Yoga Association of Alberta

Trauma-Informed Yoga: Providing Support Where It Is Needed Most

Donalee Campbell — Fri, 29 Nov 2024 22:21:15 +0000

by Donalee Campbell, Executive Director
Originally published in Yoga Bridge - WINTER 2025 VOLUME 25 ISSUE 1

The YAA’s vision is to enable everyone to experience well-being, wholeness and community through yoga. Not everyone has equal opportunity to access the healing power of yoga. The YAA’s commitment to inclusivity and accessibility is at the heart of its mission to support equitable access for all Albertans, especially marginalized and under-served communities.

Since 1976, the YAA has been reaching out to various groups including low-income families, seniors, indigenous communities and newcomers across Alberta, offering yoga as a pathway to foster healing, peace, and empowerment. The yoga programs that the YAA runs in correctional facilities are a natural and powerful extension of this work, addressing the unique needs of some of the most vulnerable populations in the province, and serving in some of the most challenging and high-stress environments.

This initiative is especially vital for historically marginalized populations, who not only face systemic disadvantages but may also carry the heavy burden of unhealed personal and generational trauma. Incarceration compounds their pain, trapping them in high-stress environments, perpetuating cycles of stress, anxiety, and reactivity. The relentless pressures of confinement, layered with the weight of unresolved trauma, can make their struggles feel overwhelming and insurmountable.

Healing Through Trauma-Informed Yoga

The YAA’s trauma-informed yoga programs offer support and tools to manage stress, process trauma, and reconnect with inner strength. Participants are given a rare opportunity to let down their guard, explore their thoughts and feelings in a safe space, and reclaim a sense of calm control over their lives.

The YAA’s outreach programs create space for transformative experiences, offering the potential of healing over time. In environments where healing seems impossible, yoga opens a door to hope, giving those in the harshest settings a chance to connect with spirit, build self-worth, and begin a journey of transformation.

A Trauma-Sensitive Approach

A new emphasis in these programs is on trauma-sensitivity, offering trauma-informed yoga as a critical intervention. Trauma-informed practices respect personal boundaries and help individuals regain a sense of agency – the feeling of control over their own actions and decisions—creating a safe space where they can reconnect with their bodies and minds, often for the first time since their trauma. This compassionate approach provides inmates with invaluable skills like self-awareness, mindfulness, emotional regulation and stress management—coping tools essential in the high-stress environment of correctional facilities.

For inmates, many of whom are disproportionately affected by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as abuse, neglect, and exposure to violence, unaddressed trauma often manifests as anxiety, depression, PTSD, and emotional dysregulation. Indigenous and other marginalized communities are particularly affected, with 15 to 20 percent of the Indigenous prison population in Canada having attended residential schools. Traditional rehabilitation methods may not address these deep-seated issues, making trauma-informed yoga a valuable pathway to self-awareness, emotional stability, and constructive decision-making, which can reduce recidivism and foster resilience.

Yoga as a Path to Rehabilitation

Yoga’s benefits extend far beyond physical health. It provides a pathway to emotional and psychological healing that is uniquely suited to the challenges faced by incarcerated individuals. Yoga teaches values such as non-violence, self-compassion, and respect, all of which are essential for individuals seeking to rebuild their lives. Moreover, yoga fosters mindfulness and emotional regulation, helping participants develop skills needed to reduce reactive behavior and make thoughtful decisions in the future.

One of the most profound aspects of trauma-informed yoga is how it creates a safe space for vulnerability, even in environments where vulnerability is often seen as weakness. In a prison setting, where inmates must constantly guard themselves and appear “tough,” yoga offers a rare opportunity to let down those defenses. YAA facilitator Dianne Hucal recalls seeing this shift firsthand: “The men often come in tough, but as the class progresses, they soften. They feel safe enough to show their softer side, and I’ve seen trust and a sense of community grow among them.” This sense of community is vital for individuals who are often isolated and lonely, providing a much-needed space for connection and emotional expression.

Yoga can also play a significant role in rehabilitation by giving inmates tools they can use not only while incarcerated but also once they are released. Yoga teaches principles of self-awareness and self-control that can help individuals break cycles of reactive and destructive behavior. These skills, combined with the mindfulness practices learned through yoga, can help reduce recidivism and offer a new way forward for individuals who might otherwise return to old patterns. For a personal account, see Alistair Middleton’s article, on page 10 of this issue.

Expanding the Reach of Trauma-Informed Yoga

The YAA has a long history of offering outreach programs at correctional facilities throughout Alberta, with programs in Edmonton, Red Deer, Bowden, Drumheller and Calgary. The YAA’s outreach program at the Edmonton Remand Centre (ERC) has been running since 2015, earning high praise from participants and highlighting its positive impact on their well-being. In recent surveys, all respondents reported enjoying the classes, and almost all expressed a desire for more sessions. Participants in the ERC program shared how the practice helps them improve their physical health while also making significant mental and emotional shifts. One inmate expressed, “If I had done yoga before I went to jail, I probably wouldn’t have ended up here.” Another reflected, “I felt peace, which you don’t get to feel a lot in here.” Many have experienced feelings that they expressed in terms including “calm”, “light”, “relaxed”, “happy”, “loved”, “free” and “more connected to Spirit”. These testimonials reveal the power of trauma-informed yoga in helping individuals cope with the immense pressures of incarceration.

The success of the trauma-informed yoga program at the ERC has led to increased demand for more classes, along with requests for similar programs in other correctional facilities. Class size is limited at the ERC for security reasons, and turnover is high, so frequent classes are needed to reach more inmates on a more consistent basis. There have also been requests from other institutions to facilitate classes for women and youth, two groups that face significant trauma and have limited opportunities for healing. Expanding the program to reach these populations is a crucial next step in YAA’s mission to bring healing and empowerment to vulnerable groups.

