Greetings and welcome to you!!! Thank you to those who shared space for our first gathering of the June-November YTT cohort! It was an absolute honor to meet so many of you and learn a bit more about what calls you to this training and to this practice! I am beyond excited to embark upon this journey with you all!! If you were unable to join for the live gathering, kindly watch the recording as you are able and share your introduction as a reply to this thread.
Your reply not only provides the opportunity for those interacting with the recordings to engage with the cohort, but it also supports me to manage attendance to the training. Thank you so very much!
Hi Everyone!
I've been watching the recap all morning and am in such awe of how many amazing folks have been called together in this cohort!
My name is Shauna (she/her), and I reside on the land of the Sto:lo and Matsqui peoples in Fraser Valley, BC Canada (about 1.5 hours east of Vancouver).
By "trade", I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Sex/Trauma Therapist. I worked in federal corrections as a Correctional Programs Officer with men (supporting rehabilitative programs in general for several years, but then really dug in and found purpose in facilitating programs with those incarcerated for harming sexually). In addition to running a full private practice (Fraser Valley Sex Therapy), I am completing my PhD in Clinical Sexology with a research focus on creating more trauma-informed clinical support for justice-involved individuals who have offended sexually (and am currently designing a curriculum for clinicians looking to enhance understanding in this area). Additionally, I have begun a non-profit, Reintegration through Relationship Society, which offers trauma-informed support to individuals from incarceration to community, training for clinicians, and bursary opportunities for kiddos with incarcerated parents.
Yoga has supported me through many challenging aspects of my life, and I am looking forward to offering it more intentionally in the work I do with others.
I'm so incredibly excited to be here 😀
Hi,
My name is Steve and I had a technical nightmare on a borrowed device yesterday so my apologies for not introducing myself . I live in the Uk in Yorkshire where I work as a Prison Officer on a recovery wing . In the end of 2023 I was invited to attend a short PYP course having never done yoga , 18 months down the line I am now putting on classes for staff and the men on my wing on a weekly basis . The men complete a 10 week course and finish by been awarded with certificates and a mat which they really appreciate . I’m looking forward to really expanding my knowledge in yoga and take my initial training to a higher level. It was amazing to listen to everyone’s stories last night and it will be great to connect with everyone during the course.
Hi everyone! First, I just want to say how inspiring all of your introductions have been. I’m truly sorry I wasn’t able to join the live meeting. I’m hoping to catch some in the future if my work schedule allows. My name is Mary, and I’m currently based in San Diego, though I’m originally from Baltimore. I’ve spent the past 15 years working in various parts of the justice system including child protective services, as a crisis counselor for youth in custody, and for the past six years, I’ve been doing mitigation work in public defense. I spend a lot of time in jails and prisons. I've worked in county and state facilities and now I am in federal institutions multiple times a week. I’ve seen how much trauma exists in these spaces, and I’m so passionate about bringing yoga and mindfulness into this work. Yoga has been transformative for me personally. I believe I’ve experienced some secondary trauma through my job, and practicing yoga has helped me reconnect with my body, find peace, and build resilience. I’m really excited to learn how to safely share these tools with people who are incarcerated and perhaps even incorporate them into my day-to-day work. My hope is to empower individuals with grounding practices they can use anytime, even without a teacher present. I’d love to see these offerings eventually expand into the federal prisons I work in, where I don’t believe yoga is currently available. I’m so grateful to be on this journey with all of you!
Hi Jen and everyone,
What a great first session. We had thunderstorms here in Cornwall and no internet so I watched the recording instead. I'm a counsellor in private practice and completed a 200hr YTT in 2018 where there was lots of emphasis on hours of chanting in Sanskrit and very specific asanas. I'm joining this course after completing the timeline and admin of the January 2025 cohort, but deferred to repeat here to fully understand and embrace the yoga philosophy to live and believe it on and off the mat. I was called, and it feeds my spiritual Self.
I went to 18 schools and lived in 24 homes in 3 countries in my childhood and my parents were violent alcoholics who accused each other of narcissism all their time together. My two younger brothers aged 50 and 53 are somewhere in the world, my Dad has dementia, and Mum died in 2009. What an adventure. I survived intact and spent 2 years in the South African military in the 1980's, 20 years as a Police Officer in the UK and now counselling since 2010. I am divorced after 22 years in 2012 and remarried happily in 2013. My wife and I raised our respective children in a new blended family and we have a granddaughter called Lottie who is 2 years old. Lottie is the centre of our Universe, and when she was born my responsibilities to and of the world changed overnight. I am grateful for a capacity to be able to meditate, walk on the beach, eat good food, and connect deeply one to one with people on a similar journey. The diversity in this group of 41 lovely people introducing themselves and sharing in vulnerability and honesty blew me away. I loved it!
For me, while thinking about the group contract, I am also mindful of James' quote in the first session, "Karma yoga is yoga of service without attachment to the result. It's your best effort with guidance from the divine, then you get out of the way".
I think outside of my own lived experiences, addictions, redemption, and feelings of loving kindness for everyone, no matter what, I might be in the right place at the right time.
Thank you for reading ❤️ 🤩
Hello everyone,
It was so nice to see and meet some of you last Thursday. My name is Liana. I am an LMSW, a therapist at a community clinic and a passionate yogi based in NYC. Although I won't be able to make all of the live sessions moving forward, I look forward to engaging through forums and virtual spaces. Thank you all so much for sharing your amazing stories. I am very inspired and anticipating this journey with you all.
Hello everyone!
I am so deeply grateful to all who shared parts of their lives with us in the virtual community within the very first session. I found myself stopping the recording to take many breaks so that I could truly feel the words I was hearing, the stories I was being invited into knowing from you all.
Over the years I have learned that vulnerability and raw truth cannot be studied or understand in a book or class, it can only be present and experienced in relation within community, within spaces that are safe and sacred. I am so deeply moved by all of you already. This community is already a foundation for me in my practices to ground in a very nonfeeling world, into one that is more safe and mindfulness-centered. I am an excited, eager new social worker looking to learn and grow as we get to know each other and study yoga. Thank you all!
Peace
Hello beautiful souls !
my name is victoria and I am over Persian and Austrian decent, first generation American living on Lenape land ( NJ)
my daughter is 18 months and in my 39 years I have struggled ! Child abuse, substance abuse, abusive relationships, assaults — the whole gamete of perplexing life experiences that leave us wondering why !
I’ve been clean and sober for 17.5 years and have been on a healing journey ever since.
I think my heart has always felt more deeply than mist people discuss which I think why this first video broke me open. The visceral rawness of our shared experiences brings me to tears thinking about it. I cannot wait to learn from all of you !
I am writing this the day after the news broke out that American Poet, Andrea Gibson has left this plain. I deep in awe of their vulnerability and gratitude for life that it makes me want to honor them in my post. May I leave you with this,” to care for the world is self care “
May we all seek our power today 🫶🏻