Jana Johnson: Redefining Ownership and Community at The Tree Yoga Cooperative

‍Can you tell us about The Tree Yoga Cooperative and what led to its creation?

The Tree Yoga Cooperative began in 2020, but it began as an extension and evolution of what was The Tree South LA. Even before that it was Green Tree Yoga and Meditation, a nonprofit that started in 2013 centered in South LA. The four of us founders of the cooperative were all involved in that nonprofit in various ways during Covid. It transitioned to where the nonprofit was going to dissolve and we continued the space of the yoga studio, but with this new entity as a cooperative for-profit business.

We started as an extension of what we were already doing in terms of teaching yoga in South LA and really being representative of the neighborhood that we were in. Having leadership that is Black and Latinx also reflects the people that we primarily serve. We wanted to simply continue the work that we were already doing, but because everyone had to pivot during Covid times, this was how the nonprofit pivoted into a cooperative. Continuing in the same spirit of being a hub of holistic wellness, being a space for community support and allowing a space where Black and Latinx people feel comfortable, welcome and celebrated on the wellness journey.

What motivated you to structure this as a worker-owned cooperative?

We had no idea what we were doing. We didn't know what a cooperative really was, but it was something that was presented to us as an idea. As we did start to educate ourselves more, it became clear that it's simply the way that we relate to each other in our work. Technically it's about a democratic process of how decisions are made, how profits are shared, and the worker-owned component.

Being a worker owner means that we are yoga teachers first—we're the workers of the business. The business is teaching yoga. We teach yoga, we do the business, and we're also the owners. It's not like there's some owner who doesn't work in the business. It's us. We're doing the work and we are doing all the owner stuff as far as administration, as far as having a platform to be able to talk about what we're doing.

Earlier today I taught a class at 7:00 AM so that's me being a worker. Both in terms of what our work is. I think that allows the ownership and the leadership to be more authentic and informed because we are on the ground just as much as we are in that bird's eye view as well. We're able to include ourselves when we talk about our employees, when we talk about all the things that affect us as far as scheduling, the pay rate, different opportunities for using the space. It's like we get to have both perspectives and I think that's a good balance.

How has this model allowed you to grow individually and build community?

The first part, how it has allowed me to grow individually—I'm definitely growing. I think honestly a big part of it is really exactly what we teach: the practice of being present. I let myself be present every day. As this business is growing, there is a lot more that is coming in. More opportunities, more people want to teach here, more students that find us, more people who want to partner with us and work with us. In that more, we have to be present in our purpose and the mission of why we're doing it, why we're here, and allowing that to inform our decisions.

In being present, you allow yourself to really savor moments, savor opportunities. It's not always about getting to the next thing. It's like, well, what's in front of me right now? If you are really present for what's in front of you right now, it's going to teach you, it's going to show you something new. Everything in life is for your natural growth and expansion.

For sure being in this space, we've been in our studio for eight months now, and every day we get new people. It's really a joy to be able to hear how other people are nourished in this space. As I see that and witness that, and they tell their friends and their cousin and their auntie, that is a natural effect. Just like the natural growth of an individual, there's a natural growth of this community as well. Fortunately, when people do come here, they really do feel welcomed, celebrated, supported, nourished in their own way.

Why was it important to center Black and Latinx people in this wellness space?

We are here absolutely to be part of the increase of representation of Black and Latinx wellness leaders, teachers, instructors, practitioners and students. Demystifying this idea that Black people don't do yoga or that it's not for us. This is about your relationship with yourself. This is about you enjoying your life experience, period. That's what yoga ultimately is about.

The calming and the centering and the grounding allows us to reset our thinking, letting go of any idea that we are not whole and that we cannot be happy and joyous or healthy, letting go of any idea that negates some part of us. This is about remembering your wholeness, remembering your wellbeing, and these are simply practices to remind us of that.

It doesn't matter your color, your body type, your experience, your flexibility—none of that can deny you access to this. The access is your very existence, your consciousness, your breath, your body and your awareness of it. We have to show the example that it's possible, it's doable, it's available, it's accessible, and it can be a normal thing for you.

How do wellness, healing, and social justice intersect?

In every way. When it comes to yoga and wellness for me and how it intersects with social justice, a big part of that really is remembering that my life is in my hands and my experience is in my hands. While yes, there are things in society and circumstances that can have an effect on my life and my experience, this practice is about recentering myself as larger than my circumstances, larger than what somebody said on social media or all of that.

The practice is elevating your sense of self to become higher than a circumstance. As we continue to recenter ourselves and elevate ourselves, affirm ourselves, we can really surpass circumstances. When we talk about social justice, for me it's in the representation and the elevation of Black and brown communities. That's what this space is centered around. How do we elevate, affirm, celebrate and champion our existence and not need anybody else to do it.

It doesn't matter if the people in West LA or whatever at that yoga studio see me, do I see myself or am I going to let my vision turn into how I think they see me? Whether they do or not is fine. That's their business. My business is how do I see me. If I can let that be my driving perception of myself and I can work on that, because not all of us do think highly of ourselves, not all of us do believe that I'm adequate, I'm capable, that I have a right to feel good in my own body, in my own skin—that's our work. It's not about trying to convince somebody else and change somebody else's mind. It's about how I see myself.

How do you show up for yourself and maintain wholeness?

Fortunately at this point I wake up knowing. I really do, but that has been a practice that I've cultivated over time. Because it's something that I've cultivated over time, I'm more sensitive to when I'm off. Because it's a priority for me, and I know that nothing else matters more than being centered in myself.

You can literally go to the bathroom, take the five minutes in the bathroom and let yourself take some deep breaths, let yourself let go of whatever else it is and focus on the one thing that is your breath. The biggest benefit of meditation, breath work, all that stuff is that you distract your mind from everything else. When you focus on one thing, the other things soften in your focus. They fade away, even if it's for five seconds, but you can extend it for five minutes.

The easiest thing, the most accessible thing is conscious breathing. You don't need nothing. You don't need to be somewhere fancy. You just need to decide, I'm going to sit right here and take five deep breaths and I promise you your energy shifts. That is our innate recalibration, the breath. It is our personal on switch to rebalance. I just know that it's the most important thing. Nothing else is more important. So I give it that respect, and I do it when I know I need to do it.

What legacy do you hope to create through this work?

I always come back to the moment where I decided to be a yoga teacher. I was in a yoga class, simply doing yoga. I was a student, practicing, been practicing for years. Toward the end of the class, the teacher had us sitting up and she was just speaking life. She was speaking life into all of us. It just felt so good. My vibration was rising, my energy was rising, I just felt good about myself. I felt good about who I am. That was the moment where I was like, I want to do this. This feels like healing right here.

My legacy for sure is like, I am here to speak life into myself and into people and to remind us of wholeness. I want people to be uplifted and empowered, especially Black and brown people because that's the community that I reflect and that I'm a part of. I want us to feel uplifted and empowered and know that we are whole and know that you don't have to listen to anybody else's opinion of you. This is about you being clear in your opinion of yourself.

That's part of my legacy for sure, is how we can continue to uplift, empower, affirm our life and our existence and our right to joy, to happiness, to peace, to harmony, to wholeness, to great relationships, to great ideas and businesses, to whatever it is that you want to express in this life. Knowing that you can, knowing that because it's in you, it wants to come out of you.