In response to this growing demand, the YAA is actively building capacity to offer more trauma-informed yoga programs. Since 2022, 74 Certified Yoga Teachers have completed trauma-informed training workshops through the YAA, and many more attended one-hour webinars led by professionals experienced in trauma work. This training equips facilitators with specialized skills to support vulnerable populations, ensuring they can offer safe, effective, and compassionate guidance. More trauma-informed workshops and webinars are planned, including an upcoming webinar on Indigenous cultural sensitivity, which will enhance the facilitators’ ability to engage respectfully with Indigenous cultures and provide a safe space for healing trauma.

How You Can Help: A Call to Action

The success of YAA’s trauma-informed yoga programs relies on the generosity of donors like you. With grant funding becoming increasingly scarce and competitive, your tax-deductible donations are more essential than ever. Continuing and expanding these programs to reach more inmates in response to demand requires funding for trained facilitators, program materials, and tools to measure impact. Your generosity allows us to reach more participants, offer additional classes, and continue providing long-term support, including free memberships and ongoing access to yoga resources after release.

In addition to donations, growing the YAA’s membership base is crucial to sustaining and expanding these programs. By increasing membership, we strengthen our collective voice, which allows us to better advocate for grant funding. Membership supports the YAA’s outreach efforts and builds a community of people dedicated to inclusivity, healing, and empowerment through yoga. Encourage your friends, family, students and colleagues to join—the first year is free for all Alberta residents, and every new member makes a difference.

Every contribution counts. Together, we can make a lasting difference in the lives of those who need it most. Please consider donating or signing up for a membership today to help bring the healing power of yoga through YAA outreach programs such as these.

Why Your Support Matters

Research shows that trauma-informed yoga programs can significantly reduce stress, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms in participants. Inmates who participate in yoga are more likely to engage in positive behaviors and make healthier choices, both during incarceration and after release. By supporting the YAA’s outreach programs, you give individuals a chance to break the cycle of trauma and incarceration, offering hope for a better future.

Together, we can bring healing, resilience, and transformation directly to the people and places where it’s urgently needed, making yoga accessible to vulnerable communities and offering a lifeline of support. Thank you for being a part of this life-changing initiative.

The Good We Do Together – Safeguarding Seniors

YAA Admin — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:47:23 +0000

Yoga provides seniors with a gentle physical activity that helps maintain mobility and prevent injury. And the social environment of a class helps to overcome social isolation, especially for those who have recently left their home country.

YAA’s outreach initiative with the Indo-Canadian Women’s Association and the Edmonton Newcomers Settlement Services brings the healing benefits of yoga to seniors who are new to Canada.

I have all the appreciation for yoga teacher. (She) has the qualities of being humble, good communication skills and lots of patience. To improve these classes, yoga classes should be held at least once a week (if not feasible on daily basis) to enable Seniors to remain fit and fine.

~Dharam M., ICWA program participant, May, 2023

The Good We Do Together – Calming Stress in Difficult Times

YAA Admin — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:45:02 +0000

We live in a world that breeds anxiety and stress. Yoga brings calm. Clarity. Inner peace. One breath at a time.

YAA’s outreach work with Candora Society brings the healing benefits of yoga into the lives of people experiencing poverty who could not otherwise access classes.

Two impact stories from Candora participants:

Because I live with a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy, I participate in the Friday yoga class at the ARC in NE Edmonton. I want to thank your organization for funding this program on a weekly basis. (The teacher) is a remarkable instructor; guiding us, making us feel safe, trusting us to know ourselves and abilities, and gently addressing physical / emotional situations we may be living with. (She) will focus on strength, balance, flexibility, joy, acceptance and laughter. She is both professional and personal.

These classes help me keep my muscles as fit as they can be, so I don't strain them or fall. They are held in my neighbourhood, they are free, they are user-friendly and help reduce isolation. Thank you, YAA! Namaste,

~Margaret S., Candora program participant, Sept 2023

_________

I just want to say that the yoga class is an amazing way to end the week:

- It is so relaxing,
- The women who come have built a relationship with each other,
- (The teacher) is so affirming of all the women and does such a great job of instructing us to do the yoga positions correctly.
- There is a sense of community and when the sessions end after 10 weeks, I feel like something is missing in my week.

Thank you to the YAA and Candora for making this class happen.

~Ann N., Candora program participant, Oct 2023

Embracing the Joy of Kids Yoga: Nurturing Young Minds and Bodies

YAA Admin — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 15:11:11 +0000

By Donna Freeman
Originally published in Yoga Bridge - AUTUMN 2024 VOLUME 24 ISSUE 3

Imagine infectious laughter, curious minds, and uninhibited joy in a yoga class. These delightful qualities of kids yoga are part of what makes teaching children so rewarding. There also are significant challenges when teaching children yoga and mindfulness. Diligent effort and cultivating specific teaching skills are necessary to understand and guide their energy and enthusiasm to achieve the desired results.

Yoga has long been a source of rejuvenation, inner peace, and self-exploration for adults. However, yoga’s benefits extend far beyond grownups, expanding to all ages. From infants to teens, kids yoga has a tremendous potential for positively influencing both body and mind. Though the benefits and practices may be similar, the approach to teaching adults differs vastly from that of teaching children.

Welcome to the vibrant world of kids yoga— an incredible blend of movement, mindfulness, storytelling, and imagination that nurtures minds and bodies. Kids yoga embraces and celebrates child-like wonder and youthful enthusiasm.

For adult yoga instructors curious about sharing yoga with children, the journey into kids yoga offers an incredible opportunity to foster creativity, playfulness, and connection for yourself and the next generation of yogis. Some key qualities and expertise have proven especially valuable over nearly three decades of teaching children, from babies to teens.

Celebrate the Joyful Noise

At the heart of kids yoga is a celebration of energy and expression. Here, yoga is so much more than movement, stillness, poses, or breathwork. It transforms into a journey of discovery of the world and the self. Engaging children through games, songs, literature, and interactive activities, helps them to connect with their bodies, fosters creativity, and teaches emotional regulation.

