Yoga Teacher Training Introductions

Welcome All!! My name is Jen Lindgren (she/her) and I am one of the facilitators for our YTT! I hail from the native land of the Abenaki People, also referred to as Concord, New Hampshire. I am so thrilled to be sharing this training, a YTT created with healing at its core. I am also the chapter director for PYP-NH, single mama to a wonderous 19 year-old, and former corporate dweller who made my escape to yoga facilitation and the work hustle to make that happen. My yoga foundation is 20+ years deep and I enjoy every aspect of the practice and will join a class of any style I can attend and study. For fun, I wander outside by bike, by foot, by sea. I love to talk to strangers and explore anything and everything to always learn, grow, and evolve.

I have been instructing incarcerated individuals since 2018, and providing movement workshops to at risk youth since 1992. 

I am so thankful to share this space with each of you and look forward to sharing space and learning from one another!

Love & light to you all!!

Jen

Hi guys! my name is Francia Groman, I was born in Caracas Venezuela but have grown up in Canada and the US.  I'm currently living in Maryland with my husband and three teenage sons.  I teach Vinyasa style yoga and practice Ashtanga.  I'm so excited to be a part of this program as it is my dream to be able to help bring the healing benefits of yoga to underserved and neglected populations including survivors of human trafficking, and domestic violence.  As we are getting closer to the beginning of the course, i'm feeling a combination of excited and nervous!  I'm looking forward to meeting you all and learning together as we grow individually!

Francia

Hello everyone! My name is Ranee Saunders (she/her) and I currently live in Charleston, South Carolina. I am a single mother to my sweet nine-year-old daughter - who will likely make her way onto my video at some point . . .  I work as personal injury attorney focusing on litigation involving conduct that resulted in multiple people suffering injuries (mass torts, class actions).  My yoga practice was mostly hatha and vinyasa for years, but I felt called to do a kundalini teacher training in 2019 and these days most of my practice is kundalini meditation. I have in the past few months been trying to incorporate more flow. In addition to yoga, for fun I love to run outside, bake or color or play games with my daughter, and sing as I practice on my guitar.

I have wanted to do the PYP foundational training for years, since I heard of it in 2015/2016.  I simply felt like teaching yoga in prison was something I should do. But my daughter was so young, the timing was always off.  When I saw the offering for a full teacher training, I knew the universe had asked me to wait for a reason. And now I hope to learn how I can serve incarcerated individuals and youths in detention centers. 

Right now I feel a little overwhelmed, but really excited and humbled by the opportunity to share this experience with you all!

Ranee 

Hi everyone. My name is Emalie and I use she/her/hers pronouns. I currently reside in Newark, DE. I am a second year Criminology PhD student at the University of Delaware. My research is focused in the reproductive and physical health of reintegrating women. I also work part-time for the Center for Drug and Health studies at the University of Delaware, on the Community-Wellbeing Initiative.

I began my yoga journey three years ago. I started practicing Bikram yoga, but after moving to Delaware I have recently transitioned to practicing Vinyasa yoga. I meditate daily and try to practice yoga five days a week. Yoga keeps me grounded in my daily life and helps relieve the stress of managing a graduate student schedule, as well as working.

I chose to the PYP 200 hour yoga teacher training as a way to give back to the reintegrating community. As a researcher, I often forget that the research I conduct does not immediately effect the communities I work with. The reentry community has been so welcoming and helpful in developing my career, I want to be able to give back to them. I think yoga is the perfect way. This program will allow me to safely and effectively give my time back to the reentry population. I also want to learn traumed-informed yoga to continue my work as a future educator. I chose to go to graduate school because I enjoy mentoring and teaching others. I think having a yoga teacher certification will provide me an outlet outside of academia to teach and grow with the other communities. I hope to be able to share with others the benefits yoga has provided me.

From this program I hope to be able to learn more about trauma-informed approachers and how to appropriately teach yoga to other individuals. I also hope to grow and learn as an individual, spirtually, physically and mentally.

