak described the clothes JC sold
as having…
Christian messages, and while some are direct, such as the graphic-print silver cross embellishing a plain black hoodie ($25), others are far livelier: “Getcha Praise On”…. Another shirt’s graphic resembles an academic emblem, with its symmetry and regal swirling, and the banner says “PYMP Style” in Old-English font (it stands for “People You Must Pray”).
That religious enterprise, which is very American and very black, will be replaced by one that’s about, among other things, “chanting (calming practice), pranayama (breathing practice), meditation (mental practice).” The new studio will also offer training in a Hindu medicine tradition called
Ayurveda. Yoga is for a class of people who tend to be spiritual and not religious.
As Columbia City gentrifies, it is becoming more
spiritual.
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But will it be a quiet place to do yoga? Lots of street noise, right? Parking looks good if the lot across the street is available. Are there heated options? Thanks!
What does it matter that its old news? That seemed like a slanted comment about Mudede’s commentary. Gentrification is not an “event” that needs coverage…..its an impact on a community that needs to be highlighted and discussed, thought through and critically dealt with. Its not a sensation or entertainment or really”news”