Welcome to the

San Francisco California

Mission Center City College of San Francisco Oct 6-8 2017 1125 Valencia St, San Francisco, California 94110 Table of Contents

Welcome Letter 1 Accessible Yoga Committees 4 Accessible Yoga Teams 5 Presenter Articles Matthew Sanford 7 Nischala Joy Devi 9 Steffany Moonaz Mission Statement 11 Annie Piper 14 Chandra/Jo Sgammatto 17 NEWCheri Clampett 19 Accessible Yoga is dedicated to sharing the benefits of Yoga with anyone who currently COPYDianne Bondy 21 does not have access to these practices, and with communities that have been excluded Cherie Hotchkiss 25 or under-served. All people, regardless of ability or background, deserve equal access to Elle Potter 28 to the ancient practices of Yoga, which offer individual empowerment and spiritual ComeRenata Gaertner 30 awakening. By building a strong network and advocating for a diverse Yoga culture that JoAnn Lyons 35 is inclusive and welcoming, we are sharing Yoga with all. Michael Hayes 36 Hamsa Spagnola 37 Jessica Frank 39 ©2017 Accessible Yoga Marsha Danzig 41 Brenda Yarnold 43 Mindy Eisenberg 45 Sharon Manner 47 Suzan Colon 49 Sarahjoy Marsh 51 Jivana Heyman 53 Accessible Yoga Donors 55 Accessible Yoga Network 56 San Francisco Conference 61 Dear Accessible Yogis, Welcome to the first Accessible Yoga Conference in San Francisco. This is our fourth time Our goal is not simply stating that yoga is for everyone. We are involved in supporting teachers coming together in an effort to connect and build a strong Accessible Yoga community. It is to gain the skills necessary to offer appropriate practices for all students. We continue to such an exciting time for Accessible Yoga. We are growing quickly as more and more people advocate for appropriate, inclusive and accessible yoga for all and to welcome new partners to join this revolution of love and service. join us in our efforts. Part of that growth includes a new Board of Directors. The members of the Board are A big thank you to City College of San Francisco for hosting us! Thank you also to our San Swami Ramananda, Dianne Bondy, Cheri Clampett, Steffany Moonaz, Priya Wagner, Sarani Francisco team for their tireless efforts in making this Conference a reality. In particular, I want Fedman, Rudra Swartz, and myself. I am grateful to each of them for their support. They to thank Muktidevi Demafeliz, our fearless leader, Judy Mirabai Hubbell, Sarani Fedman, Priya are working tirelessly, along with our staff and volunteers, to support you in your efforts to Wagner, Chris Trost, Jackie Barshak, Sevika Ford, Iswari Spoon, Prashanti Goodell, and all our make yoga available to anyone who has an interest in learning about these powerful and other volunteers. A special thank you to Hannah Callaway for her generous loan of props, as transformative practices. well as to the San Francisco Integral Yoga Institute for all of their support. People always ask me what Accessible Yoga is, so here is a short definition we put together: And thank you for your ongoing support, and for all you do to make yoga accessible. Please Accessible yoga is an approach to teaching based on the ideals of inclusivity, diversity and use this opportunity to make connections, build networks, and reconnect with yourself. accessibility rather than a particular style of yoga. These concepts define Accessible Yoga: Om, • Each individual is a unique and equal expression of our essential oneness • Everyone has a right to the teachings and practices of yoga • Service and compassion are yoga in action Jivana Heyman, Director • Teaching yoga is a collaborative, collective and creative process • Personal growth and transformation require a supportive community Also, we’re happy to welcome Yoga Alliance as a new sponsor. We’re looking forward to collaborating with them to build a more inclusive and accessible yoga community. Our position is that all yoga teachers should receive training to make their classes accessible. Teachers need to learn how to make their classes welcoming, supportive and safe for every person who walks into their classroom.

1 2 Advisory Committee Dianne Bondy Matthew Sanford NEW Nischala Joy Devi COPY Cheri Clampett Swami Ramananda to Sonia Sumar Come Planning Committee Oversees all of Accessible Yoga’s activities – this committee is made up of experienced Accessible Yoga teachers who are committed to sharing yoga with all, and expanding the Accessible Yoga movement. We are focused on service and empowerment, including our dedication to having people with disabilities in leadership roles within the organization.

