Power Vinyasa *MAX-FLOW*™ classes!
Wednesday 7:30 pm | 2744 B’way
Saturday 6:30 pm | 2726 B’way
Sunday 11:30 am | 2744 B’way
About:
AFFORDABLE YOGA IN NYC
MAX KENNEDY IS REVOLUTIONIZING ACCESSIBLE YOGA
In New York City where the price of yoga classes can soar up to $50, Max Kennedy is making sure that anyone and everyone has access to yoga by offering pay what you can yoga classes. You can find Max teaching at least three times a week in a studio space he rents on the Upper West Side.
Share your yoga journey with us.
As a lifelong New Yorker, it wasn’t until I was well into my 30s that I was first introduced to this practice. Someone I adored, adored me enough to go out on a limb and invited me to take a class alongside them. And voila, that was that! I was hooked!
When I decided to take the plunge and do a teacher training in the summer of 2018, I had no intention of actually teaching. Like many, my sole intention in enrolling in a training was to deepen my practice, nothing more. But at some point I discovered that in order to receive my certification, I was required to teach at least one 60 minute class.
The moment I learned that I could use my voice, that people could listen with their hearts and minds, I was imbued with an undeniable sense of clarity and commitment. Rather instantaneously it became clear to me, I’d commit myself to opening as many doors for people to make their way through, by way of their own self-directed evolution. I knew right then and there, this is what I will always do. That *this* is all I would ever want to do. To create some semblance of beauty, to endeavor to end some semblance of suffering and to help people help themselves. I haven’t looked back since.
What inspired you to offer “Pay What You Can” yoga?
Prior to the pandemic, I exclusively taught at a donation-based studio. In 2020 this studio had to shutter all its locations overnight which was a source of immediate devastation for countless people. There was a huge void that was created when this pay-what-you-can model of practice vanished.
Once again, clarity and commitment entered the equation. I knew I had to do everything I could to once again foster community — to provide access to a practice that didn’t hinge on one’s financial means. To do it the right way. That is how •Offer•What•You•Can•Yoga• came to be.
What is your hope for the future of yoga?
The impetus for launching •Offer•What•You•Can•Yoga• was to simply provide possibility. For people to know it’s possible to have a practice no matter their experience, their age, or their income. That having a fulfilling practice isn’t predicated on their body type, nor their physical abilities — but rather the contents of their heart.
It’s my hope that the future of yoga has inclusivity and accessibility at its nucleus. It’s my hope to be amongst those who help normalize these tenets. That in no uncertain terms, access to wellness modalities must be viewed as being a right — not as a luxury.
While I’ll always champion yoga’s prowess in being a healing, discovery, growth, and acceptance practice — I know full well, it might not be for everyone and that’s okay. But, everyone must have the right to explore what their own holistic wellness can feel like. It’s my unyielding intention to contribute to this reimagined approach. I have every reason to believe that we, together, can usher in this shift in perspective.