Currently, I feel thankful for having the opportunity to participate in this program. I also feel excited to be able be a part of this community!

For fun I love being in the outdoors and painting. I also enjoy spending time with my cat and reading.

I look forward to getting to know everyone better over the next few months!

Hello All❤️

My name is Alyce Bryant, I was born and raised on a horse farm in central Indiana- Ive since lived in California, India, D.C. and now find myself in Reno, NV! I love exploring, learning, being outdoors, paddle boarding and connecting! Ive been practicing yoga since age 13 when I was diagnosed with scoliosis and my mom sought out non invasive treatment. We started our yoga journey there 🙂 Been studying yoga for about 5 years now- forever student, forever teacher 🙂 In the past couple years, after living in LA especially, I really became aware of the injustices and inequality within yoga in the west. It had turned me off for awhile, which made me turn within and go deeper into my own practice. Upon finding PYP I felt the spark reignite, the spark to spread this beautiful gift of yoga. I would love to work with children in schools, prisoners, seniors, any one who doesn’t think is for them. Making yoga accessible and attainable to all is really important to me. Im eager to learn about what that looks like and how to best heal myself and others who have experienced trauma. The power of movement is healing and I want to dive in. 

I am so excited to have found this org and become a part of this community. So much healing to come and be learned- I am open- a double pisces here- so there will be lots of healing cries 🙂 

Greetings! My name is Kathy Ronan Curry and I use she/her pronouns. I was born in Arizona and currently live in Phoenix with my husband of 39 years. We have six daughters; the youngest three are identical triplets. Needless to say, life has been busy and I don’t remember much about the ‘90’s. I recently retired from working as a lawyer and look forward to more free time and less tension.

I became interested in yoga as a youngster, participating in classes that played on our public television station. Over the years, my practice has been slow and steady. I relied on the asanas to relieve stress and maintain some level of flexibility and strength. More recently, I completed a yoga teacher training in hatha yoga. I realized I had just scratched the surface of yoga! It was rewarding and quite challenging. I have an interest in trauma-informed yoga and chose to participate in the Yoga Prison Project here in Phoenix. Before the pandemic shut-down, I assisted in classes for incarcerated veterans and classes of female participants in the Mosaic Program. I want to participate in the PYP YTT to increase my understanding of service to these populations of individuals. One of my goals is to offer yoga classes to individuals at the women’s prison outside of Phoenix.

The concept of making yoga accessible hits home for me. As an older student, I often feel that yoga classes are “out of my league.” I hope to foster a welcoming environment for anyone interested in the practice.

For fun, I love to travel and visit our daughters living outside the Phoenix area.

I am excited to begin this journey. My computer and technical savvy is limited but I promise to adapt and learn as I go!

Hello

My name is Simone Dixon (she/her pronouns) and I grew up in New South Wales (near Sydney),  Australia, and currently live in Melbourne, Australia. I am currently doing  my honours in psychology at Melbourne Uni ( I believe the USA doesn't have this honours year!). My thesis is life event stress and isolation/loneliness and cancer mortality. 

I have been practicing yoga for years, with a committed (daily in some form) practice for the last 6 years. It's fundamental to my wellbeing and has been the most effective treatment for my own challenges.

I chose PYP 200 Hour YTT as I have been following this organisation for about 6 years. Despite my deep love of the practice I have not always found yoga classes in the conventional studio system an accessible or safe place for people with trauma. I had a deep sense that somehow we could bring yoga to those who have traumatic backgrounds and google brought me to the PYP. I hope to be part of bringing the PYP to Australia through the prison system, for PTSD populations, and integrating it into psychology research and programs. 

I hope to learn how to teach through this program, and too deepen and expand my understanding of trauma. 

I feel very excited right now but also nervous! Unfortunately my mum just past away less than two weeks ago and we had her funeral less than a week ago so forgive me if i seem a little distant/ lacking focus, but i figure the training will just be part of the grieving/healing.