Kids yoga classes will not be quiet and are not meant to be. Celebrate the happy sounds of children playing, exploring, and learning. Roaring like a lion, barking like a dog, asking questions, singing songs, and laughing together are common. A key element to successful kids yoga classes is knowing how to harness and direct this joyful energy.

Takeaway: Embrace the natural energy and noise of a group of children, learn to work with it, and gently lead them toward quieter, calmer practices.

Mastering Classroom Management

Transitioning from adult yoga classes to kids classes requires a special skill set, primarily learning to manage a lively group that likes to hijack your class plan. Effective kids yoga teachers learn quickly how to weave structure with flexibility. Lesson plans that contain a predictable framework and routine provide a foundation of trust and security.

Techniques such as clear expectations, visual cues, and anticipated transitions, taught by an engaging and energetic teacher foster confidence in children to explore the world and develop new skills. Balancing this structure with spontaneity, curiosity, and a generous dose of playfulness encourages inquisitive young minds and maintains engagement. As a teacher learning how to balance fun with serious is a challenging and beautiful way to apply shtira and sukha.

Takeaway: Both structure and flexibility are essential in kids yoga classes. Have fun and be spontaneous while maintaining organization and predictability.

Tailoring Yoga for Young Minds

Adapting yoga for children means more than simplifying asana and adapting pranayama to be ageappropriate. A solid knowledge of developmental growth and stages helps tremendously when planning and executing kids yoga classes. Understanding and working with the science behind play increases success. Encouraging self-expression, sharing, and questions combined with a creative exploration of numerous yogic practices helps children cultivate emotional resilience and self-awareness. Truly it is a whole-child practice.

In addition, knowing what resonates with and interests children of different ages is key. From animal and nature themes to trending movies, music, and video games, kids yoga teachers pull ideas from a wide variety of child-friendly themes and inspirations. Specific themed lesson plans are essential to fostering interest and engagement in children. It’s about crafting classes that resonate with children’s imaginations and curiosities and meeting them where they are physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Takeaway: Lesson plans need to be based upon an understanding of the ages and stages of development combined with children’s interests.

Nurturing Lifelong Benefits

Beyond the mat and the fun had in class, kids yoga teaches lifelong skills that extend into daily life. As mindfulness, movement, breath work, and body awareness are fostered from a young age, children develop tools for managing stress, improving focus and concentration, and cultivating self-esteem and understanding. Yoga helps children learn to be in the present moment while gaining a peaceful state of mind, which improves their emotional regulation and awareness.

Through yoga, kids realize they are strong and then take that strength, confidence, acceptance, and compassion into the world. The activities taught in yoga classes are often shared at home, at school, and during extracurricular activities. The benefits ripple outward to family and friends in authentic and incredible ways. It is amazing to see so many lives impacted as children are empowered with the skills and confidence to navigate life’s challenges with resilience and grace.

Takeaway: Kids yoga teaches lifelong skills that promote health and wellness far beyond the kids yoga class.

Embrace the Journey

Whether you are new to teaching kids yoga or want to broaden your expertise, the journey begins with a willingness to embrace the unique joys and challenges of working with young minds and bodies. The world of kids yoga invites us to rediscover the joy of movement, the wonder of imagination, and the boundless potential of young minds.

Sharing your passion for yoga with the next generation is incredibly fulfilling. It is uniquely rewarding to know that you are planting the seeds for a lifelong love of an ancient, helpful, healthfilled practice that fosters well-being through life’s myriad challenges. Yes, there are hurdles, frustrations, and days you wonder if you are making any kind of a difference. And then, after class, the kids crowd around wanting to hug you, or someone calls down the hall “Yeah, it’s yoga day!” when they see you coming and the challenges are forgotten as you bask in the moment of knowing you are impacting young lives on a foundational level.

Takeaway: By embracing the unique joys of kids yoga the challenges are minimized and the rewards become more fulfilling.

The world of kids yoga invites us to rediscover our love of play. As adults, we have the privilege and responsibility to guide children on this journey, fostering not only physical fitness but also emotional resilience and lifelong well-being. Join me in embracing the joy of kids yoga—a journey where each pose is a step towards nurturing a brighter, more mindful future for our children.

By Donna Freeman, YAA 750, E-RYT 500, RCYT, founder Yoga In My School, author Once Upon a Pose: A Guide to Yoga Adventure Stories for Children, cell: 780-903-6544, email: hom.yogachick@gmail.com https://yoga.ca/ places/donna-freeman/

The Good We Do Together – Reaching Indigenous Youth

YAA Admin — Sat, 02 Nov 2024 03:40:35 +0000

By Megan Kim
Originally published in Yoga Bridge - WINTER 2024 VOLUME 24 ISSUE 1

Note from Executive Director, Donalee Campbell: As part of the YAA’s Mission, our active outreach programs bring the physical, mental and social benefits of yoga to under-served communities. In previous years, YAA certified teachers have travelled to several northern indigenous schools. Last year, thanks to funding from the Gift of Yoga Fund, a generous gift from a private individual through the Edmonton Community Foundation, and in partnership with Ever Active Schools, we provided a YAA Certified Teacher to the Enoch Cree Nation K-12 schools just west of Edmonton for five full days of classes. The following is her report.

Over the course of five days in February 2023, I had the privilege of teaching yoga to over 200 students at Maskêkosak Kiskinomâtowikamik (Enoch Cree Nation K-12 School), with approximately 30 teachers and educational assistants in attendance as well, either participating or observing. I also had the support and feedback of an individual from Ever Active Schools, who works with the school to introduce special activities to the students (such as yoga, boxing, and cross-country skiing).

In only a week, I learned so much from the students and staff about ways in which the yoga teacher can modify yoga practices to meet their current physical, mental and emotional needs. Each class had unique needs and energy levels that required a lot of on-the-fly adaptation. After the first day of classes, we (the Ever Active Schools programmer and myself) realized that for the most part, I would need a more physically active class plan than what I had originally thought. Although some classes were responsive to gentler seated sequences and a slower pace, most others needed more activity, bigger challenges, and a faster pace. Lots of games were needed for the younger grades especially. One of the most important insights was to let the students have as much choice as possible so that they felt they had some control over how the class would unfold.

