| Our newsletters have been a tool for informing
supporters and volunteers about current and planned projects, and
give a good feel of the lessons we are learning as we teach yoga
to homeless and at risk youth. Please feel free to read our current newsletter (March, 2007),
or a past issue by clicking on one of the following links.
Thanks. Past Newsletters |
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| August 27,
2006 June 15, 2006 May 17, 2006 Feb 16, 2006 Dec 22, 2005 Oct 27, 2005 Sept 22, 2005 July 22, 2005 |
Apr 22, 2005
Feb 5, 2005 Oct 29, 2004 May 14, 2004 Mar 8, 2004 Feb 7, 2004 Jan 2, 2004 Sept 12, 2003 |
Aug 5, 2003
July 22, 2003 June 27, 2003 June 22, 2003 May 30, 2003 May 16, 2003 May 9, 2003 May 2, 2003 |
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I can honestly say that yesterday (Feb 3d) was one of my favorite of so many unique days with Street Yoga. Yesterday, at the Community Transitional School, four 12 year olds led their peers in yoga class. Jalena taught Downward Dow, Brittany led two inspired sun salutes, Graciella brought the class quietly but strongly into Warrior pose and Luis was amazing as he told his classmates to “stand firmly in Tadasana, slowly shift your weight to your right foot, find a fixed point on the floor to focus on...” as he brought them into Tree Pose. At the top, he asked them to take 8 full breaths, and then gracefully come back down to standing on the mat. It was so totally inspiring and wonderful it brings tears to my eyes.
The other students applauded, stretched, breathed, moved, listened, respected, asked questions and offered nothing but grace and encouragement to their teacher mates. Their enthusiasm was so real and their passion so immediate! What an uplifting experience to share that room with those young people. And to all of you, please know, that as you get older, there will indeed be young people to teach you things about yoga you never dreamed you didn't know.
Speaking of young teachers, there was a girl at CTS who came to our class only one time. She was amazing --had never done yoga before but moved with an awareness of herself that is very rare for an eleven year old. She breathed, focused, extended into the poses with a grace that spoke of other lifetimes in lotus pose and Sirsasana. It turns out, we found out the next week, that she was enrolled at CTS for exactly one day, that day. It occured to Mara and i when we chatted about it later, that perhaps she came there to be reintroduced to yoga in this lifetime, and that was all she needed from us. We shall see.
I could write about W. nailing half hand-stand for the very first time and being so excited he tried to tell everyone, and how no one would listen because he's a bit unique. I could write about E's boundless enthusiasm for every pose, for R's generosity of spirit, P's sleepy dedication, but i'll leave those prayers for another time.
At White Shield we continued our ongoing Hip Hop yoga class. Eight or nine girls, nearly all of them veterans of foster care homes as well as juvenile jail, come together with scattered energies and huge emotion and after an hour, there is more union, more immediacy, less anger amongst the group. It is never enough to endure them seven full days until we meet again, but some of the girls practice yoga in their rooms every night, some of them breathe mindfully at times of stress, some of them even say thank you for the practice we share.
At Outside In, we have an uncommon situation, a body of regular students. The streets are so hard on people that folks either get off and move on, or they crumble. There's not much of a middle ground that allows students to come week after week, but at the present time, there is a small core of students who have been coming for some time, and it's a pleasure to work with them. As Mara described a class she taught: “the kids were really responsive and excellent listeners, tried really hard, legitimately worked. It rocked!”
We have also been asked to revive our staff classes there, and are looking for ways to make that a susatainable part of our offering. It gives us a chance to connect one on one with the people who so directly influence much of what these kids work with, and gives us great feedback on how our work affects the youth and their lives.
One more Outside In piece that caught knocked an unseen bit of prejudice out of me. I have mentioned before the marvelous knits that have been arriving in Portland from a group of knitters in California. We have given them away after many of the classes, and one of the touching stories i heard was how not only were these gifts relished by the youth, but many of the youth in turn gave them away as presents over the holidays. I never saw that coming, but was so touched to envision these young people, possessing so little, and yet giving away one of their very few truly new, lovingly made, high-quality items. It is a testament to the honor they placed in these offerings that they would give them away to those they loved.