Jivana Heyman – Director Megan Zander - Operations Director Brina Lord – Operations Manager Paula Andrea Narvaez - Volunteer Coordinator Sarah Helt – Communications Director Priya Wagner Ana Killingstat Rudra Swartz Shakti Bell Sarani Fedman

4 Accessible Yoga Teams The Accessible Yoga teams came out of our 1st conference in 2015 when so many people came Fundraising – [email protected] forward to get involved in this movement. We now have 9 teams of Yogis working on all aspects Maria Amma Fandino co-leader, Michelle Pancake co-leader of Accessible Yoga — we couldn’t do it without them! The teams are working on organizing The Accessible Yoga Fundraising team is committed to financial accessibility. We raise funds from a diversified the Conferences, as well as our other activities — such as our social media awareness campaigns group of sources in order to strengthen the mission and network development of Accessible Yoga, and and other activities around the world. If you want to get involved, please email us at provide access to all who desire it. By conducting donor research to identify new sources of potential funds, [email protected]. we attempt to reach and engage external audiences, caring about building long-term donor relationships. Our fundraising efforts strive for a fundamental transparency practice that demonstrates accountability to donors. Logistics NYC Logistics – [email protected] NEW Communications – [email protected] Rudra Swartz – team leader, Hamsa Spagnola, Anjali Somerstein, Taravati Turcinovic, Brina Lord, Sarah Elizabeth Helt – team leader, Natalie Dunbar, Bonny Chipman, Sarit Z. Rogers, Itaii Anthony, Durga Rebecca Maclenzie COPY Hanlon, Dev Rice San Francisco Logistics – [email protected] Graphic Design Muktidevi Demafeliz – team leader, Mirabai Hubbell, Saranito Fedman, Priya Wagner, Chris Trost, Jackie Iswari Spoon, Heather Sevika Ford, Mary Padma Bickel Barshak, Ken Scarberry Through collaborative efforts the Communications Team uses all forms of social media to reach the public European Logistics – [email protected] Come on behalf of the Accessible Yoga Movement. We, as a team, post to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and our Priya Pernilla Halden – co-leader, Alessandra Uma Cocchi – co-leader, Katja Sandschneider, Accessible Yoga Blog in an effort to keep all our yoga connections up to date on what we’re doing, where, Heather Sheridan and how. In this digital age, the Communications Team plays a vital role in connecting students to teachers, The mission of our Logistics Teams is to support the planning and organization of the Accessible Yoga teachers to institutions, and bringing Accessible Yoga to the world. Conferences by locating venues, coordinating transportation, scheduling lodging, and all other ‘behind the scenes’ details. We communicate with other teams to create a supportive, collaborative, and collective International – [email protected] community. By meeting regularly and designating volunteer assignments, we strive to create a structure Hersha Chelleram, Hong Kong; Katja Sandschneider, Germany; Karin Perkmann, Austria; Alessandra of systematic support that enables all teammates and attendees to thrive in their experience at the Uma Cocchi, Italy; Sivapriya Rebollo, Ireland; Claire Shraddha Feltham, France; Vania Duarte, Brazil; Accessible Yoga Conferences. Priya Pernilla Halden, Sweden; Luckshmi Lucy Cannon, Portugal; Laura Piquer, Spain; Heather Sheridan, Belgium; Socorro Maldonado, Mexico/USA Outreach – [email protected] Accessible Yoga Facebook Groups Irene Vanhulsentop – Outreach Leader KanthiDevi Konstantopoulou – Greek The Outreach Team supports Accessible Yoga by identifying and reaching out to individuals and Amma Fandino – Spanish organizations that share Yoga with communities that have been excluded or under-served. To support Uma Cocchi – Italian those individuals and organizations, we created and maintain a database of contact information. Outreach Priya Halldin – Swedish shares conference, scholarship, sponsorship and International information with this database, which Astrid van Rens – Dutch continues to expand. Veronique Dallaire & Shanti Texier – French Vania Duarte & Ivone Sousa – Portuguese Inreach The Accessible Yoga International Team is Cherie Hotchkiss – Inreach Leader dedicated to building a worldwide network of Accessible Yoga teachers and students. We engage yogis from The Inreach Team establishes and maintains communications with the participants that attended the all over the world to be aware of the great possibilities that yoga offers to people with disabilities or people inaugural Accessible Yoga Conference - the first Accessible Yoga Ambassadors! We are also connecting that have been excluded from these teachings. By creating a strong network we learn from all the different with and welcoming new Ambassadors who are registering for this year’s conference. Inreach is circumstances in each and every country and support each other in spreading Accessible Yoga around the organizing all data to create a single system to carry Accessible Yoga forward as it grows. globe.

Scholarships – [email protected] Advocacy –[email protected] Nicole Sanoski – team leader Mary Sims – team leader, Virginia Knowlton, Prakasha Capen, Jennifer Gasner, Rose Kress, Steffany Moonaz, Elle Potter Working together in an effort to provide financial accessibility to yoga teachers and Accessible Yoga students combined, the Scholarship Team’s goals encompass inclusive communication with new Advocacy, our newest team, came out of our last Conference, where we were inspired to work with disability and returning Accessible Yoga Ambassadors. We strive to offer a welcoming environment for new rights advocates to speak up for inclusion within the yoga community. We are currently working on a Ambassadors through open communication. We encourage all Ambassadors to get involved by sharing campaign to expand the requirements of yoga teacher training programs to include training in Accessibility to the goals of Accessible Yoga with their personal networks and beyond. make sure that yoga teachers are receiving proper training in this area.