I witnessed wonderful spirit and creativity from so many children who were willing to create new animal poses, try new things, and collectively adapt my guidance to their needs. I witnessed unexpected moments of deep quiet and presence. While some students were not interested in learning yoga at that time, many were willing to give it a try. I made sure to acknowledge more than once the presence of those who did not want to participate, and to let them know that just their presence there mattered. There were also at least a few students in most of the classes who were truly present and attuned to the yoga practices, and who seemed interested in learning more.

For future opportunities like this, I would keep that principle of choice and agency. I would be more definite in setting behavioural boundaries and expectations upfront to create a safe space for learning and exploration. I would also communicate more about what activities were coming up next in the class, and when it would end — essentially creating a verbal map along the way. For example, for a group of high school students, I explained that I had four different sequences for them to explore, each starting from a different base (lying down, standing, hands and knees and seated). I let them choose which base to start from, which to explore next, and so on.

One of the most powerful things I noticed was that the classes always seemed to unfold in the best way with their schoolteachers, and had the teachers there with them, showing interest in learning yoga for themselves, as well as learning how to model it for their students. I suggest it would also be helpful for the yoga teacher to share yoga with the schoolteachers before working with the students. If the schoolteachers have positive experiences with yoga, this could help them know how best to support the yoga teacher when he or she is teaching their students. Most importantly, the schoolteachers may gain insights into how regulating their own nervous systems through yoga could have a far greater impact on their students than that of a guest yoga teacher.

Megan Kim has been practising yoga since 1998, and teaching for nearly as long. She is grateful for her many teachers and their influence towards more presence and loving kindness, including Beth McCann and Marcia Langenberg, both YAA Senior Teachers. Contact information at https://yoga.ca/find-a-teacher/.

Yoga Nidra Meets Law of Attraction

YAA Admin — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 12:35:58 +0000

By Anne Douglas
Originally published in Yoga Bridge - AUTUMN 2024 VOLUME 24 ISSUE 3

Alive in your very own heart is the code to living a fulfilling, purposeful life that is unique to you. Your heart is like a homing device or beacon that steers you ever toward fulfillment by what feels right and true. Every heartfelt “yes” or “no” is a clarion call from your most authentic self that can not only guide you in your daily choices, but according to the law of attraction, can also draw to you all that is a resonant match.

Yoga Nidra is a guided laying down meditation with multiple steps of increasing subtlety that invite the practitioner into deepening layers of selfexperiencing. In a traditional Yoga Nidra practice the sankalpa (meaning a resolve or intention) is stated aloud or silently. It is the first step of six or more steps and consists of a one-sentence silent proclamation of something the practitioner wants to actualize in their life. It could be said that the main purpose in Yoga Nidra is to achieve the sankalpa, and all the remaining steps help to facilitate that purpose. These steps follow the Pancha Kosha or Five Layer model from yogic philosophy that include the layers of sensation (annamaya), breath and energy (pranamaya), feelings and emotions (manomaya), thoughts and beliefs (vignanamaya), and finally, the layer of bliss (anandamaya).

To determine your own resolve, you need simply to answer the essential question, “What brings me to this practice today?” For some it may be for stress reduction and relaxation, while for others it can be for health and well-being. There are no limits as to what one’s intention may be.

In some schools of Yoga Nidra, the sankalpa can be potentiated by adding a Heartfelt Desire or wish. This addition can help to deepen a resolve into something of greater impact and meaning in one’s life by asking the heartfelt question, “What is it I life?” or “If I could wish for anything, what might it be?” If we don’t ask this valuable question, we may never realize our heart’s true calling. The answer is unique to each person and may be like their initial resolve or it may include a longing for deep inner peace, unconditional love or meditative insight and self-realization. Our heartfelt wish often evolves over time and can eventually empty out into a feeling of deep inner peace where there are no desires and only gratitude remains.

Each time we avail ourselves to our heart’s call, we are mining for gold by listening to and receiving the inner prompting from our heart of hearts. We pause in silence as we ask, feel into our heart of hearts, then wait as we allow the desire to blossom out of our heart’s depths. It may arise as a feeling, as a knowing, as an affirmation or as a combination of the three.

Some people can’t relate to the words heartfelt desire or wish and so we can use variations that include heartfelt mission or purpose, heart’s vision, heart song, core value or dharma. Each of these can act as a doorway to new possibilities and can be used interchangeably depending on the audience or theme of a practice.

These variations of the Heartfelt Desire may evoke a higher calling that invites a greater harmony with life. Correspondingly, the word dharma comes from the Sanskrit root rta, which means to be in total harmony with the universe.

The Heartfelt Desire is formulated at the beginning of the practice and seeded into the conscious and subconscious mind as a simple affirmation stated silently to oneself. It is then germinated, so to speak, through the deep relaxation and receptivity that is invoked by the next steps of the practice that include sensing the breath and the whole body.

Its blossoming can come when the Heartfelt Desire is invited back into awareness towards the end of the practice, as one opens to the resulting experience of deep calm and ease, and a feeling of just being. It is in this openness of being that the truth of the heart’s purpose or one’s dharma can shine forth unrestrained by one’s conditioning or past limitations.

As we open to the possibility of our wish, mission or purpose being actualized, and allow spontaneous images and their corresponding feelings and emotions to emerge of what this is like, we are building new neural pathways in our brain that hardwire it as our new reality. As Dr Rick Hanson, neuropsychologist and author of the New York Times best selling book Hardwiring Happiness wrote, “emotions are like rocket fuel for building new neural circuitry”. Further, the Law of Attraction (still in the realm of pseudoscience) suggests that we draw to ourselves that which is in resonance with our current psycho-emotional state. Yoga Nidra invokes the experience of having what we want.