For fun I go to spin classes, go dancing at a great club in Melbourne when not in lockdown (we are right now!), go into nature, listen to music, watch comedies (Schitts Creek), and have lunch out with friends.

I look forward to meeting you soon where for me its first thing in the morning!

Hi! My name is Elizabeth Melson (she/her.) I am currently living in Virginia, near Shenandoah National Park, in Rappahannock County. My husband and I have been married since 2013, met in 2004. We've been through plenty of ups and downs, resulting from our own unresolved traumas. We have a sparkler of an 8 year old daughter, who I am trying to raise more mindfully than I was raised. Somedays, I feel like I am failing. Then her teachers and other adults tell me how wonderful she is. 

I've had a windy career path and life trajectory that was interrupted by substance abuse and incarceration. I've worked in restaurants, fitness centers, and now in sustainable agriculture. I manage a farm for a farm-to-table and solar powered restaurant, grow hemp for CBD wellness products, and manage a farmers market. I also serve on Boards for agriculture issues, election reform, and volunteer my incarceration and re-entry story to criminal justice reform organizations, when asked. I have a Bachelor's in Sociology, Concentration in Business. I've also completed a Certificate in Culinary Arts, while incarcerated and later earned a Master's level certificate in Business Administration. I've had to ask permissions, jump through hoops, and take additional steps and then prove myself every step of the way because of my felony drug offense.  I've now had all of my rights restored, short of Presidential Pardon. (maybe, someday!)

Yoga has been something that has been a part of my life for almost 20 years, though I often stray from it and return to it later. I first was introduced to Ashtanga style classes when I sold fitness club memberships, deepened my practice in a federal prison camp by practicing with another inmate who was an instructor on the outside, returned to it again when I was going through a second major recovery in my life - well post-incarceration, and sought it again last year when my neck and shoulders were glitching up. 

I chose the PYP 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training because I've always been interested in becoming a certified teacher, but was intimidated or lacked the time and confidence. Then I learned about PYP, a parent at my daughter's childcare center is a PYP instructor! I read about the program and I was absolutely touched and though about how different my experience awaiting sentencing in a jail would have been, if I had had access to such a meaningful program. Jail, prior to prison was the absolute worst part of incarceration. It's the most traumatizing part of the process, to already disordered and traumatized individuals.

I am interested in serving people experiencing incarceration, substance abuse, PTSD / CPTSR, children and youth, Veterans, offering accessible yoga at public events (like festivals and farmers markets) and people learning to farm in a recovery-based program (integrating two of my interests!)

From this program, I hope to learn to become a confident and professional yoga teacher and to learn how to continue to work through my own past trauma while also supporting others in their recovery and healing. I want to become service-minded in all that I do. 

Actually, I am feeling quite good right now! Hopeful, excited, ready to get started this evening!

For fun...much of what I do for my professional work is fun! Gardening, hanging out with my dogs & goats, farmers markets. Hiking, exploring the cute small towns in our area, observing nature, yoga, and travel.

Bonjour/Buenas Dias/Good morning!

My name is Elizabeth Bloom, my pronouns are she/her/hers and I'm currently located in Little Rock, Arkansas. I'm 26 (but turning 27 in 8 days - WOO!). While I currently live in Arkansas, I'm originally from Philadelphia, PA and have lived all over, including Cameroon in West Africa where I was a health volunteer for the Peace Corps. Arkansas is a stop on my journey, I am here pursuing my MPH (Master's in Public Health) at University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, and my MPS (Master's in Public Service) at the Clinton School of Public Service. It's my goal/hope to work in the expansion of sexual and reproductive health to marginalized groups (both men and women) in developing countries. I would LOVE to live in West Africa again, or permanently, but for now, with the pandemic, I am enjoying being in the Natural State (slogan for Arkansas) and developing my skillset as a public health and public service practitioner. 