5 6 both healing and energizing. No music, no cell phone, no whenever and wherever you can. talking, nothing. The greatest luxury in an over- Soak in the silence and stillness scheduled life is simply unfilled We all crave more space and to be found in your day. time. the cooling balm of uncluttered time. This practice feeds the soul and Learn to do nothing. Lie on your nourishes our life. couch and look out the window. Invite emptiness into your life

Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., Physical Therapist, has been teaching yoga since 1971. She trains students and teachers throughout the United States as well as abroad, is one of the founders The Absolute Necessity of Yoga Journal magazine, and is president of the California Yoga Teachers Association. She has written nine books. of Doing Nothing

Judith Hanson Lasater

We are just too busy, too Letting go deeply for 20 Leave your phone in the car occupied, too distracted, too minutes, especially in the when you go to yoga class, visit over-scheduled. afternoon when sleepiness and a friend, or go food shopping. dullness overtakes the mind, Find times when you can be “off We try so many strategies: is surprisingly rejuvenating the electronic leash”. Build up new calendars, to-do lists, New and can improve mood and to having a whole day of rest Year’s resolutions, and endless creativity. Many workplaces are without looking at your phone. promises to ourselves to do less. now incorporating “nap spaces” Finally, look through your But we don’t. calendar every Sunday and So do these three things “The greatest luxury in an over- see what you can take off for instead. scheduled life is simply unfilled time.” the following week. First, commit to How many of the “things we practicing a 20 minute-long have to do” are really necessary? as they find it significantly relaxation once a day. Lie down, Can we give ourselves the gift of improves productivity. set a timer, cover your eyes spaciousness by not scheduling and totally disconnect from the Additionally, regular so many things in a day. world. practitioners of a relaxation Most of what we “have to do” practice (Savasana) report This simple practice has proven can be done at a slower pace being less reactive to stressful benefits, chief among them without pushing ourselves. Very situations at work and at home, reducing the effects of stress in few things are truly urgent. and a gradually increasing the body. This includes lowering “background” calmness in their These three simple commitments blood pressure, improving lives. will help you find more space immune function, positively and silence and ease in your life. affecting fertility, and reducing Secondly, do not look at your and sometimes even alleviating phone during meals. Put it in You will have more time to tension headaches. another room and turn it off. create and reflect and this will be 4. Let Us Heal. After you injure yourself or 6. Empower Us. When you’re ready to progress experience illness or surgery, using props allows beyond the basics, props can enable you take the you to gradually restore strength and flexibility. first baby steps toward a challenging pose, such as 7 Reasons Why You Should Warrior 3 at a wall. Love Yoga Props

Nina Zolotow and Downward-Facing Dog with Chair Warrior 3 with the Wall Baxter Bell 5. Let Us Relax. Without props, there wouldn’t be 7. Enable All of Us! No matter what shape you’re restorative yoga! In restorative poses, the props in—even if you can’t get down to the floor, can’t allow you to take the shape of a pose without stand up or can’t move parts of your body—props muscular effort so you can stay in the pose for allow you to take the shape of a pose and obtain long periods of time and relax deeply. Using the benefits of stretching, moving your joints, and Although we’ve heard that some yoga teachers can keep them from falling. You can use the wall props, in active poses that otherwise push you breathing mindfully. (Baxter teaches yoga to men say using props is “cheating”, we couldn’t disagree (with foot or hand on the wall) or you can support to your absolute with cerebral palsy more. For us at Yoga for Healthy Aging, props are yourself with a chair. Even a block to support your limits, allows who prove this quite simply a godsend. Why? Because they: hand can help stabilize you in the pose. you to be more every week!) So 1. Keep Us Safe. Using a prop can help prevent comfortable our motto is: With injuries caused by overstretching or misalignment. while still obtaining yoga props, there For some people—whether due the benefits of is always a way. to lack of flexibility or anatomy (short arms), the pose. reaching the floor is difficult. Using a prop can Supported Child’s Pose Hunting Dog for Those Who Can’t Kneel make the difference between overstretching your hamstrings and keeping them healthy. For people who are stiff or have back problems Baxter Bell, MD, C-IAYT, eRYT 500 Physician, medical acupuncturist, yoga therapist and yoga teacher using a prop in a backbend can reduce low back Triangle Pose with the Wall By combining his deep knowledge of anatomy and medicine with an expertise in helping people of all stress. Someone with misaligned arms, with a 3. Allow Us to Breathe. Using a prop to achieve ages and physical conditions, Baxter teaches a healing, nurturing style of hatha yoga that balances the carrying angle for a healthy alignment— body’s desire for action with the mind’s need for calm and quiet. In addition to teaching classes, workshops, example, can use a one in which your spine and retreats internationally, Baxter helps students use yoga to help heal from and/or cope with a wide strap in Downward- “Our motto is: With yoga props, retains its natural curves range of medical conditions. The cofounder of and a writer for the popular blog Yoga for Healthy Aging, he Facing Dog just above there is always a way.” and your chest is open— regularly presents at Yoga Journal conferences and at the International Association of Yoga Therapy’s SYTAR the elbows to prevent helps you to take deep and Conference. He has also uneven wear and tear easy breaths. For example, if your hips are tight, written articles for Yoga of the elbow joints. sitting on a block or folded blanket allows you to Journal and the International maintain an upright posture, rather than collapsing Journal of Yoga Therapy, and your chest. Using props can also reduce pain in a is featured in Yoga for Stress, pose, allowing a Yoga Journal DVD. He is you to be more quoted as a yoga and health comfortable, expert by the Washington which makes Post and the Wall Street breathing easier, Journal, among others. Camel Pose with a Bolster too. 2. Stabilize Us. For people with balance problems or who are weak, using props in standing poses Hero Pose with Block and Blanket 9 10 Stress Management at its Best Swami Ramananda

