It was 7am. Yoga mats were strewn on the floor, my workout clothes were sticking to me and I was thinking about breakfast. So far, so normal.On the surface, it seemed like your average early morning yoga session. Except there was one difference, and not just that it took place in the picturesque backdrop of Poundon House, a beautiful mansion in Oxfordshire.I was at OYA Retreats , the UK’s first yoga retreat for black women and women of colour and the brainchild of certified yoga instructor and life coach, Stacie Graham. Graham has sought to create a comfortable space for women like me to practice yoga, meditation and movement. Of the eight women aged between 18-40 in attendance, most were actively and regularly involved in yoga, whether as an instructor or as a long-time practitioner.It might seem strange to sign up to a weekend where a significant section of the UK population is uninvited... but hey, hear me out: I’ve long felt sidelined in "white-centric" wellness spaces, whether it be a spin class, a cold-pressed juice launch or a pop-up supper club. Not just because elements of mainstream wellness spaces have turned into an invisible competition of who's donning the most expensive pair of Lululemon leggings or whose abs are reaching mainstream #bodygoals, but because – as a woman of colour – I’ve long felt conspicuous of – even alienated by – these spaces, and nowhere more so than during yoga.For one, I’ve rarely come across more than one or two women of colour in the studios I've visited, let alone one that’s leading the class. Even outside the studio, invisibility is still the norm: Instagram posts of #yogaeverydamnday are awash with toned white women in various contortions while a cursory Google glance of yoga magazines feature covers which rarely stray from a Caucasian face.You’d be hard-pressed to believe that the practice hails from outside the Western world. “I have conversations with people of colour who don't realise yoga has its roots in Africa and India because of media representations,” Josetta Malcolm, a British Wheel of Yoga -certified yoga instructor, who also attended the weekend long retreat, tells me.There is, as Graham agrees, "a drastic lack of diversity" in the movement, and it was this that motivated her to create OYA Retreats. “Women deserve spaces in which they feel completely free to be who are they are – unapologetically," she tells me.As WoC have long reported feeling marginalised, even alienated from these spaces, it's no wonder that the idea of OYA Retreats has been so warmly welcomed by women like me in the UK. “Our needs and cultural differences aren’t remotely addressed, which is doing a disservice to [our] community,” said DJ and fitness instructor Shiggi Pakter, who also led a workshop during the weekend.