Welcome to the Group Forum for Prison Yoga Project's YTT! This forum is only accessible to members of the January 2024 Cohort and facilitators and allows space for sharing, continued discussion, and resources.
As you are able, please take the time to share your introduction to the group! Consider sharing your name, preferred pronouns, and geographic location(click here to research for land acknowledgement). Please also consider sharing what calls you to this training as well as any other information you wish to share with the group, such as hobbies and interests or what you are hoping to gain from this training.
Feel free to comment and offer questions or connections to one another! This forum can serve as a communication tool for creating study groups or just sharing knowledge and feedback with one another.
Hello! My name is Heidi, and I live in Phoenix, Arizona on Hohokam Land (did I do that correctly? I've never done a land acknowledgement 🙂 . My pronouns are she/her. I am a Bilingual (Spanish) Speech Language Pathologist. I work in a Title One School District in Phoenix near the airport. It is a very economically segregated district and has many Somali refugees and other families who live in a shelter. In 2020, I completed the year long certification through the Mindful Schools organization. I have done several other children's yoga courses, but never a 200 hour yoga training! I am fascinated with the work of Prison Yoga Project and look forward to meeting all of you!
Hello! My name is Joanne and I am from Dryden, NY. My pronouns are she/her. My goal is to share the skills learned with incarcerated people, as I am a forensic counselor in our county jail.
Greetings! Lisa here (she/her) from Conway, New Hampshire...Abenaki Land! I also work in a county jail and my goal is to provide the opportunity to those incarcerated and to those in my community--sober homes, library; wherever and whoever would like to learn about trauma-informed yoga. I teach a few classes at the jail; one of them being mindfulness. Looking forward to learning with everyone! 😊
Aloha - I am Angie, originally from Indianapolis, though I have also called Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Honolulu my home. I currently live on land that was claimed as U.S. territory through an armed overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, a sovereign nation.
I have practiced yoga for over twenty years and long desired to take a teacher training course to deepen my personal practice, though career and motherhood always took precedence. Before moving to O'ahu, I spent 17 years working for NPR. While living in Los Angeles, I was a supporter of the Actors' Gang, which produces original theatrical works that promote social justice and also has a prison outreach program that helps incarcerated people identify emotions and channel energy into artistic expression. My interest in that work eventually led me to learn about the Prison Yoga Project, and I have been likewise amazed by the layers of positive outcomes that radiate from this program. Social support systems are severely lacking in Hawai'i, so through this course, I hope to be able to develop a culturally sensitive approach to sharing yoga and mindfulness with communities on the islands that have experienced generational trauma and oppression. I use she/her pronouns.
Hello All! My name is Katie, currently living in California's Central Valley. I have been practicing yoga since 2016 - and it has been the single most important tool in my sobriety. I learned how good my body can feel, when I stopped poisoning with alcohol - it really was profound. I have been an avid yogi since! I have worked as Registered Nurse in the ER at one of the state's biggest trauma centers. This has allowed me to witness first have many social influencers of health, on of which is incarceration or family that has been incarcerated (generational trauma). I hope to learn how to work with these individuals and give them the tools that I have used myself. Yoga and the mind body connection, love for self, and the love that surrounds us - the universal love of which we can all access if we get quiet, and the resultant positive outcomes. I have volunteered in the past with "Food Not Bombs" and two years working with reading intervention via AmeriCorps. I am the mother of a 3.5 year old boy who was born with a rare disease, PKU (phenylketonuria), which renders proteins toxic to his brain - it has been a challenge but needless to say the vegan route was necessary and welcomed in my home. I use she/her pronouns.
Hello all! 🤗 My name is Samantha (she/her). I live in New Bedford, Massachusetts on Wampanoag land! I have worked in a correctional psych facility for the past 7 years. I am so excited to embark on this trauma-informed yoga journey with all of you. Yoga has helped me so much in my personal life, and I can't wait to share that with the individuals with whom I work.
Hello all! My name is Lauren (she/her) and I live in Brisbane, QLD, Australia on Turrbal Land. I’m a psychology student and aspiring psychologist with a passion for combining modern psychological knowledge with the ancient teachings of yoga. My background is in yoga, and I’m especially interested in creating trauma-informed yoga classes to initiate a pathway to sustainable healing and change. I feel called to this training to deepen my own practice and to ultimately share the healing qualities of yoga with those impacted by trauma. I look forward to meeting and learning with you all! 😊
Hello! My name is Colin (he/him) I live in Madison WI on Ho-Chunk land. I'm currently a Yoga teacher and am hoping to develop trauma informed techniques that can inform all my teaching and deepen my approach to those who are struggling, with poses or otherwise, something my first teacher training did not provide. My hope is that after this program I've been connected with people in my area with an interest in healing and trauma-informed yoga and feel prepared to teach at an institution.
Hola!! My name is Irene, I am a she. I was born in Uruguay, South America, but since 1998 I live on Bonaire (Dutch Caribbean). I am a Psychologist and a Yoga Instructor. I have been practicing yoga for more than 30 years. I work part time in the local jail as substitute teacher in three different programs: Art, Handicrafts and Yoga. I teach Mind-Body integration techniques, specialy breathing techniques. I worked for 25 years as a Dive Instructor, that is why I came to Bonaire and that is also the reason why I specialized in breathing techniques.
Hello all! My name is Charlotte (she/her) and I live in a small town called Brighton, in Ontario, Canada. I have wanted to do my YTT for many years now as yoga has been in my life on and off for many many years; I have recently been working to deepen my personal practice and am excited to do so with this course while also learning how to teach! The trauma informed lens which this course is built drew me to this particular course as I am a Social Worker in a federal prison, and the chief of my department teaches yoga within our institution; this is something I hope to expand on and bring into other institutions!
Greetings & Sautations!
My name is Phaedrah and I'm from Massachusetts, working at Bridgewater State Hospital where I offer rehabilitation groups and peer support! Last year we had the profound priviledge of working with an instructor from the Prison Yoga Project and I am getting this certification to grow the project in our facility! As a lover of yoga, this is a much appreciated opportunity for me, and I'm so excited to move, grow, and flow with you all!
Peace and Blessings!
Hello, I'm Gina from Alhambra, California, residing on Tongva (Gabrieleno) land. My pronouns are she/her. As someone justice-impacted, awaiting sentencing for a federal crime, I'm drawn to the Prison Yoga Project. Committed to helping others during my incarceration, I'm also an ICF Associate Certified Coach with expertise in trauma coaching. I believe trauma-informed yoga aligns seamlessly with coaching, fostering holistic well-being.
Hi, I'm Lisa. Currently living in Providence Rhode Island. The ancestral home of the Narragansett and Wampanoage people. I have worked in human services for the past 40 years. I have worked with a variety of people supporting their healing , growth and development. I am going to be moving to Maryland in the near future and would like to work providing social justice training to folks, and teach yoga to trauma survivor' and underserved marginalize people.
I look forward to getting to know everybody.
Lisa
Hello all! My name is Ashley Jackson. I am from Little Rock, AR. Pronouns are her/she. I am hoping to share my experience with others like me that have had to deal with trauma, battled drug addiction, or found themselves incarcerated, and need help finding the light again after being lost in the darkness that can sometimes be our lives. To help show them that they are worth it, that they too can have a better life!