The deep wisdom that Yoga meditation can quickly interrupt brings to stress and suffering that cycle of overstimulation Imagine learning not only how helps us understand that stress and restore physical and mental to relieve stress, but also how begins in the mind, with how we balance. These same practices to cope with it effectively, and interpret events. For example, done regularly, even for a short even how to prevent stressful one person may see a difficult time daily, can create a deeply reactions from being a cause of situation as a real threat, while rooted sense of inner steadiness suffering for you or for others. another person sees that same that enables us to withstand life’s That is the subject matter we activity as an exciting challenge frequent trials. addressed in a recent teacher to be met. training at the New York Integral As we cultivate internal Yoga Institute. We taught 20 Yoga The more threatened we feel, the steadiness, we also develop the teachers to bring the full scope more our whole system responds present moment awareness of Yoga practice needed to make conscious and its teachings, choices when crisis reframed as stress “The deep wisdom that Yoga brings to arise, instead of reacting management, into stress and suffering helps us understand compulsively in ways settings where the we later regret. Regular participants are that stress begins in the mind, with practice equips us with not familiar with how we interpret events.” tools that help us keep our the culture of Yoga balance, reflect with clarity studios. and think creatively. with what is commonly called the This training equips Yoga fight or flight response. For some We also studied how all the teachers to adapt what they people, the stress of a relentless branches of Yoga philosophy know to a wide variety of schedule—from one thing to the can be reframed into clear, environments, including the next-- never lets up. Often the simple principles that provide a workplace, healthcare facilities, ways that many people relax, by resource in stressful moments. schools, military bases and watching TV or filling their lives We each identified the many other venues. By avoiding with entertainment, doesn’t really constructive attitudes that typical Yoga studio customs and allow their bodies and minds counteract our negative thought Sanskrit terminology, teachers to calm down, and the nervous patterns, help us sustain a clear can focus on the essence of Yoga system to shift into rest and positive mindset, and allow us to that is universally applicable, restore mode. more effectively cope with poise enabling them to make these and resilience. transformative practices During the training, we discussed accessible to diverse populations. how mindful stretching, Some of my favorite examples relaxation, deep breathing and are: “Do your best, leave the