Some fun facts about me:

I am a die-hard (and I mean that) Philadelphia sports fan - Eagles (GO BIRDS!), Sixers, and Phillies

I am the only daughter in my family and have three older brothers, all a decade older than myself - so I kind of grew up like an only child. 

I speak French and some spanish - and I am hoping to learn how to teach in both french and spanish

I have a dog and a cat and live in a tiny apartment (380-sq feet)

I've seen all 40 seasons of Survivor and I want to be a contestant on the show

I have a slight obsession with crossword puzzles

Currently I work full-time as a bartender, barista and I do a fellowship - so my life is BUSY. 

I've partnered with a friend and PYP's assistant director and have been going on the inside to help teach yoga to inmates - ITS AMAZING. 

Throughout my life I've been drawn to physical activity/fitness. When I was a girl, I played travel basketball and travel soccer. As an adult I've transitioned over to distance running and yoga. I can't say I'm like an instagram yogi - who can do all the impressive poses - but I've found that yoga is SO helpful for me as a runner and has been incredible help for me growing into adulthood. I connected with the PYP assistant director Nicole when we worked together at a local diner here in Little Rock and she's become an invaluable friend to me - it's through her that I was exposed to PYP and upon reading about trauma informed yoga, I felt it was integral to learn how to engage and share it with others (hence why I signed up for this training). After working with so many different women in Cameroon I really began to notice how we as people are uncomfortable acknowledging and talking about our bodies, but we can come together and participate in active activities (like yoga) with relative ease. I want to be able to use yoga as a platform to connect women and help start conversations about our bodies, and use those conversations as ways to start talking about sexual health and wellness. If we can find similarities in things like yoga - when poses are hard, or challenging, or uncomfortable, it can help us to acknowledge other parts of our lives that are also hard, or challenging, or uncomfortable - and help us find healthy ways to navigate those situations - that is my goal with this course. 

I'm writing this to you all after I finished teaching a men's inmate class with Nicole at Pulaski County Detention Center in Little Rock. When we started class this morning I said I felt as if I was going about 3mph - moving incredibly slow - lagging even. But now in this moment I am feeling empowered, moving at a 35mph speed. After our class today a participant gave me a copy of a poem he wrote, and I felt honored, respected, and moved that he trusted me enough to share his words. 

My word for this class and my word for this year has been humility. I am so hopeful and humble to be here with you all.

Peace and Love,

E

Hi everyone. Emma here (she/her) based in Birmingham, England. Lovely to read the introductions so far. I’m a 40 year old, single and child free woman filling life with passion projects whilst I have the opportunities to do so.

My full time job is for a charity using theatre to work with people in the criminal justice system around change and rehabilitation. I’ve been working for Geese Theatre Company now for 12 years and am fortunate to deliver lots of work in custodial settings. Outside of work I run ‘drum n bounce & dubstretch fitness’. Drum n Bounce is an uplifting dance fitness class to drum & bass music and dubstretch is a newer addition of flow yoga. I love movement and music as a way of finding a greater connection to yourself. Yoga has been a total game changer in my life, the catalyst coming 4 years ago after accidentally embarking on my first 200 Hour TT in Real Flow Yoga.  The self practice developed from this gave the physical, emotional and spiritual strength needed to get out of a really challenging time and I feel eternally grateful. That experience drives my teaching and alongside my work with marginalised people, have a strong desire to share the practice within populations that may struggle to access it. 

Outside of these projects I love running, the gym, music, festivals, socialising and more recently attempting to learn how to DJ. I’m so excited about this new journey of learning with you all, and also a bit apprehensive as to how it’ll fit in and whether I’ll be able to stay awake during the late night live workshops...

Hi everyone! I'm so excited for this!

My name is Priscilla, my pronouns are she/her and I am currently located in San Diego, CA. I currently work at PYP as the web developer and administrator. 

