JUNE 2011

Volunteer Teacher - Portland, OR

 I had always been nervous to introduce any chanting into class, thinking it would be a little too "out there" for girls new to yoga.
   But one day this month I decided to go for it because there were just two girls who had been coming for awhile and obviously love yoga. I made sure they knew that it was optional, they could just listen.
   We did Om Santi Santi Santih, and they both LOVED it! I explained that santi means peace, and we can imagine peace for ourselves, sending it out to people we know, and to the whole world. They thought that was cool, and one girl walked around after class singing it to herself.
  Every week since then she has asked if we can do the peace song at the end of class. I don't think I'll do it every week, but it is always fun to introduce a new element into class, and sound and voice are definitely a powerful one!
 

MAY 2011

Student at Seneca House, age 12

APRIL 2011

Volunteer at Casa de los Amigos in Seattle

"One young man has been at Casa for over 6 months. That is really an astounding period of time.

He is in such a period of limbo and has no idea what his future holds. Will he be deported or allowed to stay? Who knows. And yet, this young man comes to yoga every week and seems to truly enjoy it.

He participates fully and is always the last one to come up from savasana. The other boys give him some good-natured teasing about enjoying his relaxation so much. But they also admire his kick-ass handstands and tommy-touches (picking up one hand at a time to touch a shoulder while in hand stand)! In a recent survey, this young man reported practicing yoga on his own almost every day (!) and using some kind of breathing or relaxation technique 2-6 times a week.

 This is far and above the amount reported by other boys. Yoga (and his positive, persevering attitude) seems to truly be assisting this young man get through his stay at Casa."

MARCH 2011

Achieving Balance  By Gresham Springwater School Yoga Volunteer

Balancing on his toes with his knees together squatting, he called out, "Sweethome, Sweethome, is this a pose?"

"Well, yes. Awesome!" I say.

"I thought of it in the shower!" he chants out smiling and rolls off the mat and jumps around batting at the air and howling. It is challenge to continually come up with activities that hold the childrens' interest and keep their focus on the task at hand; yoga in a very broad sense of the word. The connections that occur through sharing these practices, through games and play, are multifaceted and when a child has linked that to his daily life the stability, relating, skill, and breath follow from the game to reality. 

I have been working with these children for 3 months. They are unable to be in the general public school system due to the risk it holds. Their lives have been so challenged by the unstable reality that comes from family upheaval, drugs, abuse, and violence.The wisdom, thoughtfulness, and compassion I have seen expressed by these young people melts my heart. 

It takes a lot of creative and spontaneous ingenuity to keep these children undistracted, but as those habit patterns get repeated weekly, such as a moment to stay with the breath, or the sensation of stretching, or the interest in being challenged, I can see their awareness and mindfulness grow. Just those three examples address the challenges faced by this population. Yoga teaches stability and these children have had very unstable upbringings. They have experienced trauma and relate to the world in a state of fight or flight, which is best tamed with the breath. And knowing where you are in time and space is the first step in transforming and empowering yourself. 

The most powerful and uplifting moments of my week for the past two years have been the experiences I gain through volunteering for Street Yoga. I am honored to witness these resilient individuals' vulnerability and capability. Yoga creates a safe space where this can happen.

FEBRURARY  2011

Yoga Volunteer at RAD Girls, Residential Rehab Program at Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center

I wanted to tell you about a recent moment I had with one of my girls. It was before class began and she asked me if I could bring back the poetry book I had with me the previous week and read it to them every savasana. It was a Mary Oliver book of poetry, some beautiful words about nature. She said that the poem about the birds was so sweet, she felt so at peace for that moment, like there was no other place she thought she should be. She said she just felt right for that moment. How lovely!

Sleeping in the Forest
by Mary Oliver

I though the earth
remembered me, she
took me back so tenderly, arranging
her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds. I slept
as never before, a stone
on the riverbed, nothing
between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated
light as moths among the branches
of the perfect trees. All night
I heard the small kingdoms breathing
around me, the insects, and the birds
who do their work in the darkness. All night
I rose and fell, as if in water, grappling
with  luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.