12 rest.” “My efforts are both finding the fun in this moment.” offering them all the tools optimal and sustainable when I of Yoga that can relieve the value my goals in balance with It is fulfilling to think that these suffering caused by our stressed- Inequality, Manners and my own well-being.” “I do all 20 teachers will each be sharing out culture. actions for the joy of doing. I’m these practices and teachings the Gross Yoga Body not depending on the results. I’m with diverse populations, Swami Ramananda is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly Amara Miller respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 40 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of Yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential. He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced level yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco, and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U. S., Europe and South America. Ramananda is a certified Yoga therapist and trains Yoga teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital Accessibility to yoga is often contributes to increased rates from the fleshy, gross body and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a founding restricted by elitism and class of diseases and illness that even as we are encouraged to board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as privilege. There is a great shape our bodily experience. “drop into the body” through professionals. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many. deal of discussion about how And through the construct of asana–but that “dropping in” yoga is primarily practiced class, the body has become takes place in classed ways by and accessible to a high- something to regulate that tie to race, size, and also class, highly educated, thin, and control through social gender. We are encouraged white, female demographic. manners. When people began to construct our bodies, and It is this body type that is to move to cities in masse, shape them, according to class overwhelmingly featured the new experience of living boundaries and privilege. in (stereotypical) cultural in close quarters encouraged representations of the yoga people to create a system of This is a serious problem, body. Bodies are because if we are only encouraged interpreted and “We need to embrace our gross yoga framed by cultural to connect to the processes that bodies as a path to self-love and healing, “high,” elite body we marginalize many ascribe meaning and both physical and emotional.” moral distinction to groups from practicing various individuals yoga who may feel depending on what uncomfortable they look like. Bodies come self-imposed restraint. Bodily because their bodies to shape how we think about processes that were once may not fit as easily within ourselves as we imagine how relatively open (particularly this construction. Focusing others see us. We look at our sex and elimination) became only on the elite, “high” yoga physical being and learn to taboo. Elite groups actively body also means we lose sight internalize that image (as if we worked to impose manners on of our connection to our own see through a looking glass to the lower class. bodies, which are ultimately develop a sense of self). not classed, and are all gross. The hatha yoga body was All yoga bodies are gross Class is ultimately an sanitized when it became bodies, just as all bodies are embodied experience and appropriated by highly gross bodies. Denying this is signal. Our social class is educated, upper-class Indians denying truth. written in the body in ways and later by yoga practitioners that are often invisible, in the West. This sanitizing I think it’s high time we reclaim naturalized, and normalized process has continued today the gross yoga body, not only even as we socially construct through studio systems where as a means of combating class them. For example, poverty yoga practice is distanced privilege and inequality in yoga, 13 14 but also because it’s important well-being make us ashamed, gross yoga body is not shamed for our own health and well- embarrassed, or uneasy? or “othered” but is considered being. Reconstructing the yoga Who has taught us this is normal and welcomed, so that body as a real, gross, fleshy, and the “proper” reaction? How everyone can live in a body messy body is necessary. If your do feelings of shame and that burps and farts without yoga practice isn’t encouraging embarrassment control us and fear! Ultimately, we need to proper digestion, including help to maintain oppressive become comfortable talking healthy burps and farts, why are power systems? about these things; and hey, you even practicing in the first a little laughter doesn’t hurt place? If we aren’t practicing If we want to adequately either. asana to become healthier, then develop self-awareness, we what are we practicing for? need to become aware not just This is an excerpt from a much of our “high,” elite bodies but longer piece. To read it in its If this discussion about also the aspects of our bodies entirety go to: bodily processes is making that are “low” class. We need you uncomfortable, maybe to embrace our gross yoga https://amaramillerblog. you need to be asking bodies as a path to self-love wordpress.com/2016/03/27/ yourself: why? Why do bodily and healing, both physical and inequality-manners-and- processes that are natural emotional. And we need to thegross-yoga-body/ and vital for our health and encourage a culture where the

Amara Miller is a PhD candidate and Associate Instructor in sociology, as well as a yogi, feminist, artist, teacher, and perpetual student. She seeks to utilize a feminist and sociological understanding of the world to inform her yogic practice/teaching to better combat systems of oppression, including inequality and inaccessibility within yoga. Her dissertation looks at the impact globalization, commodification, and appropriation have had on the transformation of yoga in the last fifty years and the way marginalized teachers and activists involved in the body positivity movement resist these changes. You can find her on Facebook at Amara Miller, on Twitter @AmaraMiller27, or through her blog https://amaramillerblog. wordpress.com/.

15 18 students tell us the class is the highlight of their The helpers derive at least as many riches from week. Others say the class is one of the few places this experience as the students do. Many of where they feel loved and respected. Most of them them find their lives changed by learning to acquire more satisfaction and joy in living. You can unhesitatingly respect and value persons they see it in their faces. Many of our students have been may have thought were different or “other.” They coming to class for years. We’re a family. Laughter find that people living with disabilities are, in fact, and fun often ripple across the room. just like themselves.

