@ionanaylon2706gmail-com Hi Iona! Thank you for sharing your story! I work at a domestic violence agency and also hope to bring this training and understanding to the people I work with. I believe yoga can be such an empowering practice for survivors of DV!
Hello everyone, It was so great to read through your intros! My name is Vanessa Bistarelli and I am excited to begin this course with you all. I live in Bethesda, MD and I have been practicing yoga on and off for many, many years and one thing I know is that life is always better when I am practicing. I am interested in the trauma informed and social justice aspect of this training and I have been wanting to participate in this training for a while and I am so grateful that the timing aligned now. Prior to having children, I worked with the prison population for many years and it had a deep impact on me that has never left.
Hello Team,
Wow, some powerful stories in here! I admire the strength in vulnerability and expect to share my own as we continue to interact and learn together.
My name is Andrew. Joining from Alexandria, VA and soon relocating to Baltimore, MD.
I first started practicing yoga around 2008 or so, around age 30. My then-job had a great fitness center with lots of classes. Typical guys, we went there mostly to lift, but also enjoyed a cardio kickboxing class led by a Bruce Lee type dude who played a lot of Prince and Michael Jackson. Everyone loved that class. When he left, there was general disappointment, and a bit of skepticism toward the lady Kelly who took over. But she quickly humbled us. She was a former collegiate multi-athlete, Kinesiology major, and taught cycle, kickboxing, abs, and yoga. As we grew to respect her from kickboxing we started taking her other classes, eventually braving this yoga thing (are guys even allowed in yoga, we thought). She was trained at Down Dog in Georgetown. A prominent Baron Baptiste lineage school in the DC area. Power yoga was a perfect start, it was very much a workout, and the little Savasana and breathing at the started an awakening deep within.
As I got into group fitness instruction, starting first with Tae Bo® Fitness, the GX director nudged me toward an upcoming YTT. I demured, thinking "I'm so new to this, how can I be a yoga teacher?", but she countered "yoga is about the journey, not where you're at". That training changed my live. It really returned me to my humanist roots (parents were big into museums, poetry, art). I've become an enthusiast of religious studies, spiritual philosophy, and all things focused on the human condition and human stories.
As for communities... My parents instilled service in me. We volunteered at the local church on holidays, divvying up donations and distributing them to the needy. That always felt rewarding. My father took us hiking often, and we'd pick up any litter along the way. Which also felt good.
My eyes were opened to injustice senior year in HS, when my buddy (seen as black) and I (seen as white) were loitering in my car outside my friends house one Friday night, just looking for something to do. A cop car pulled up, saying there was a call of "suspicious activity". He asked me to step out. He commanded my buddy out. He told me he was going to search my pockets. He shoved his hands straight into my friend's. He told me to put my hands on the hood. He shoved my buddy, forced his hands, growling "put your hands on the car, boy!". We hadn't done anything illegal, and were eventually let go. But I've never forgotten that disparity. And sadly, there have been constant reminders.
For two years, I worked as a construction trainer at YouthBuild PCS in DC. The school is for "returning students" (aged 16-21 who'd never finished high school). They would spend one week in the classroom preparing for GED, then one week on a construction site, rehabbing a run-down home for someone needy, right in their own community. That was probably my favorite job ever. And the connection with those scholars was incredible. Sadly, good work often doesn't pay, and I eventually went back to corporate, thinking I may have kids someday and would have to pay for college.
I eventually fell away from fitness and yoga instruction. But now here I am. Life 2.0 as they say. Returning to what feels like home. Yoga and a life of service, dedicated to shared growth and the realization of human potential.
I look forward to sharing this journey with each of you.
Peace, Love, and Inner Power
Andrew
Hello Everyone,
My name is Sarah Carr and I am from Little Rock, Arkansas in the USA. I am a yoga teacher, community volunteer and lifelong student of healing.
My work has led me to become increasingly interested in the intersection of trauma, social justice and yoga. While I have witnessed the transformative power of yoga in many settings, I am especially interested in how trauma informed practices can support individuals and communities who have been impacted by adversity, systemic barriers and incarceration.
I joined this training because i believe yoga can be more than movement. It can be a tool for empowerment, self-awareness, resilience, and restoration. i want to deepen my understanding of how to offer yoga in a way that is inclusive, trauma informed and responsive to the realities people carry with them both on and off the mat.
I am particularly passionate about supporting children and family's effected by incarceration and exploring how yoga can help foster healing, connection, and hope in communities that are so often overlooked.
i look forward to learning alongside each of you. Challenging assumptions, expanding my perspective and discovering how we can use yoga as a force for both personal and collective healing.