There has been a community buzz this past few weeks around SY. Maybe it's the premature spring like weather we're having --dazed, sleepy crocuses peering out of the ground everywhere in disbelief, but some connections have been growing that deserve noting. First, kudos to Tina Lilly of Birthright Yoga --prenatal yoga teacher and doula (also my lovely wife). She has an open invitation to any of the homeless teens from Outside In to come to her class and was graced to be able to share her prenatal class with a young woman who had taken Street Yoga classes with us shortly before. Thank you Tina.
Secondly, it looks like the good folks at the Yoga Shala here in Portland are going to open up one or more of their classes to a group of girls from White Shield. The folks at White Shield want to offer a community yoga class as a reward to a small set of the girls who are behaving well and trying hard to succeed. They will be able to take regular classes at the Shala at no cost. Thanks to Jody Kurilla and all the good people at the Shala for their generosity.
We are also working on putting together a work-study for one of the students at O/I. We're still working out the details and will share more as it unfurls.
Classes in Seattle continue, currently now at two sites, Orion Center and the 45th clinic and all who are interested in working there should contact Terry directly. As well, the folks at Jailhouse Yoga will be sponsoring a training by Krishna Kaur of Y.O.G.A. for Youth out of Los Angeles. These folks are all over and deep into this work and defintely worth a look. If any of you get a chance to make it to Seattle in March, it'd be well worth the time. Grateful blessings to you all!
Last time i wrote about Survival Yoga, how this work seems to ultimately circle towards helping the young people we serve simply to survive. One of the ‘kindred spirits’ i've met through Street Yoga, a woman named Jenny who works at Sacred Heart Community Service in the south Bay Area, wrote me an email that i wish to reprint here. Thank you Jenny for the good work you do and the upliftment it brings.
In response to my question what then is the Yoga of Survival? Jenny replied: ‘This is an interesting question and one I had some time to contemplate while on retreat at Mt Madonna this weekend. As you know, we are providing yoga once a week to our immigrant Latino moms and to kids during the summer. If yoga exists as a way of being and not just the asanas we perform on the mat, then I would say that these moms exemplify yoga through the grace of their survival. I know the class gives them physical relief and a place to nurture themselves, however as I see them with their children and their selfless support of their families, I see the true essence and core of yoga. I see the authenticity in how they live their lives and the love of their children. I see the community they have built far away from their homes that goes beyond the lending of tortillas to a safe place to go and someone to watch their children. I see them selflessly give of themselves to each other and to their families. So yoga class becomes the one place where they are giving truly to themselves, nourishing the well within so that they can continue to be the backbones of their families and communities. I would say that the yoga informs their survival and that the way they participate in their survival is in a sense their yoga .’
I want to recognize a couple of folks who have given to Street Yoga. First, Desirée Bartlett provided wonderful guidance for me in setting up a Hip Hop Yoga class for the girls at White Shield. She talked about how she teaches her classes, the music she uses, and most powerfully how she gives power to the girls through using the metaphors and folklore of the yoga tradition. I've been able to weave in a fraction of what she shared, and it's brought me to a place where the girls see me less as a totally bizarre outsider coming to teach yoga, but now as a partially bizarre outsider coming to teach yoga with tight tunes at hand.
I'd also like to recognize my current employer, Kaiser Permanente for making a cash contribution to Street Yoga. The money will be used to buy supplies for the youth and is greatly appreciated.
Also, to Sarahjoy Marsh and all the people at Living Yoga for their continued support, and for bringing people interested in Street Yoga into their training programs, i offer you my warmest gratitude.
Finally, before closing, i'd like to offer a heartfelt apology to a number of people who have contacted me, and whom i have not had the grace to contact back. Please accept that it is not out of anything other than being inundated and over the last few months, exhausted. To H. in New Mexico, T. in Seattle, R. in Oakland, B. in the Yukon, and all of you who have contacted us about volunteering and more. I truly wish to return your missives with equal sincerity, and am slowly making progress catching up. Thank you for your understanding, patience and good faith.
One of the joys of this for me has been meeting so many good people. One i just ‘met’ (through her music, that is) is India Arie. I want to end with a nod to her and her beautiful music and drop a bit of it here.
“So get in when you fit in
Go on and shine
Clear your mind
Now's the time
Put your salt on the shelf
Go on and love yourself
Cause everything's gonna be alright
I'm not the average girl from your video
And I ain't built like a supermodel
But I learned to love myself unconditionally,
Because I am a queen”
Now i do get a few heads to turn when i amble down the hall at work singing ‘...Because i am a queen’ but that's my worry. I hope your worries are light and your joy resplendent.
Namaste, mark