Saraswathi Devi, Background - 1974 to March 2008 and to the Present - Classical yoga studies & spiritual mentorship with Guru, Swami Vignanananda, Fr-Dr of Prana Yoga Centres, Intl. Swami Vignanananda was CalStar Yoga at UC Berkeley initiated by two Gurus, HH Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati of Rishikesh and Kadappa Sri Paramahamsa Sachidananda Yogeeshwarar of Bangalore. Initiated by Swami Vignanananda in 1977, given the name Saraswathi Devi. Awarded Prana Yoga Teacher Certificate in 1976. Advanced studies continued until the Swami’s passing in 2008. Personal Assistant to Swami Vignanananda from 1976 until 2008, as Assistant Saraswathi Devi Director of Prana Yoga Ashram, becoming Director in 2008. Yoga teacher - asana, pranayama, meditation and philosophy for all levels and ages. Group and private classes and yoga therapy relevant to the life cycle - from preconception to childbirth, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, the elder years and The classic picture of this yoga class is a room full What is unusual about this class is the generous the end of life. Teacher training, counseling, special courses and workshops, kirtan, spiritual ceremonies, of people with very limited mobility, lying, sitting number of people working with each individual attending to birth and death. Standard adult yoga programs plus courses targeted to specific groups - on the floor, or propped against a wall, each one student. The more helpers, the more fine-tuned pre and postnatal yoga, yogic childbirth preparation, children’s and teen’s classes, programs for disability supported in a yoga posture by two to six helpers. and detailed the experience we are able to (adults & children), gentle & restorative yoga, yoga for seniors, cancer, illness and injury. Also offering Thai offer. We hold postures for as long as possible, Yoga Massage and Usui Reiki. Workshops - colleges and universities, UC Berkeley, Berkeley Unified School We make liberal use of the usual yoga props. We sometimes for 5 to 10 minutes or longer. It takes District, California Department of Education, US Army, JCC, Multiple Sclerosis Society, Bay Area Outreach also use light free weights and massage tools. time to move through challenging barriers, and Recreation Program, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Subacute Saratoga Children’s Hospital, Deaf The students practice as independently or as such as edema, spasticity, neurological damage, Hope. Teaching in India. Created and continue to develop Adaptive Yoga Programs for people living with interactively as appropriate. Most of them require numbness, weakness, pain, and fear. We fold, disabilities at UC Berkeley (CalStar Yoga) and in private settings. President of Yoga Kids on Wheels, serving a high level of intervention. There are usually 24 stretch, swing, rotate, twist, balance and hang disabled youth in India. Established Body-Mind Exercise for Head Start in Santa Clara, Santa Barbara and to 28 students, ranging in age from their early upside down. We emphasize working with each Ventura counties. Programs for disadvantaged children, their teachers, parents and administrators using 20’s to their early 80’s. They live with multiple student as a whole person, rather than simply yoga techniques for stress reduction, good health and classroom management. On the faculty of Niroga sclerosis, cerebral palsy, multiple systems atrophy, responding to a clinical picture. As we get to know Institute’s Yoga Therapy Training. Related - Studies in Acupressure, Chinese Medicine, Thai Yoga Massage, advanced arthritis, spinal cord injury, brain the details of our students’ physical strengths, Shiatsu, massage, natural childbirth, nutrition and Western herbs. trauma, severe birth disorders, Down syndrome weaknesses and needs, we, more importantly, and more. Some cannot speak, think or see come to know their minds and hearts. typically. Some are challenged psychologically. Each of the students We work with two is unique, so the assistant instructors, a “As we get to know the details of our benefits derived from few senior volunteers students’ physical strengths, weaknesses the practice vary. and about 60 UC Examples of benefits helpers receiving and needs, we, more importantly, come to include improved academic credit. know their minds and hearts.” circulation, loosening Training is mostly of muscles and joints, on-the-job, but we reduction of pain and also provide out of class workshops. Our approach inflammation, increased strength and balance, combines modified techniques from yoga therapy enhanced digestion, improved sleep, increased and Thai yoga massage combined with bodywork, ability to handle stress, and greater self-esteem. range of motion, muscle resistance, the use of Some of the students have progressively free weights and sometimes, vocal sound. At the advancing conditions; physical progress may be beginning and end of class, we practice breathing, retarded in some cases. But, the psychological meditation and visualization. effects are often more important. A number of the

17 This is #whatayogilookslike: Diversity As the becomes the norm, rather than the token What’s bold and daring is building something exception, we have not completed the work. Let’s new—representations that are authentic, Norm, Not the Exception get real—where does diversity of any kind exist, inclusive, and equitable. on a consistent basis, within the dominant media machine? We have the ability to consciously direct the culture of yoga, creating something subversive, Melanie Klein If yoga culture is truly a conscious community powerful, and real that reflects the uniqueness of devoted to evolution and enlightenment, we need each one of us. Just as we are. to dig deep, do the work, and have the dialogue, and health. In fact, the ideas of beauty and health even if it’s uncomfortable (and it will be). The (Reprinted with permission from Yoga International, are often confused with each other, with too many result will then be to shape the culture instead of September, 2016. people undermining their health in the pursuit of replicating the toxic aspects of the larger culture. conventional (and problematic, if not detrimental) Only then can we avoid reflecting the existing notions of physical “perfection “and “health.” sexism, able-ism, age-ism, heterosexism, size-ism, classism, racism, etc. that exist in that space. I see the emerging conversations that question, challenge, and re-imagine these images as Melanie Klein, M.A., is a writer, speaker, and professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at Moorpark College an opportunity to take part in consciousness- We’re awash in imagery. From our iPhones to in Ventura County, CA. Her areas of interest and specialty include media literacy education, body image, and raising—a process that allows us to decolonize billboards staring at us on street corners, from the intersectional analysis of systems of power and privilege. She is the co-editor of Yoga and Body Image: 25 our own minds, examine our own internalized magazines vying for our attention in the checkout Personal Stories About Beauty, Bravery + Loving Your Body (Llewellyn, 2014) with Anna Guest-Jelley, a contributor oppression, and work on shifting the current line, to advertisements popping up uninvited on in 21st Century Yoga: Culture, Politics and Practice (Horton & Harvey, 2012), is featured in Conversations with dominant paradigms. our screens, we’re inundated with carefully crafted Modern Yogis (Shroff, 2014), a featured writer in Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Mindful Living (Llewellyn, images and messages that collectively shape our Because there is nothing rebellious or 2016) and co-editor of the new anthology, Yoga, the Body and Embodied Social Change: An Intersectional worldview and sense of self. revolutionary about replicating the same-old tired Feminist Analysis stereotypes. And with Dr. Beth Berila It’s precisely because and Dr. Chelsea these conversations we’re saturated with Jackson Roberts “I see the emerging conversations that are not an effort these prolific and (Rowman and to blame others, repetitive images question, challenge, and re-imagine these Littlefield, 2016). whether the others that they appear She co-founded images as an opportunity to take part in are individuals or normative—they’re the Yoga and businesses profiting so deeply ingrained in consciousness-raising...” Body Image from these one- our mediated culture, Coalition in 2014. dimensional and and in ourselves, that She has been static images. The purpose is to raise awareness. we take them for granted. They’re expected. practicing yoga And isn’t that what yoga practice is all about? As a result, they both influence and shape our and meditation consciousness, and are rarely challenged en It’s in the practice of consciousness-raising since 1996 and masse. that difficult conversations emerge. While the currently lives in conversation about body image, diversity, equity, Santa Monica, CA. For the most part, I find that there’s a lack of and inclusion has grown tremendously within understanding of these issues. People often the yoga community over the last few years, downplay the impact these images have, or they we have not yet achieved a full paradigm shift. feel themselves conscious enough to be immune Representation matters, but it’s not sufficient to their effects. That’s also true when it comes to to sprinkle in a few exceptions while the norm the ways in which current cultural representations remains the same. of yoga practice and practitioners reflect and reinforce various forms of oppression. A paradigm shift requires a re-imagining of what is possible, and a re-writing of the rules. The images we’re inundated with in the larger Representation also poses the questions: How are media culture (as well as in yoga culture) present those who do not fit the normative conventions us with incredibly limited definitions of beauty represented, and how often? Until diversity 19 At your desk, in a wheelchair, or also visualize the posture, if arm brings mental peace and gives wherever you are sitting, take a 2 movements are limited. all the benefits of any more minute yoga break! Re-energize rigorous yoga practice. Yoga is with just 1–2 minutes of a yoga In my many years of teaching for everyone! So stay seated and posture. Try it. Inhale and lift yoga in assisted-living homes, do yoga today! your arms up overhead, exhale hospitals, libraries, and as you lower the arms. Repeat companies, I have experienced Inhale. Sit tall. Exhale. Relax! 5–10 times and see how you feel firsthand that this approach after this simple energizing pose. to yoga practice eases pain, Lift to your capacity. You can increases flexibility and strength,

