[Bill]

I’m you’re alter ego! hahahaha

[Bill]

Hi, Rebecca! It’s a refrain I hear from people who do this work, that when you begin teaching yoga with incarcerated people, interest in teaching in a studio setting fades. There is something so real and nourishing that happens and the relationships feel so authentic. Wonderful to have you here with us!

[Bill]

Hi, Jackie! Looking forward to hearing the insights you bring from your studies at CIIS. It feels like we are well-aligned. Our intention with this training is to explore the intersection of social justice and yoga as a path to personal and social transformation. Thank you for joining us!

[Bill]

Juan, I am so glad that you are with us! I appreciate what you say about how this work has opened your mind and how it’s changed the way you share yoga. Like most I think, I embarked on this journey feeling like I had something to share, and not realizing how much there was to receive. It’s broken me open and what I’ve received in humbling myself has been life-changing!

[Bill]

John, it’s an honor to have you participating in the online version. We’re looking forward to your feedback and also the insight you’ll bring in having the fastest growing chapter in PYP.

You mention your classes at Suffolk, and it connects me to the feeling of absence in my life right now, not being able to practice with my community inside, and distress at the suffering that ensues when a facility is breached and the virus sweeps through. I hope this Community site can give our folks a place to share, grow, and plan for a grounded return.

[Bill]

Hello, Anna! It’s so nice to be meeting more of the team @Jen.Lindgren has grown in New Hampshire. And I would love someday to receive a practice from one of the women you all have trained!

[Bill]

Welcome, Anna! We have been wanting to have an online platform for this training and to create a community for so long and I am thrilled to see it coming to life. Thank you for joining us on the journey!

[Bill]

Hi Nina! I am glad that you seized the moment to join us now. When we step into this work in underserved communities – especially the explicitly marginalized communities of prison and jails – I feel like we are entering into the deepest parts of the world’s wounding where the healing is needed the most and where the potential for post-traumatic growth is so great. So nice to have you in this community!

[Bill]

Betsie, I am so happy to have you in this group! I’m looking forward to your insight and feedback, and the opportunity for you to share the self-starting attitude that makes this project work.

[Bill]

So glad you are joining us, Lauren! Looking forward to hearing your insights from the work you are already doing in the recovery community. I’m also very interested in the harm reduction approach.

[Bill]

Hi Kendra! The civil unrest was an ever-present backdrop as we translated our in-person training to this online format. I hope that comes through in a way that points participants toward compassionate action. And bringing this work beyond the prison, to police, to youth, to your studio clients, is just what we hope will happen!

[Bill]

Hi, Prema! I am looking forward to the insights you will have to share into addiction and the recovery community. You’re right; they are indeed closely related; addiction is endemic in prisons and jails. The situation is complicated, and there is not enough care available. Being trauma-informed is critical, but so is being addiction/recovery-informed.

[Bill]

Hi Kristin! Thank you for bringing your experience with the legal system and with yoga to the group. We have had many lawyers drawn to this training and they always have a unique insight. And how wonderful to be part of a program directed by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach! Welcome!

[Bill]

Hi, Mary Ann! I feel like this year has been that way for a lot of us, a reckoning with purpose. This is certainly true for me, and amidst the challenges this year has brought (and continues to bring), I am finding that I am shifting into deeper and deeper integrity with myself. Welcome!

[Bill]

Hello, Kami! Are you connected yet with @Jen.Lindgren , our Program Director in New Hampshire? She’s been doing wonderful work in NH!