Welcome to Yoga, Social Justice, & Leadership!!!

My name is Paulina (she/her) and I'm from Mexico City, Mexico (land of the Aztecs).

I'm here to learn how to share responsably with others the benefits that yoga has brought to my life in both a mental/emotional and a physical level.

I work as a medical interpreter helping non English speakers to access medical and mental health care. I'm passionate about performing arts, languages, cultures, and of course yoga.  

Hi, I'm Susie 29, originally from Australia but have lived in the United States for four years. I'm currently studying for my bachelor's in Psychology and criminology, I'm taking this course to deepen my love for yoga which has helped me transform myself on a spiritual and emotional level along with my goal to work in prisons and jails as a psychologist.
I love all things holistic and nature with a big passion for traveling. 

Hello! My name is Kristen (she/her) and I live in California (US), Tribal land to the Nisenan people. I am a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS), also known as a Recreation Therapist, and currently work with individuals that have been found Incompetent to Stand Trial. I am hoping this training will provide me additional tools to provide my patients trauma informed care that will improve their well-being while incarcerated and hopefully when they return to the community. Things that bring me enjoy include hiking/nature walks, growing my own food, reading non-fiction, sitting in the sun, cuddling with my animals and getting caught up on podcasts with my wife. 

Hi! My name is Paris (she/her) and I am from Zion,IL. I currently live in Memphis,TN because I moved there for graduate school but I am eager to see where life takes me next. I am a former elementary education teacher looking to transition into full time entrepreneurship. I have a diverse set of businesses that I aspire to run, but I believe they will all fall together naturally. I am hoping this training will strengthen my personal practice to propel me into a purpose that fulfills me. I also look forward to sharing knowledge with others, especially beginners, to be the example I craved starting out. It brings me much joy to enhance the quality of my life and encourage others to do the same. 

Hi. My name is Edith (she/her) and live in Massachusetts.  I am a physician assistant and have a bachelors in social work. I currently work in the department of youth services and youth that are in detention centers. These youths have so much trauma. I want to see how I can teach them a way to reconnect with their mind and body. I want to empower them with skills they can take with them if and when they are discharged back to the community.  This is also a learning activity for me as yoga in the past "not my thing." I love Zumba like/active go go physical activity.  I am curious how yoga can be used from trauma...I want to see if I can implement this where I am working with youth.   interest tidbit: I am mother to triplets that are 10 years old (M, M, F) and a 12 year old daughter; I did not do any IVF (nothing wrong with that, just get this question asked. 

Hi!

My name is Mimi (she/her) and I live in Asheville, NC. I'm so grateful to be a part of this training. My day job is working as a researcher at an anthropology project revolving around peace. I was a pre-professional ballerina and after a career-ending injury, I fell deeply in love with yoga and mindfulness based practices. I've volunteered in prisons for about 4 years, first teaching a writing workshop and now teaching somatic based practices. I love working with this population and sharing trauma-informed ways of healing and getting in touch with our resilient bodies and fluid breath. I'm looking really forward to learning and growing with you all.

Hello YTT Cohort! My name is Rosie (She/ They). I live in Minneapolis, MN ( Dakota and Anishinaabe Land). I am incredibly humbled to be participating in this YTT program through PYP.  I am a therapist and social worker and work primarily with adolescence and young adults. I also have past experience co-learning (Popular Education style) with the incarcerated young men at a juvenile max outside of Olympia Wa. Yoga has also helped me a lot in life with overcoming persistent depression and has helped me to accept love for myself. I love somatic/ sensory motor based work and want to learn as much as I can. I'm very excited to further incorporate trauma informed yoga into my life personally and professionally.  I look forward to getting to know all of you better throughout the course of this training. I also have a 16 month old who will probably attempt to make as many appearances as he possibly can!

Hello,

my name is Diana (she/her), I am a single mom of three teenage boys. Currently, living in Southern California, I am taking this course as part of my healing process, I am excited to learn more about somatic energy. Personally, I have no experience in working directly with the prison population, however, I am thankful and grateful to be here with everyone to learn more about yoga. Furthermore, I have always worked in a helping profession, I feel it is my mission in life to help others. 

Hey ya’ll! My name is Lauren. My pronouns are she/her and I am a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. I live in Phoenix, Arizona. Land of the Tohono O’odham. My interest in this training lies in working with underserved youth. I wish to start a mobile yoga school and bring it to group homes and juvenile detention facilities. I am a breathwork and guided cold plunge facilitator and believe that the secret to healing lies within our own nervous systems and the resiliency we can build to learn who we are when we are amongst discomfort. I want to share these mindfulness practices with the youth so they are not just discovering themselves for the first time at 35 like I did.  