Stacie Dooreck, Certified Sivananda Yoga Instructor since 1995, Gentle Integral Yoga Certified, Kundalini SunLight Chair Yoga: Yoga for Everyone Yoga. Stacie was featured on CBS Ch. 4 News Health Watch in Miami as “breathing new life into South Florida seniors” for her chair yoga classes. She is also the author of SunLight Chair Yoga books and DVD and created/leads SunLight Chair Yoga Teacher Trainings. www. Stacie Dooreck sunlightchairyoga.comp

Have you heard yourself or in need of adapting traditional available in print, and ebook others say: “I can’t do yoga yoga postures. I also found and is free in Braille and audio until I feel better.” Jivana Heyman’s Accessible versions for the blind and Yoga Training. It was the print impaired. In the book, Injury or illness, age or other perfect approach to yoga for you learn that there are seated limitations (including working all my personal illness and for and standing versions of most day at your desk), may prevent teaching others with specific yoga postures that increase you from assuming your idea needs. Teaching students in mobility, vitality and flexibility. of a yoga posture. Sun Salutations, However with “I have experienced firsthand that this forward bends, back some creativity and bends, spinal twists, modifications you can approach to yoga practice eases pain, sitting mountain pose, always do yoga. increases flexibility and strength, brings eye exercises (helps computer strain) and Krishnamacharya mental peace and gives all the benefits said, “If you can breathing exercises breathe, you can of any more rigorous yoga practice.” (which calms or do yoga.” energizes and increases concentration) are In my late 20s I got Lyme corporate settings and students practices that are available disease and after years of in wheelchairs helped me to to all. I’ve seen great shifts in practicing yoga, I had to adapt be creative and figure out ways posture and energy from my my practice. Sometimes I used to adapt the Sivananda Yoga chair yoga students using poses chairs for a supported gentle sequence to chairs. from a simple chair yoga series. practice or held postures for a There are many yoga postures shorter period of time. Due to Inspired by wanting to reach that don’t involve any standing, my own limitations in mobility more people to learn that and are seated, using a chair I dove deeper into exploring yoga can be done at all ages for support. There is also an and teaching chair yoga for and stages of health, I wrote a abundance of yoga postures you seniors, those with chronic chair yoga book, Sunlight Chair can do without getting up or illness and other populations Yoga:Yoga for Everyone! It is down from the chair.

