Pam Buckner - Creator and Organizer of the Soul + Unity Yoga

I am just a yogi with a dream. In 2013 I embarked upon a journey to establish a deeper, spiritual connection.  I had gone through several traumatic experiences and felt lost.  Somehow I was drawn to try yoga again.  I say again because I had tried yoga three years before and it just did not resonate with me at the time.  However, this time was different.  My first class was at Yogalution in Long Beach with teacher Dharma Shakti.  That night of my first yoga class with Dharma, we chanted mantra, meditated and did yoga.  It was perfect except for one missing, key component:  there were few people of color.  That night I made the decision to find a yoga teacher's training to bring the beautiful, healing practice of yoga to all people:  the BIPOC and LBGTQ+ communities and to people of all ages, sizes, religion and ethnicities.  Yoga contains no dogma and is not a religion.  Yoga is for everyone and everybody!

After I completed my yoga teacher's training I was ecstatic about sharing this beautiful practice with the world.  Immediately I started attending yoga classes, festivals and expos.  Again, the same issue arose.  Very few people of color attended these festivals and the ones in attendance appeared uncomfortable in these spaces.  I personally felt so out of place and unwelcomed in these spaces.  Trust me when I say that the people at the festival did nothing to make me feel unwelcome but something just didn't feel right.  Once I started teaching yoga in community spaces, students would confide in me how they've always wanted to try yoga but were intimidated because the class was guided and attended by people that did not look like them.  Whether it was their age, size, ethnic background or race, they were unable to relate to the yoga class or the teacher.  I knew that something had to change and I wanted to be that agent to promote change.

In February 2020, I created and organized the Soul Long Beach Yoga Festival; the first BIPOC yoga festival in the city of Long Beach as well as in LA County.  Over 300 people attended this event in East Side Long Beach which featured all day yoga classes, 2 simultaneous holistic workshops each hour, vendors with healthy products and life edifying foods.  

In February 2021 during the height of  the COVID19 pandemic, I created and organized an all virtual, 2 day Soul Long Beach Yoga Festival which featured all day yoga classes, holistic workshops, spoken word, meditation and a lunch time musical session with musician Joss Jaffe! 

In 2021, I made a huge career change and relocated to the city of Glendale, CA.  I spent the year getting comfortable with my new role.

In 2022, my personal and business social media was hacked and I was unable to access any of my previous Soul Long Beach Yoga Festival contacts and photos.  After spending a few months of being discouraged, I created the current Soul + Unity Yoga Festival.  Why Soul + Unity?  Because this festival was created for all souls to unite in the practice of yoga.  We have created and continue to create a welcoming and safe space for everyone to practice yoga, shop for holistic products and eat healthy foods!  We remain committed to #yogaincludesme