In my free time I love to host parties, travel, eat good food, play Catan, and collect Poekmon cards. Excited to get to know everyone over the next few months 🙂 

Hey everyone, my name is Chris Lerma and I live in Little Rock, AR. I am a baker at a local bakery here in town by day, and work as a server at a gastro-pub in North Little Rock. I also recently started my own company in auto-detailing. The last couple weeks have been hectic, so I apologize for not being able to attend in person last Thursday, but I am excited to have the night off tonight! I am also a recovering addict with 15 months clean, and am here because a wonderful woman named Nicole from PYP came into the facility where I was detained and facilitated a yoga class every week. It helped change my life, and am here with the aspiration to be able to travel back into the same facilities and return the gift that was so freely given to me!

Hello all, Lizzy Dembosz here. I live in California, and live between San Luis Obispo (Central Coast) and South Lake Tahoe. San Luis Obispo County is on the Salinan and Chumash lands, South Lake Tahoe is on Washoe lands. My journey here to this yoga teacher training started back when I was a Senior at Sonoma State University when I volunteered at San Quentin State Prison. I've always been drawn to helping and being of service to others, my college professor introduced her class to a few people who were serving time at San Quentin and I was captivated by their spirits and desire for self improvement. My professor helped set me up with an internship at San Quentin my Senior year and that really set the trajectory of my career in the human services field. I am a social worker and social justice advocate at heart. I worked in the child welfare and mental health fields for 10 years and now teach as an instructor at UC Davis. I have always been a firm believer in the saying "knowledge is power" and wholeheartedly feel that we empower others when share wisdom and knowledge. I love being an educator. 

Fast forward to the pandemic in 2020 and I reintroduced myself to the practice of yoga. Attempts to practice prior to 2020 were challenging to say the least and I never really enjoyed it. 2020 was a pivotal year for me, (as I am sure it was for many of us collectively) this was the year I really started my journey of self-healing. Yoga has taught me many lessons along these past few years and it has been my main source of peace, connection and pathway to self-love.

I am here to further deepen my yoga practice and recommit to my health and wellbeing in a more meaningful way. I wholeheartedly feel that in order to authentically be of service to others, the work starts within, so that's part of why I am here. I am very excited about being a yoga teacher and feel energized when I envision teaching this style of yoga to those who are in need, in particular system involved youth. Additionally, I am also tremendously excited and honored to be in community with you all! Look forward to the next several months together!

Hello! My name is Dan and I am a judge in Solano County, CA (just north of San Franscisco). I have a criminal law calendar where I see on a daily basis the many challenges and inadequacies of the criminal justice system. I am a big believer in treatment courts - drug court, mental health court, veterans court - where I think that public health principles bring about much better and humane outcomes than the traditional justice system. I was an attorney for 24 years before becoming a judge, working with many adults and minors in the criminal justice system, and I worked in a prison while in graduate school before that. I have been a proponent of yoga and other wellness practices in the criminal justice system since college. I have worked with the Prison Yoga Project and the Veterans Yoga Project for the past 10 years, trying to promote more yoga and better health practices in prisons, jails and in our community. I recently decided I needed to do a deeper dive into this work by taking this course. I'm looking forward to working with all of you.

Hi Everyone, it has been great learning with all of you over these few weeks. 

My name is Quen’tazia, I go by Quen. I’m a Southerner, frequently traveling with my active duty husband and our kids. I’ve most recently worked as a Re-Entry Case Manager. I have experience as an art teacher, math interventionist, theatre teacher, certified nursing assistant, and a child abuse neglect worker committed to reunification efforts. I am also a trained death doula and I will start my Master of Public Leadership program in August. 

Over the years, my roles in education, community health, and case management have shown me how trauma can profoundly impact people’s lives. My desire to pursue this certification is driven by a commitment to fostering healing and positive change within the communities I have served and hope to serve in the future.

Hey everyone 

My name is Rev Daniel Obed Masaba,my pronouns is He /Him.

Iam a kenyan from east africa.(kenya)

Iam aprison chaplain serving at kisumu maximum prison.amale prison facility.

Ihave worked in prisons by today for (18) eighteen years since  the years 2006.

Ihave indeed a widened experience to work in  prison facilities 

Ihave been involved in various rehabilitation, transformative and reintegration programs in prison however it has taken me years to learn of the healing ability of the yoga practice.

Since I joined ihave realised great personal healing as I continue to be equipped for equipping others in prison ,in church,and in various levels of community.

Thank you all.