JANUARY 2011

My first class back was January 3rd, and my theme was resolve and resolution. We talked about what those words meant, and during short meditations at beginning and ending of class, I encouraged them to imagine what it would feel like to decide to change one thing about themselves. Not to tell anyone or talk about it, but just to imagine how they would feel if they were able to resolve to make change from the inside. I used the word resolve as the catch-word for paying attention during poses: resolve to hold this pose, resolve to stretch your arm out far, etc. The rather sober silence at the end of class made me feel like at least some of them really were thinking.

Then today our class was about control – how only we can control ourselves, and how we are the only thing we can control. That was a good word to bring into asana, and we did a lot of balancing and other things that require extra control. Then during shavasana I told a story (synopsis: Cherokee tells his grandson that 2 wolves are fighting inside him: good wolf and bad wolf. Grandson asks which wolf will win. Answer: the wolf that gets fed wins.) Then I asked them what the story meant, and we talked about how what you do on the inside, what you feed or control, determines how you are. That it’s your choice to be mean or nice, generous or stingy, etc. And one kid says, “what if you can’t make the choice?” And I realized that he meant that things happen to him that he can’t control, probably bad things, unhappy things. I was so impressed that he felt safe enough to ask the question. Not one kid laughed. I responded that those things are not him, those are the wolves outside and that he needs to continue to feed the good wolf inside himself, no matter what else is happening outside.

It’s so hard for some of these kids. Some are just barely getting through in school; some are obese; some act out. And I love every one of them. I felt so honored to have the opportunity to maybe affect these kids’ lives, even just a little.

DECEMBER 2010

Volunteer at  Casa de los Amigos in Seattle

In the middle of yoga class as I was first teaching the girls how to do sun salutations, the on-call staff asked if I could briefly come take a phone call. None of the Spanish-speaking staff were available, and this staff person needed someone to explain that the Spanish-speaking caller would need to call back in an hour in order to reach the right person.
I told the girls to pause while I quickly took the call. As I returned to the room, I could see through the doorway that the girls were teaching each other the sun salutation--bending over, looking up with confused but smiling expressions, asking each other what came next. It was very sweet, and as I returned I encouraged them to continue with their teaching, so we rotated and allowed them each to lead our little group in the sun salutations.  Such great participation and leadership!

NOVEMBER 2010

Pioneer Special School, Written by our 2010-2011 MSW intern

Yesterday I attended a class at the Holladay Annex, where Michael was subbing for Zach, our usual teacher for this site. I was met with five enthusiastic participants, between eight and ten years old, full of energy and ready to move. The students’ teacher, Kaveh, was also present, as were a couple other staff members. Michael started the class with some limb shaking movements, stretching, and introductions. My favorite part was when Michael turned on some music and let the kids create their own poses, all having to do with the theme of growth. The kids enjoyed this imaginative exercise. Throughout the class, several of the participants became distracted or upset for different reasons, and at times, the environment was chaotic. One student wanted to show her pose to the class, but her teacher told her she couldn’t because she hadn’t been listening. She became angry and went to take a short walk with a staff member. Even though several students had to take breaks, they always returned to class and were happy to get back to yoga. There were moments when each student was engaged, focused, and tuned in.
I wondered what the students would have to say about the class and how it made them feel. In their evaluations, all five of the participants reported that yoga makes them happy. Four out of the five indicated that their yoga class teaches them how to relax. Their teacher indicated that he is satisfied with the Street Yoga program and feels that his students are satisfied with it as well. Participating with the youth at Pioneer made me realize the importance of having a program like Street Yoga, given the diverse and numerous challenges that many individuals face. A Street Yoga class is not what you would expect to experience at your local studio, and it shouldn’t be. The youth at Pioneer experience behavioral and emotional challenges that require a special approach . Some of the benefits that these youth gain through yoga include self-regulation, increased relaxation, and self-confidence, to name a few. This class provided a brief, but rich window into the struggles that these children go through, and highlighted the value of our classes in cultivating their sustained growth.