In 2016, Ali Duncan made history as the first Black yoga studio owner in Denver, Colorado . Eight years later, business is still booming.
The former policewoman is known for being a groundbreaker as she became the first female officer at Fort Collins Police Services in northern Denver , according to KDVR . During her time on the police force, she also enjoyed the peace and tranquility that came with practicing yoga. After being the only Black woman in the yoga studios she visited for some time, she realized that there wasn’t a yoga community that consisted of Black and brown women. Instead of complaining about the lack of diversity in the classes, she took a leap of faith and decided to become a yoga teacher.
“Not a lot of places where I saw a lot of Black and brown bodies on the mat. So, I stopped asking why, why aren’t there these spaces, and then I created Urban Sanctuary,” she said in an interview with KDVR.
To create an inclusive space for not only Duncan’s community but other minorities and yoga lovers, she utilized a summer off from the police force to learn more about the meditation practice. During her break, she flew across the world and spent two months training to become a certified yoga instructor.