Meet the woman changing the yoga scene for the better

In partnership with 99designs by Vistaprint — By Design is an editorial series, created in collaboration with 99designs by Vistaprint, that celebrates small businesses across the UK and spotlights the power of a strong visual identity. In our latest film, we meet Sanchia Legister who's on a mission to shift yoga culture away from white middle-class cliches.

Sanchia Legister first tried yoga as part of her Drama and Applied Theatre degree but hated it. She didn’t get on with her teacher and found the whole thing inaccessible. “It was like doing a puzzle in the dark,” she remembers.

She later found running and became embedded in the Run Dem Crew – a London-based collective looking to diversify running culture. The group started hosting yoga sessions in order to help their runners with conditioning and Sanchia decided to give it another shot. This time, it was completely different – she was hooked.

Sanchia’s working background, which ranges from theatre direction to running youth clubs and programmes in schools, means that she has something of a knack for people. Her new yoga teacher noticed this in her and suggested that she too should try teaching. Fast-forward to today and Sanchia is the force behind Yogahood, an organisation seeking to make yoga culture more inclusive and less intimidating.

Through her classes and workshops, she’s on a mission to shift yoga culture away from images of white, middle-class, one-body-type individuals: the kind she encountered during her initial experience with the practice. “I wanted to create an environment that I wanted to be around, and that other people wanted to be around too,” she says. This often sees her teaching yoga in new spaces such as nightclubs, as well as integrating contemporary music into her practice: from the likes of Stormzy to Solange.

Now, with help from 99designs by Vistaprint, Sanchia is about to embark on the next phase of the Yogahood mission. Equipped with a brand new logo, she’s going to continue working – and growing – to make sure that everyone feels comfortable stepping onto the mat. “You know when you go to the theatre, you get Act One, and then Act Two?” she says, referring to her journey so far. “Maybe we’re moving into Act Two now.”

By Design is an editorial series created with 99designs by Vistaprint, in which all participating businesses receive a design makeover, as well as a financial grant to help them embark on their next chapter. Read more stories from the series here.

Take a look at the other 99 small business design makeovers on 99 Days Of Design.

The new Yogahood logo was created by nechu on 99designs by Vistaprint.

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