At a Mar’Quis Hubert yoga class, one can expect to unroll their mat and be met exactly where they are that day. With over eight years of teaching experience, Hubert has taught hundreds of students from all walks of life — from a boarding school in Evergreen to a sought-after yoga studio in Denver. He believes the practice is meant to be accessible for everybody.

“I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to be perfect or know everything to come to class,” Hubert says. “Just be yourself, do what you can … it’s a no-judgement zone.”

Hubert landed his most recent gig at YogaSix in Edgewater during the pandemic and currently has a full schedule of power vinyasa classes there. He can also be found flowing through chaturangas at ONE Yoga in the Denver Tech Center.

Hubert makes it a goal to remind students in every class that they’re showing up to their own unique practice — not his or anyone else’s in the room. In the same breath, he also emphasizes the importance of community. While Colorado has no shortage of yoga studios, it still has some progress to be made in terms of inclusivity.

When Hubert was first exposed to yoga, he was attending school in Kansas and saw a group class composed exclusively of white, middle-aged women. Like many others’ first introduction to the practice, his first thought was, could this be for me?

Thankfully, Hubert joined in on a class soon after, and from there, he emphasizes, he was hooked. However, when he came to Colorado three years ago, he noticed a similar lack of diversity in yoga classes throughout the state.

“Yoga should be for everybody,” he reiterates. “I know for me growing up when I watched yoga, it seemed more like a white woman thing … When I tell people who I grew up with that I teach yoga and that they should come take a class, they say ‘that’s not for me.’ Like, why isn’t it for you?”

Often the only person of color amongst his fellow teachers and students, Hubert says with more representation of people from different backgrounds, the more open certain communities will be the practice.

“That little kid who’s never done yoga can say ‘I can do this because I see someone who looks like me do this practice,’” he explains. Hubert’s ultimate goal is to open a studio of his own and make it a home for newer teachers to come in, learn and grow from each other. Until then, you can find him leading an interactive handstand workshop in class or cracking a corny joke to his students.

Photos courtesy of Mar’Quis Hubert.

Originally published in the Winter + Spring 2021-22 issue.