Yoga teacher Anderson Allen blends movement with writing at 'Scribe and Move' 

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Anderson Allen, a yoga teacher and poet, stands with his heels grounded to the floor and arms stretched toward the sky, as if reaching for the sun.

The “extended mountain pose” inspires him to connect his physical being to his creative spirit. Worlds collide.

“‘What is it that I want to give back? What is it that I’m reaching for? What is it that I want to welcome into my space?’” he asks. “It starts to mean something different each and every time I do it.”

Allen leads a free weekly class at the Avenue Blackbox Theatre called “Scribe to Move” that blends a yoga session with a writing session. The idea behind the 90-minute class, Allen says, is that physical movement enables participants to achieve a “deeper level of inquiry.”

“Writing, it’s me observing the mental, emotional, spiritual faculties of my person,” Allen says. “And the movement allows me to really just come into inquiry about that.”

Allen took his first yoga class in 2019, at the Avenue Blackbox Theatre, as part of the theater’s Wellness Wednesday events.

“Scribe and Move” isn’t your typical yoga class. Yoga is taught during the first half of the class, while the remainder of the time is reserved for reflective writing and sharing.

The class is presented by both the Avenue and Yoga 4 a Good Hood, which offers yoga classes for BIPOC communities and offers yoga teacher training.

For more details on “Scribe and Move,” go to avenueblackbox.eventbrite.com.

Daniel J. Kushner is CITY's arts editor and can be reached at [email protected].