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"After a Street Yoga class I feel rejuvenated."
- Street Yoga Youth Participant
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Dear friends,
It's nearing the end of the year and the holiday season is in full swing. At Street Yoga, we have been reflecting on the past year and are starting to grow in our anticipation of all that is coming up in 2015.
Through the month of December we have created a series of emails that share a snippets of the impact Street Yoga has on Seattle, Portland, and cities across the country. We hope that you are inspired, that you are encouraged and that you too are looking forward to what Street Yoga has in store for 2015!
As you read, we hope that you will consider what you can give to support Street Yoga's work and vision. In the green panel along the right side of this email you will find five levels of giving-- so you can see how your gift supports this important work. Thank you for helping make yoga accessible to the young people who need it most. And thank you for your hope for and commitment to brighter, stronger and healthier futures for youth facing adversity.
With gratitude, Jessica, Stephanie and everyone at Street Yoga |
| Street Yoga conducts bi-annual evaluations of our Yoga for Youth classes. Our Summer of 2014 findings (click for more information) show that of the 67 youth over age 12 to participate in the survey, |
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83% of youth felt noticeably better after participating in a Street Yoga class than right before the yoga class.
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"Little by little the kids learn new ways to apply the techniques of yoga in their lives. At the [Street Yoga Program Site], conflict among the kids occurs frequently, so learning and applying stress relieving skills is always a plus!"
- Street Yoga Program Site Staff
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PROGRAM SITE SPOTLIGHT RYTHER
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TEACHER SPOTLIGHT JEFF R.
WHERE DO YOU TEACH AND TO WHAT POPULATION?
I've been teaching at Ryther, a child and teen mental health and addiction treatment center, for two years.
WHY DO YOU TEACH FOR STREET YOGA?
Yoga's been so helpful to me personally in managing my own life challenges that I wanted to share what I've learned with younger teens and kids in the midst of facing their own adversity.
WHAT HAS BEEN A FAVORITE MOMENT IN YOUR TEACHING SO FAR?
Once a kid asked if I had a yoga teacher, and if they had a yoga teacher and who was the OG teacher. I had to ask what they meant by OG - and they all shouted back "The Original". So, I began to tell them about the history of yoga, and Patanjali, the author of the yoga sutras, and one of the kids even shushed another to listen. The kids have a capacity for depth that many people don't give them credit for.
WHAT YOGA POSE DO YOUR STREET YOGA STUDENTS ENJOY MOST?
It's a tie between tree pose and crow pose. They also enjoy visualization and meditation.
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"[The Street Yoga classes] teach our youth new skills around relaxation, self-awareness, and exploration of the self. These things are crucial to most of our youth, as many have experienced trauma, homelessness, and various micro-aggressions."
- Street Yoga Training Program Site Staff
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Street Yoga is a nationally recognized non-profit organization that teaches, yoga, mindfulness, and compassionate communication to youth and families struggling with homelessness, poverty, abuse, addiction, trauma and behavioral challenges, so that they can grow stronger, heal from past traumas and create for themselves lives that are inspired, safe and joyful. Learn more at www.streetyoga.org.
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Provides a yoga for youth class at one partner site for six months. That's 24 classes for up to 20 youth per class.
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Provides two partial scholarships for Street Yoga's Trauma-Informed Yoga Training.
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Provides one month of yoga for youth at one Partner Site-- that's 4 yoga classes for up to 20 youth.
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Provides continuing education for 20 volunteer teachers. Including workshops on trauma, the science of addiction, and adapting yoga postures.
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Provides mats, mat cleaner and blocks for one partner site.
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