Continued practice in this way can nourish our sankalpa to manifest in our lives. Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Bihar School of Yoga stated in his book Yoga Nidra, “When sankalpa becomes the directing force, everything you do in life becomes successful.”

When you feel into the quiet of your own inner heart, what longing emerges to inform you for direction in your life? The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad offers this sage advice: “You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.” The forces of destiny are ever present, beating in your very own heart, and calling you home to wholehearted living. Will you heed the call?

Anne Douglas is a Yoga Nidra teacher and trainer, a C-IAYT Yoga Therapist and YAA1000 yoga teacher. She has over 4 million listens to her meditations on the Simple Habit app. To learn more about Anne, visit yoga. ca/teacher-directory/. Join Anne September 28-29/2024 for her YAA online workshop “Living Your Heart’s Desire - Yoga Nidra Meets the Law of Attraction” (see page 10). To register, visit www.yoga.ca/store.

Yoga on the “Inside”: An Inmate’s Story

YAA Admin — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 21:44:29 +0000

By Allistair Middleton
Originally published in Yoga Bridge - AUTUMN 2012 VOLUME 12 ISSUE 3

Editor’s Note from the reprint in Winter 2024 Volume 25 Issue 1: This article is reprinted from the Autumn 2012 Yoga Bridge magazine. Allistair is now married with two children and owns several businesses in Alberta. He exemplifies the benefits of offering yoga to marginalized populations and how yoga can change a person’s life.

I am a thirty-two year old aspiring yogi who is currently serving a thirteen year sentence for a brutal act of violence. I was arrested in 2005 and sentenced in 2007. Strangely, without really being aware of it, I was already in prison long before I was ever arrested. I was a prisoner in my own mind – locked up in there twenty four hours a day, totally isolated from society and left to ruminate in my negative thoughts.

In the years preceding my downward spiral I was full of life. I was involved in Mike Miles National Kickboxing and Muay Thai, in which I had just begun fighting competitively. I was enveloped in a loving relationship with my high-school sweetheart. My future of becoming a finishing carpenter and starting my own business was looking very promising and to top it off I had recently become an uncle. I was a very happy young man with aspirations and dreams and the motivation to make it all come true. Unfortunately I wasn’t prepared for what was to occur in the months that followed.

In February 2002, my life began to spiral out of control. After a very upsetting break-up with my girlfriend of five years I was charged with stabbing my roommate in the face during an altercation. The circumstances and stress of the break-up was too much for me to deal with. I felt I had lost my life with losing her. She was everything – my best friend, my partner and my soul-mate. In one moment she was gone and I was truly broken and lost. The future that I once envisioned no longer existed. The overwhelming emotions I was feeling and my unwillingness to face them prompted me to “run and numb.” I was facing five to eight years in prison and I wanted nothing to do with it. I never dealt with the consequences, which greatly contributed to the stress that I was already under. Regrettably in the years that followed I created more havoc.

Essentially, I was driving the self-pity bus and I was on the road to nowhere. I made meager attempts at trying to make a life for myself, whether it was in relationships, work or any other area. I was quick to sabotage anything that was good or positive. This kept me safe from further pain, or so I made myself believe. This couldn’t have been further from the truth, as this tactic only enabled me to sink further and further into a world of isolation and emptiness.

My daily routine became like that of a hamster running and running but only remaining trapped in an endless cycle of insanity. I was ensnared by my mind – the brutal thoughts and emotions constantly tormented me like a schoolyard bully. I felt like there was nothing for me to do but to live a life where my only objective for the day was to numb the pain that pursued me moment after moment.

The day unfortunately came when all my repressed anger, hatred, guilt, shame and resentment revealed itself. As a result of my violent and reckless actions I destroyed and permanently changed the lives of many people.

Sadly, there is nothing I can do to take back the terrible things I have done. I can however do everything in my power to prevent it from happening again. I can never erase the memories that exist in the minds of those who were affected that terrible day. I never want to hurt anyone ever again. In addition to all the other programming that I have completed, I deeply believe that yoga is a key ingredient in the antidote that has and will continue to cure me of any violent tendencies.

In June of 2008, I was introduced to the practice of yoga by a friend of mine who was a fellow inmate at the time. One day out of the blue he asked me, “Do you want to try yoga?” Looking at him like he was a crazy person I replied, “What? Are you out of your mind?”

“Well, as a matter of fact yes I am,” was his reply. At the time I had no idea what he meant by that statement, but I never forgot it. In fact it bothered me until I eventually asked him about it. All he said was, “Come and do yoga with me and you’ll answer every question you have in due course of time.”

Prison is not a fun place to be, as one might expect; and it is the last place you would expect to find a group of guys holding downward facing dog. Still, I remained open-minded enough to at least give this yoga thing a try. Thus, after going through all the details and consequences that I was sure to endure, I hesitantly agreed to try it.

I was totally shocked and humbled by my first experience. My friend took me through various asanas followed by some relaxation and then introduced meditation to me. The feeling of contentment and calmness that blanketed my body and mind was truly unbelievable. There was no doubt about it, I was hooked. I knew from that moment that yoga would forever be a part of my life. What I did not yet realize was that it would soon become a way of life.

During the next year I practised with my friend and we managed to convince three, then four, then five more guys to join us in our practice. Before I knew it there were eight of us. We practised for one hour each day. I could feel a transformation happening. I couldn’t quite explain it, but I knew something was happening to me and I LIKED IT!

My friend then transferred to another institution and we were left without our guide. That left me with only one option and it was a blessing in disguise. We were never a formal group and I wanted to change that. So I did. After nine long months of doing research; seeking help from the Yoga Association of Alberta (to which Debbie Spence, the Executive Director, answered the call in a big way); and promoting a yoga group within the Institution, I finally had everything I needed to write the proposal to the Warden requesting that he allow us to establish a formal group within the Institution – a first for the Institution.