I am Mexican, first generation born in the US. My practice has slowed down quite a bit, but I do a lot of floor work after I go for a run. I'm excited to have a regular practice again. PYP is so in line with my love for social justice and restorative justice so this is an amazing offering I'm so grateful to be a part of. 

I am very interested in serving inside of prisons and jails once they are open to programs again. I also do a lot of work with unhoused people and veterans and I would love to share a practice with that population as well. Working with underprivileged youth sounds really awesome too as I wish I had something like that in my life when I was younger.

I hope to have a deeper understanding of poses as well as yoga philosophy. Most of my "training" has been in studio classes and reading on my own (Bhagavad-Gita, The Tao of Pooh).

I'm feeling excitement, a little bit of worry about being a good student, but overall I am very optimistic.

I like to do mutual aid for fun, haha, a group of friends and I do hot meals for unhoused folks in my neighborhood and I love it. I love traveling as well and can't wait to do that more, I also enjoy music and silly series on streaming platforms.

Hi everyone!!!

My pronouns are she/her. Born and raised in Barcelona, lived in the UK, Hong Kong and now been in Brisbane, Australia for the last 9 years and loving it!

I have a Bachelors in Translation/Interpreting (Spanish, English, Chinese) and a Masters in Education.

Started my yoga journey about 4 years ago, through a Groupon voucher for 3 hot yoga classes. After the first class, I just felt so different...there was a before and after. I feel my life before yoga is another life. It does not feel like me...

I am currently finishing my 500 h YTT in Vinyasa, with a strong focus on yoga philosophy. The reading of the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali have been very humbling. 

I hope to serve the incarcerated community, women and men who have gone through trauma, and those people who think they cannot do yoga because they do not fit in the 'yoga instagram' stereotype.

I chose to do another 200 h on top of my 500 h because this program is very specific to what I feel it is my calling in life.

I hope to learn tools to address trauma, at all different levels and be able to serve people.

I love dancing Salsa and bachata for fun, spending times with my puppies and kiddos. Love cooking and trying different cuisines (as far as they are plant based).

I am super excited to be here and share this journey with fellow yoga lovers 🙂

Your name-Debran Gibson

Pronouns-She/Hers

Where are you located in the world?-I work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My home is about 30 miles north of Milwaukee in the town of Belgium.

Tell us about yourself—I am adopted into my family. My birth mom and the mom that raised me are sisters. I grew up not knowing who my birth father is, I still don’t. This is a longer story…maybe we will discuss it further in this journey as it comes up a lot for me (energetically). According to Ancestry.com, I am mostly German, English, and Polish. I was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI until I was 12 years old and my family moved to the suburbs. I was married in 1999  and had two sons (who are now 20 and 18). After my divorce in 2006 I re-married in 2008 and had my daughter (now 13). My second husband was (and remains) abusive. I both struggle and thrive in that ongoing interaction. I always say, you can’t have a superhero without a villain. The more he pushes, the healthier I become. I am sure we will also discuss that more through this class as well.

Currently, I live with my partner of 6 years, Kyle, his daughter (14) and my three kiddos (although maybe I should stop calling them “kiddos” now that 2 of 3 are adults…lol). We have a golden retriever and three cats which, I am sure, you will also see on camera at some point.

My professional work is as a Treatment Specialist/Substance Abuse Counselor at a high-rise prison located in downtown Milwaukee. Prior to working here, I was a Probation and Parole Agent for almost 3 years. Prior to that I went back to school as an adult graduated with a Bachelor’s in Psychology with an emphasis on Brain and Behavior (my favorite subject….lol) and a Master’s in Organizational Development and Leadership. I intend to continue my position here at the prison and to work hard to transform the culture here to a more trauma informed approach.

What is your current yoga practice? I am truly a beginner. I currently practice at my own pace about 5 times a week (more when my lower back hurts). I find a lot of peace and relief when I practice yoga. I am looking forward to learning more.

