Pamela Hong
Yoga Instructor of Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow and Qi Flow
I am one of the lead yoga teachers for Yoga POC Sangha. I collaborate each week with one or two other teachers regarding the sequencing and pace of the gathering. Sometimes we have a theme and other times we improvise, each guiding a portion of the class.
My teaching career began in 2003 in Albuquerque. Classes tended to be pretty homogenous within the studios, health clubs and offices where I taught. I longed to offer yoga to a more racially diverse group of people who perhaps felt unwelcome, uncomfortable or intimidated in studio settings. When I saw Farah's advertisement on social media announcing classes specifically designed for the POC community, I was really excited! I started attending regularly and appreciated learning that yoga was some thing that the POC community wanted, needed and supported! I began teaching for Yoga for People of Color for healing and empowerment during the summer of 2017, and surprisingly found that its diversity fueled my creativity and experimentation. There was less pressure to conform to the perceived yoga studio standards and I began to teach intuitively. I have received sustenance and acceptance from being part of this community. It felt, and continues to feel, like home!
Pam has been studying and practicing various styles of yoga, including lyengar and Ashtanga since 1993, and teaching since 2003. Her flow-based classes are infused with imaginative sequencing, blending fluid movement with spacious breathing, which are enhanced by skilled, hands-on adjustments. Students are encouraged to journey through their practice with compassion, attention, enthusiasm and grace. Pam has completed Levels I-III Teacher Training with Tias Little of Prajna Yoga in Santa Fe, and has additional trainings with Manju Jois, Richard Freeman, James Cardinale (Ashtanga Primary Series), Linda Spackman (Prenatal Yoga), Zubin Schroff (Spiritual Justice, Yoga for People of Color) and Joe Barnett (Functional Anatomy). She teaches Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow and
Qi Flow to groups of all levels at studios, health clubs and community centers in the Albuquerque area. Pam has presented at the Albuquerque Yoga Gathering, Nomadic Yoga Festival and Santa Fe Yoga Festival, co-leads semi-annual yoga retreats at Bodhi Manda Zen Center in Jemez Springs, offers specialty workshops and teacher trainings, and is involved in the organizing committee for the Yoga POC Sangha community.