Within weeks we had our answer and we were off and practising yoga as a formal group with our own room, music and “home-made” props. It was pretty cool. We had wonderful support from the staff and I was quickly able to purchase Rodney Yee’s Eight-week program. I studied it tirelessly and was quickly able to get to a skill level where I was able to correctly and easily instruct the eight other guys I had in the group. We became like a family; the brotherhood was like nothing I had ever experienced in the past. We were able to laugh at ourselves and at each other and just truly enjoy each and every moment that we all shared. That is so rare in a prison environment and we managed to pull it off. To this day I remain friends with every person who was in that group.

In prison you’re supposed to be hard and stone-faced -- so it is said. However, I honestly didn’t see that helping me or anyone else so we did the unexpected and amazing things resulted. I believe my life and the lives of those with whom I shared yoga were changed forever. I have since transferred twice and in each Institution I have continued my efforts promoting the practice of yoga, establishing yoga groups and continuing to bring the gift to others as it was once brought to me.

Being able to share the humbling and calming effects of yoga with friends and all people alike inside the walls has been, as I have said, life changing. Because somebody cared enough about me to share what he had, an amazing community now exists within the walls of the forgotten. The community that exists amongst yoga practitioners is second to none in my experience and so I look forward to furthering my involvement in this great community upon my eventual release.

As a result of the efforts of the yoga community inside the walls and with the help from Debbie and Anita Sielecki (YAA President), we were successful in our attempts at having a wonderful man and yoga instructor, David McAmmond (YAA Vice-President) selflessly volunteer to teach workshops at each of the three Institutions that now have yoga groups. Everyone just loves him. We now have a second instructor at a third Institution funded by the Outreach Program of the Yoga Association of Alberta. Judy Murphy teaches us “newbies” even more about the practice of yoga. It is such an honour to have these people come into the prisons and work with us, especially to do yoga.It is just amazing what our efforts have blossomed into. Yoga has been a huge factor in opening and clearing my mind. I no longer feel trapped. I am able to live with peace and contentment in my heart – it feels absolutely remarkable. The groups are all still active despite having had many of the original members depart. David and Judy continue to teach and the journey continues for the remaining guys, but most importantly new ones have begun for those brave enough to embark.

I couldn’t have done any of this without the help of the Yoga Association of Alberta staff and executive (Debbie, Anita, David, and Judy), not to mention the staff within the Institutions. Thank you so much for helping us make our vision come true.

When I am given a chance to prove myself in the community via parole, I will be working on establishing myself in all areas of my life. However, for me to be successful I need to continue with my yoga practice, so to accomplish this I am going to work on becoming a certified yoga instructor. I have a very solid plan for success; I have a strong foundation to build on, so all I need to do is assemble one floor at a time. I will stay humble and be a punching bag for “life” and just take whatever it throws at me. I will absorb it all and just hang in there.

It’s not easy compressing a decade of my life into a few pages. Hopefully my experience can inspire or encourage anyone who may be in the market for it. I believe we can never get enough inspiration, with it we can move the unmovable and fix the unfixable.

Namaste.

Engage With Us on Social Media

YAA Admin — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 16:46:01 +0000

Namaste!

We have been getting a lot of questions about how our members can engage with us and support us on social media, so we thought we would put together a handy guide with easy to follow instructions

Join the YAA Facebook Group

We have a Facebook Group for YAA Members! Here our members can post their upcoming workshops, sessions, classes, or any other content that they’d like to share! Click on the button above or follow these steps:

Log in to your Facebook account.
Search for the group "YAA Members" by typing the name in the search bar at the top of the page, and then click on the group.
Click on the "Join Group" button.
Agree to the group rules (see our Code of Ethics).
You will receive a notification when your request has been approved.

Once you are a member of a group, you can participate in discussions, post content, and engage with other members. We can't wait to have you!

Follow us on social media

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. To help us appear higher in your feed so you will see more of our posts and content, you'll need to interact with us in one or more of the following ways:

ADD US TO YOUR “FAVOURITES”

On Facebook, go to our homepage and "Like" our page if you haven't already. Once it shows "Liked", click or tap on it. The "Follow Settings" window will open where you can then select "Favourites", set any notifications you'd like, then click "Update" below.
On Instagram, go to our homepage and "Follow" us if you haven't already. Click or tap on "Following". A window will open where you can choose "Add to Favourites".
On Twitter, go to our homepage and "Follow" us if you haven't already. Click on the bell beside the Following button to turn on any notifications you'd like to see.

Now that we’re one of your favourites (thank you!), you will likely see more of our posts. When you do, it really helps our account to grow in the digital world if you engage with our content. What does engagement mean?

ENGAGE WITH OUR CONTENT

Here’s how to do it:

Like/heart our posts.
Comment on our posts. An emoji, tag someone or just a few words mean a lot (to us AND the algorithm that shares our posts more widely).
Share our posts to your feed or your story. This way your audience will see what you like, spreading our content to new people.
- On Facebook, click the share arrow at the bottom of the post and select where you want to share it.
- On Instagram, click the paper airplane icon at the bottom of the post to share to your story.
- On X (formally Twitter), click the two arrows icon on the bottom to retweet, or quote tweet to add in your own comments, or the share button for more options
Save our posts in your accounts.
- On Facebook, click the three buttons at the top right-hand corner of the post and select save.
- On Instagram, click on the bookmark icon on the bottom right-hand corner under the post’s image to save to your collection.
- On Twitter, click on the share button and hit bookmark.

We need YOUR HELP to grow our community and spread our messages, but we also want to share all the unique perspectives and wisdom about yoga that you have with our audience! This type of content is what our growing community finds incredibly valuable. How can you do this?