Why did you choose the PYP 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training? I chose the PYP Program after being introduced to it during a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program last year during COVID. Body work and meditation are crucial to healing. We are doing the persons in our care a disservice by not incorporating these teachings into our treatment programs. What better gift can someone get than empathy, space, and tools for self-regulation? I also hope to learn trauma informed approaches I can use as an ongoing race to heal my daughter faster than her trauma can affect her.

What populations are you interested in serving as a Yoga Teacher? I am interested in serving incarcerated persons and those in care/charge of incarcerated persons. Vicarious trauma affects every one exposed to it. I believe if we can also teach self-regulation techniques to officers/agents/social workers we are also giving them an invaluable, and desperately needed, tool to safely and appropriately perform their jobs.

What do you hope to learn in this training? I hope to learn the basics of the practice of yoga, the origin, form, body movements/parts, and how to safely translate those learnings to persons who have, or are currently, experiencing trauma.

How are you feeling right now, at this moment? I am feeling pretty hopeful. What an amazing group of people I have found myself with!

What do you do for fun? I like to cook, run, participate in any outdoor activity (hike, swim, boating, paddle boarding, kayaking..etc…YAY SUMMER!..lol) I like to experience life best I can in any given moment. So if anyone needs a “plus 1” for a random adventure. Let me know, I’m in! Lol

Hello Everyone, my name is Kristel Hollick (she/her), I live in Mount Vernon, WA, but I work as a school counselor at Totem middle school is Marysville, WA. I was born and raised in Bakersfield, CA and left California when I was 24 years old to be a military wife. My now ex-husband was stationed in Norfolk, VA, Newport News, VA, San Diego, CA and Oak Harbor, WA. My whole life revolved around his career and my two children. Once I realized I needed an out in my marriage, I went back to school, got my BA in Psychology and then my Master in school counseling. This was a big step for me, since I am dyslectic, I never thought I was smart enough to go to school. 

I now have a wonderful husband of 8 years and another daughter, a job I hope to find purpose and meaning in, and at the age of 40 I am just begging to figure out who I am as a person. That is where yoga come's in, I feel like it is an alignment of God that things are falling into place for me and this journey. I have only ever dabbled in yoga doing youtube, while it made me feel good, I new there has to be more. How can the effects of yoga help trauma impacted kids, adult ext. I started becoming trauma informed, taking ever class, similar, ready studies ext. I happen to come across the prison yoga project. While I did not feel the pull to work inside the prison, I though maybe I could help my student population I work with. After a long dissection with my principle, she agreed to put me in the foundational training with PYP, there I discover a group within the group that was interested in research. I reached out to Nicole and we talked about how PYP is going to try and do their own 200 hours training, she would let me know as soon as it came available. Now I had to talk to my principle again about putting me in the 200 hour training and how it will benefit my practice as a school counselor. At the same time (I was unaware) we had just got grant money and was on board right away with what I wanted to try and achieve at our school. Her exact words where "Let's do it". 

I taking the class because I am still so new to yoga, I don't understand all the benefits, poses, langue ext. If I am going to achieve my dream of help students of trauma, abuse, and at risk, I have to make sure Im doing the best I know how. I fell so in love with PYP, I could not see taking the training anywhere els. I was very admit about waiting until PYP offered the training and not just going anywhere to get my 200 hours in. 

Right now, I feel a little displaced, I have great idea's, wants, and desires, but no direction, self discipline of time management. I really need direction in my life, learn to say NO to things and YES to the things Im called to do. 

For fun, again, Im in the process of finding me, so my husband and I bought a 5 acer farm. We have lots of farm animals as well as 3 dog's and cats. It take up a lot of time and energy. I also sever as the leader at our church and help run the work and witness teams that go's to Guatemala every other year to help build a church building and give supplies to kids for school. It is a life changing experience the first time I went. I also coach my daughter in fall soccer, haul my son around to football practices and games. My self care is going to watch the Seattle Sounders play, sitting in the supporter section, singing, yelling, and chanting for our boys to play their best on the pitch.