We recently connected with Alexis Dupree and have shared our conversation below.

Alexis , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

In 2023 I created the Chicago Black Women’s Yoga Instructor Guide– a free community wellness guide that profiles a dozen local women in the healing arts space.

A few months into my makeshift sabbatical, I’d felt drawn into using my journalism degree, childhood magazine adoration, and community engagement experiences to uplift my community in a way that I felt was important and hadn’t really seen within Yoga and mindfulness as often.

As a transplant to Chicago, this process was really a leap of faith. I moved to the city in 2019, but didn’t really settle in until months before covid hit. So, I didn’t have too much of a tight-knit circle so to speak.

I created a google form and reached out to folks I sort of knew on Instagram and asked for them to refer women instructors they knew. I also reached out to folks I didn’t know. From there, I scheduled a series of photoshoots and recruited a small team of individuals to support the group photo shoot and post-production process.

The initial purpose was to increase representation of Black women in yoga spaces because so often the visual representation is predominately white–including teachers and students. A secondary goal was to also highlight the black-owned yoga studios as well. While this isn’t an exhaustive list of instructors or Black-owned wellness spaces, I do think it is the start to a growing community. The guide is free and available digitally on my website. I printed and distributed over 200 copies through the Chicago community.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As a jovial-mover and shaker, I’ve always desired to fulfill my heart’s mission. Working at the intersection of art, education, and wellness for the last decade, I’ve always been influenced by the impact of creativity and community on one’s well-being. Growing up my mother would always tell me, “you can be anything you want to be,” and I’m glad she did. I believe that these simple words of encouragement helped me really navigate the awkwardness of transitioning into adulthood, making sense of life after undergrad, and gave me the confidence to go after my dreams even if my decisions didn’t and don’t make sense to others. That’s the thing about intuition and honoring your path–keeping and maintaining faith in purpose will be the thing that sustains the vision in turbulent times.

Since youth, I’ve always been on this quest for joy and am a radical freedom seeker. I believe that this is the curiosity which fuels me and is what helps to keep me grounded. I always find it funny when people ask me “what do you do?”. My best answer is typically, “well, that depends on the day”. In my 20’s, I learned that success is up to you. I also believe that it’s an important value for me to live life holistically, and have a deep understanding of life’s interconnectedness. That said, the part of me that’s been an educator is not disconnected from the part of me that’s a performer, painter, wellness leader, daughter or friend.

With an adapted holistic approach to life, I sought out a healing journey that encouraged me to feel more connected to my body, and also others. This has led me to a shared career in my three passions– wellness, creativity, and community. My wellness guide is a marquee example of the power of vision, intuition, and community. I believe that my yoga practice has been a transformative catalyst to becoming the person and creative that I am. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead and organize free community wellness classes, teach studio yoga, and to facilitate mindfulness workshops and professional developments that incorporate art and yoga.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I’m genuinely motivated to use my three passions–art, education, and wellness– to guide my purpose. In all the roles I have, it is important for me to work to eradicate inequity in ways that I have the skillset and capacity to do so. When I think of my audience, I’m particularly committed to magnifying the voices of Black women and girls. This includes creating safe community wellness spaces, the art work that I produce and collaborate with, and my research as a doctoral student in the Industrial and Organizational Psychology field.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

This question is hard for me because I believe that everyone is creative in their own right. What I do think I wish society understood about creativity in terms of recognized art forms is that there is beauty in having a hobby for the sake of enjoying it. To that, for folks who are pursuing their craft to earn a living, I think that it is equally important to mentally prepare for slow seasons, moments of mental exhaustion, and to know that it’s okay to step away for however long you need.

I think one thing I’ve observed is once people know you’re a creative they have this expectation for you to always produce. They often ask “when’s the next thing”. I think something that comes up in my circle of friends, who are also creatives, is that this is all, really and truly, a process. It is up to you to trust that what’s for you is for you and it’ll workout for your greatest good when you are doing your part.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.littlespaceswellness.com
• Instagram: littlespaceswellness
• Other: alternative website: https://everythingiwantedtosay.com

Image Credits
Images by Kenneth Leftridge, Jr and Deja Hood