ADD YOUR OWN CONTENT

Tag us! We're happy to share your cool or educational yoga content which will help amplify it on your own social media. Ads & business posts (classes, workshops, retreats, etc.) can be shared on our stories, but we aren't able to share them as posts on our page.
1. On Facebook @yogaalberta
2. On Instagram @yogaassociationofalberta
3. On Twitter @YAAYogaAB
Send us Photos or Short Videos
1. Send us photos of you doing your thing, or any interesting photos we can repurpose for our yoga-based content.
2. Videos under 30 seconds work best in portrait orientation (hold your phone up and down, not sideways). These could be a quick tip, a bit of yoga philosophy, or even a background video of a class or a beautiful spot that inspires you.
3. Email submissions to yaa@yoga.ca
Share your stories/tips/knowledge in writing or in a voice memo.
1. Send your written content and we can repurpose.
2. Send audio files of you telling your stories or sharing your tips and we can use that for voiceovers on videos. (Record on your recorder/voice memo app on your phone).
3. Email to yaa@yoga.ca

Want more tips for doing your own social media? Full YAA members can get access to recordings of all our free Professional Development webinars, including Social Media for Yoga Teachers, Developing your Brand, and more!

Send Us Your Stuff

**Advertise in the Yoga Bridge!**

Consider advertising in the Yoga Bridge when you:

Have more lead time on your event (longer workshops or substantial retreats). Deadlines are August 1st for Fall Issue, October 15th for Winter Issue, and February 15th for Spring Issue.
Need to reach an extremely engaged and targeted audience of 2,000 Alberta yoga teachers and students.
Want your ad to be present in people’s homes over a longer period (people tend to hold on to Yoga Bridge newsletters until the next one comes out, which gives you a longer shelf life - months compared to days).

We also offer free listings to Full YAA Members in the Yoga Bridge and on our Events Page, which provides you a more permanent digital listing that is searchable.

Submission Guidelines

Be a YAA Ambassador!

Share our website with your friends, family, or students, so they can join us on our shared journey of health and healing through yoga. For all residents of Alberta, their first year of Associate Membership is FREE!

Got questions? Reach out!

We are here to help and want to find ways to work together to advance our mission of spreading the healing benefits of yoga across Alberta.

Contact Us

The Winter of our Lives – Yogic Practices to Support End of Life

YAA Admin — Sat, 25 May 2024 03:51:09 +0000

By Anne Douglas
Originally published in Yoga Bridge - WINTER 2023 VOLUME 23 ISSUE 1

Yoga is well known in the west to offer excellent practices for healthy, balanced and enlightened living; few know of the yogic practices and principles that can help us prepare for and support us through the winter of our lives and into death. While death is a very natural part of life, many of us are unprepared to meet our own demise or that of our loved ones in a skillful and peaceful manner. As the winter months take hold in the northern hemisphere and the darkness and cool temperatures drive us inward, it seems a natural time to turn to the yogic scriptures for inspiration and solace for the inevitable end of our days.

Sutra 2.3 of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras introduces the five primal causes of human suffering, or the five klesas. The first four include ignorance of your true Self, self centered egoism, attachment to pleasure and aversion to pain. The fifth klesa involves our will to live and our fear of death. Sutras 2.10 and 2.11 offer the resolution from these causes through the process of returning them to their source by means of meditation. In other words, rather than engaging with these five behaviours, we instead simply observe them arise, without engaging them, so that they may dissolve back from whence they came. While this may sound overly simplistic, by repeatedly observing these behaviours just as one might observe a thought in meditation, their power over us can gradually dissipate.

At first this practice of observing the five causes of suffering may seem overwhelming or tedious. But one might be surprised at how quickly evidence of behaviour change can occur, especially by contemplating just one klesa for a set period of time. Gradually, we can gain insight into their harmful impact, which can help to cultivate motivation in making discriminative choices.

As an example, we can observe the natural human tendency to cling to life (known as abinivesha in Sanskrit) when we swerve to avoid an oncoming car in traffic, or when we choose to keep our bicycle brakes in good repair. These are natural, logical and healthy responses to potentially lifethreatening circumstances that are mostly within our control.

There is also the unnecessary clinging to life that can create suffering based on behaviours that originate from unexamined fears or beliefs. These can include the fearful assumptions we make about what happens after we die. There is little to be known about this from a scientific standpoint, however there is much written on the subject from a philosophical or spiritual perspective. One way to alleviate our fears can be to contemplate writings in which various authors describe the process of death from their own or others’ direct experience.

The Katha Upanishad, also known as “The Secret of Death”, tells the story of a young boy, Nachiketas, who has a conversation with Yama, the “Lord of Death”. Nachiketas asks Yama what happens when humans die. Yama advises him not to fear death since “the true Self is not born, nor does he die and is eternal. The Self (Atman), is smaller than small, greater than great and is hidden in the heart of each creature. He is Free from avarice, free from grief, peaceful and content, he sees the supreme glory of Atman. Self (Atman) is soundless, touchless, formless, tasteless, scentless, without beginning, without end, imperishable, beyond great, blissful, and when one reveres one’s own Self, he is liberated. To understand the eternal nature of one’s Self is to feel calmness, inner peace, patience and freedom regardless of the circumstances one is in, affections or threats one faces, praises or insults one is subjected to.”

The secret of death according to the Katha Upanishad is in knowing the secret of the true self. This is the essence of all of yoga, to know who you truly are, through the practices and revelations passed down by the Rishis that help to guide our self-inquiry through contemplation and meditation.

The Bhagavad Gita offers a practice of “Closing of the Gates” in chapter 8, verse 12 as a means to prepare for death. The practice invites one to restrain the energy of the senses, elements and chakras so to fix the mind in the region of the heart, and then eventually up to the head. It is said that at the time of death, this practice allows the body to fall away with ease and the soul to move up and out, through the crown of the head, in full divine consciousness. Consistent and dedicated practice is required in order to lay the energetic pathway for the life force to know where to go when it is time. While practice is not a guarantee of outcome, it does increase the possibility of liberation at the time of death.

The practice of Yoga Nidra, or yogic sleep meditation, offers the means to experience our body and mind falling into deep rest or sleep while remaining awake at the deepest and most essential level of our being. At first, we likely remain fused with our body and mind and perceive that “I spaced out” or “I fell asleep”. However, with practice, as we navigate the ever-subtler layers or koshas of self-experiencing, we can begin to orient to the subtlest layer of self that is unmoving, unchanging and ever at peace. This is our most essential self.