Namaste,
Sarah Carr
Hey everybody! My name is Gabriela and I will be joining from Manhattan. I began practicing yoga when I was in middle school to help heal from dance-related injuries. My yoga practice became a bit more serious in the past 5 years and I am really excited to lean more into the meditative and mindful parts of the practice. I am particularly hoping to be able to ground my practice more in accessibility and deepen my understanding of social justice as something that can be embodied.
I am currently pursuing a Master's in environmental health and I am part of a research team that focuses on environmental exposures in carceral settings. I know and love many people who have been affected by incarceration, and I am looking forward to being able to connect more closely with people impacted by the carceral system through healing practices.
Hello, my name is Samantha. I'm in Ontario, Canada. Mother of 5, grandmother of 2. I'm an Addictions Counsellor working in corrections and am excited to bring the Prison Yoga Project to our institution. I'm a trained facilitator in the Path of Freedom (Mindfulness Based Emotional Intelligence). I believe the two programs will compliment each other nicely! I began practicing yoga off and on about 3 years ago. I enjoy the benefits it brings to my life and look forward to sharing that with the vulnerable population I work with. 😊
Hi, my name is Allyson and I'm from Las Vegas, NV.
I've had several career paths throughout my life, but I currently work in project management for an electrical contractor. My husband became disabled 2 years ago, and it's been a pretty difficult road as we both learn how to adapt to the new normal.
Practicing yoga has helped me connect to my higher self, manage stress, and gain peace of mind. I've always thought about completing a 200-Hr YTT, but nothing ever felt quite "right" until I came across the Prison Yoga Project. A trauma-informed training was exactly what I was looking for.
Throughout my life I've had several family members and friends who've struggled with addiction and substance abuse, and I've witnessed how trauma affects their relationship with themselves and others. With that said, I'm really looking forward to learning a trauma-informed yoga approach, and my goal with this training is to learn how to support those recovering from addiction and substance abuse.
I'm both excited and nervous about all of it!
Hi everyone! My name is Brianna Cave, I am from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and I am so excited to start this amazing journey with everybody! I have been doing yoga for around two years. I studied Human Services in college earning my associates degree in Human Services with a minor of Community Engagement. I am looking to further my education and study Expressive Therapy which is what led me here! As part of my studies I completed an internship with the Womens Center which is a resource based nonprofit organization that serves women and men experiencing domestic violence. We advocate for victims, creating safety plans for each individual and their unique situations. My time with the Womens Center as taught me that no ones story is the same, and that we all need to treat others with more empathy and kindness through our day to day lives. During that time I also found my love for yoga and meditation. It was a very stressful environment, and I gave so much of myself to others each day. Yoga helped me let go of things that felt heavy, and relax my mind.
In addition to continuing my studies after YTT, I am currently working for an active wear company doing their Community Lead position which involves creating connections with local active studios, and getting our associates involved with taking new and exciting classes. This helps me stay connected with our community and instructors alike.
I love hiking and nature, listening to music and watching tv and movies. My favorite thing to do on a rainy day is go to the movie theater! Any movie recommendations are much appreciated! I collect CDS and DVDS because in an age of advancing tech, I like to stay analog! You never know when that one random movie you loved as a kid will never come back to streaming services.
My goal for this training is to continue my studies, become more enlightened, learn more about myself and others, and hopefully serve the community one day!
Hi, my name is Chloe Stringer and I am based in Little Rock, Arkansas. I just graduated with a Masters of Public Service and am working on finding a job where I can support the work of marginalized communities. I have practiced yoga off and on for about a decade, but I had the opportunity to complete an internship with PYP through my graduate program which has allowed me to begin a much deeper practice than I have previously experienced. I am really passionate about working with incarcerated folks and during my internship I was able to go to the jail to one of the PYP weekly programs. That experience was what really pushed me to enroll in this training.
I learned about trauma-informed services in college when I got involved with an organization that supports anti sex trafficking efforts. Learning more about how a trauma informed service can deeply change the outcome for a client or participant shifted my perspective on how service providers should interact with those they serve. For myself, I have noticed a change in my yoga practice since participating in trauma-informed yoga and am excited to learn even more about what it means to practice trauma-informed yoga. I feel like I am at a point in my life where I am able to slow down and dive deeper into my yoga practice.
Can't wait to meet y'all!
Is anyone signed in yet? I'm just checking to see if I'm using the right link
@vanessa-ruthgmail-com I see you're also a DC-area Yogi!
I've practiced at Down Dog Yoga in Bethesda a few times, have you ever been?
Looking forward to this training!
@anne-moorheadverizon-net I'm also "Waiting for the host to start the meeting", spinning blue wheel as my "drishti" 🙂
@andrewoarenagmail-com Thanks! I always get freaked out that I'm in the wrong meeting hahaha
@andrewoarenagmail-com i emailed Betsie to see if there was a problem or a different link
@anne-moorheadverizon-net we are at the wrong link!
Not the one on the webpage, but the one in the email from yesterday...
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81661304630?jst=3