Further, Yoga Nidra can act as a perfect dress rehearsal for death as we surrender and let go at every level from gross to subtle, without fear or clinging, we simply abide as pristine stillness that is ever and eternally awake.

Paramahansa Yogananda described death well when he said, “Death is not as terrible as you think. It comes to you as a healer. Sleep is nothing but a counterfeit death. What happens in death we can picture in sleep. All our sufferings vanish in sleep. When death comes, all our mortal tortures cease; they cannot go beyond the portals of death.”

May these dark days of winter, where deep sleep, death and the seeds of renewal live together, be our inspiration through practice, contemplation and meditation. And may we gain insights toward the end of suffering, the end of life, and the promise of rebirth.

Anne Douglas, YAA 1000, RYT500, & C-IAYT has been teaching yoga and meditation classes, workshops, trainings and retreats since 1989. She has over 4 million listens to her meditations on the Simple Habit app. Join Anne for her February ‘23 YAA workshop of a similar theme, The Yogic Art of Living and Dying – Everyday Practices for End of Life and Awakened Living. Anne can be contacted at anahatayoga@telus.net

Embodied Awakening

YAA Admin — Thu, 23 May 2024 01:45:24 +0000

By Anne Douglas
Originally published in Yoga Bridge - AUTUMN 2022 VOLUME 22 ISSUE 3

The path of yoga is a path of meditation. It can be said that its ultimate goal is to end suffering by stilling the mind in order to realize our divine nature that is eternally at peace, regardless of circumstance. Some schools of yoga offer a dualistic pathway to self-realization that is world transcending, to know yourself as awakened consciousness that is separate from the body and thereby unaffected by life’s tumult. Other schools offer a non-dual pathway that is world embracing and recognizes everything and everyone as expressions of the divine and thereby celebrate all of life as holy. Regardless of a dual or non-dual path, the gift of all paths of yoga is the reference to the body as a vehicle for self-realization.

In the non-dual path of Kashmir Shaivism, our body, with all its sense perceptions, is used as a most excellent pointer to the enlightenment that is said to be already and always present, without any need for cultivation. The practice, then, is not to change anything, but to come to the direct perception of this truth.

We can begin by experiencing the aliveness and wakefulness that is in every cell and atom of our body. In any given moment there is a symphony of activity being orchestrated by an unseen intelligence that dances the more than 7 octillion (that’s a 7 with 27 zeros!) atoms in your body towards harmonized functioning.

This animating force is the same intelligence that creates, maintains and dissolves universes, guides the turning of the seasons, drives the rhythms of oceanic tides and turns day into night.

Your body is already awake. Even when it is asleep it is awake, performing essential tasks such as muscle repair, detoxification, and filing experiences and information as memories. But underneath or within all of that activity is a silent, still, awake consciousness that, unlike the body, is beyond time, space and causation.

When we attune to our body’s natural intelligence and awakeness, we open ourselves to the consciousness that pervades everything and that has been here all along. Enlightenment is not something that we are waiting for in some future moment of profundity, but is ever present and available now. It’s just that most of us aren’t oriented to this experience.

As humans, we experience the world from a view of separation and duality. We see other people and things as separate from us. This dualistic view is hardwired into the human experience by way of our binary brain and five senses that cause us to perceive separation. In the embodied practices of Kashmir non-dualism, we are expanding the limited view of ourselves and the world. We are reorienting to the fullness of who we are that includes but isn’t limited to our body. One of the primary resources for this reorientation is selfinquiry, a somatic or felt inquiry.

There are some forms of meditative inquiry that are intellectual, but the use of the mind with embodied inquiry can be counterproductive, because of its default perception of separation. With embodied inquiry we bypass the mind by inquiring into the felt sense of our direct experience. For example, when our eyes are open, we perceive the clear boundary of our skin as the outer edge of self and anything beyond that as other. However, if we close our eyes and simply feel our body, what at first feels very solid with a clear sense of periphery, gradually begins to feel more and more spacious, expansive and without border. The localized body feeling can gradually give way to the felt experience of open spaciousness. Continued inquiry in this way can awaken the direct experience of being unbounded awareness.

Additional somatic self-inquiry practices can include unique forms of meditative movement (yoga) and breath work (pranayama) in which we continue to sensitize to ever subtler layers or koshas (sheaths) of self-experiencing. As we attune and harmonize with our most essential self, we develop discernment between the impulses that arise directly from source and the impulses that are rooted in conditioned thinking. Gradually, the naturalness, spontaneity and freedom of our true nature shines through unobscured.

The body speaks the truth. It cannot tell a lie. When we move in tune with our body wisdom, we move with the intelligence of the Universe. This inner intelligence can be likened to music that moves the body in a divine dance, and as its dance partner, we can choose to join and move with it as one. Similarly, with the Kashmir Tantric Yoga practice of Tandava, also known as The Dance of Bliss, we are invited to join with the natural inner currents of breath and the subtle source energy known as spanda or the divine impulse or tremor. The tantric text entitled the Spandakarika, informs us that this divine pulsation is the stuff of all creation and that we can sense it within as a shimmering effervescence of blissful aliveness.

As we meet, feel and embody the awakening that is already present, we become like quantum scientists exploring the atomic dimensions of our bodies to discover that what at first appears as matter, is actually mostly space. And we ARE that space! Through sincere embodied inquiry, we can come to the first-hand recognition of being unbounded, infinitely spacious, consciousness that pervades all.

In the dance of embodied awakening, we move about our days as if a separate someone, all the while knowing that life is a dance of ONE. We don’t wait for a future moment of enlightenment; we simply stand in the awakeness that is already and always present.

Anne Douglas, YAA Senior Teacher, has been teaching non-dual Yoga and Meditation for over 30 years and leads trainings, workshops, retreats and private sessions. She is the founder of Anahata Yoga Therapy, practicing in the beautiful mountain town of Banff, Alberta.