21 22 I am grateful that we are involved in bringing the feeling of being a rooted tree. We use 4 major people of diverse backgrounds together-not modalities in our Mind Body classes: Accessible apart. I realize that at this large community college Yoga, Breath, Voice, and T’ai Chi Chih. We laugh, we are in a unique position to celebrate diversity. celebrate community, move together, making All our classes are free, and anyone can come! Our everything accessible. There is real teaching, but A Journey to Accessible Yoga from work as faculty for OLAD changes the economic no judgement, as some sit, others stand, exploring equation that stops many people from being able what their bodies can do when aligned. There years of Classical Music and Hatha to study these forms rooted in Asia, and now in is kindness always, no real competition, and we American life. finish our classes in Cosmic Consciousness pose. With Namaste, we greet everyone, and then we We celebrate the values of Patanjali and the great send everyone energy as we say their names. We Judy Mirabai Hubbell teachers from history, as we move together as one build community. with these ancient roots of the weight shift, or

CCSF has my heart and soul. There are so many Judy Hubbell (Mirabai) presently teaches Accessible Yoga, T’ai Chi Chih, Breath and Vocal Resonance to courses I have studied here after my degrees in seniors through City College of San Francisco’s Mind Body classes (Older Adults Department). She sees her I teach Mind Body for Health Classes at City Music/Voice from the Juilliard. I have also had work as that of helping others develop the connection between the breath, body, and mind by bridging College of San Francisco and chair the Older the freedom to learn other disciplines beyond various modalities. The power of feeling the resonant voice is felt through the connection to the exhale, Adults Program (Non-Credit). Our Older Adults Music, which have enriched my life and that of my using the ancient principles of classical singing or the 6 Healing Sounds from T’ai Chi Chih. By learning Program (OLAD) spans the City of San Francisco. students. how to use the diaphragmatic breath, students learn more fully the power of ancient yoga pranayama Our 21 CCSF OLAD teachers enjoy and explore practices, the possibility of moving with the breath in 3 basic weight shifts, and the power of the “Energy over 27 sites around the city. Our students have I love working with our OLAD faculty. They are as Sea” at the T’an Tien. Expansion, contraction, and empowerment of students as well as calmness are the a diversity of income levels, ages (55 to 102), young as their early thirties, and as old as 92. Lee aims of her teaching. Exploring the lines of energy in the body, and how we can learn to control that energy ethnicities, languages, cultures, educational Ellen teaches Computers and Photography, and is are her lifelong passion, and lead to the inner understanding that makes every day with students and backgrounds, and ideas. My teaching is still learning new things, so she can pass them on others an exploration. Judy’s work is dedicated to help others more fully express their innermost joy, and grounded in the training and experience I had to those younger folks! Tanako has been teaching her teaching grounded in her training as a musician, in Hatha Yoga, teaching singing, mountain climbing, as a professional musician, where my fascination for over 50 years, and teaches Body Dynamics with and the practice of T’ai Chi Chih. She feels strongly the need to build a community that is diverse in every as a singer started with medieval music, and her always bright and cheery spirit. Jeanne, after way possible, and enjoys the yin-yang stresses and resolutions of a long life of teaching and learning. She eventually embraced all classical styles, into the her online PHD, is teaching Mind Body for us. We has maintained a consistent and evolving personal practice of exploration in holistic health modalities 21st century. In the same way, the teachings of are designing continuously how we can best teach and the possibility of exploring many paths of learning beyond Music and Voice. At the same time, she Patanjali and Hatha the diverse population continues to use her BS, MS Degrees in Music/ Voice Juilliard in new ways. Certified in 11 holistic disciplines as taught at San of San Francisco in as a teacher 1986-2106. Mindfulness, Meditation, Raja Yoga, Hatha I, II, III, Therapeutic Yoga, Accessible Francisco Integral “We laugh, celebrate community, move senior centers, at 4 Yoga, Meditation, Qi Gong, and T’ai Chi Chih are constant draws. Most recently Judy has been interested in Yoga Institute, led together, making everything accessible.” CCSF campuses, and at teaching others the possibilities of bridging Eastern practices with Western thought, which includes the art me from learning hospitals and other sites. of improvisation and the belief that anything is possible if you dare to think out of the box. She presently about the classical What subjects can we add serves as Department Chair for the Older Adults Department, which she truly enjoys. We have 21 faculty yoga teachings to keep our seniors fit members in multi disciplines who teach all over San Francisco at senior centers, hospitals, YMCA’s, or at one of 3000 years ago, to this interest in Accessible mentally and physically? of our 7 campuses in the city. Yoga. I have a lot of freedom to bring my many studies over the years to the Mind Body for Health Mind Body for Health Classes, that Jeanne Hughes classes I now teach for OLAD. Music has become and I now teach, have become a new and exciting the background tapestry that shapes our slowness class for seniors, and starts with Accessible and the connection to the breath. Yoga. We do a half hour of stretching and deep breathing work, a spinal twist, and seated cat cow, With Accessible Yoga, we can truly reach all and move slowly, adding sound vibration. We populations. No one is excluded. That is in teach a basic weight shift style from T’ai Chi Chih, essence what I have wanted to do my whole life which is itself a slow, moving meditation. I add in teaching. I taught Voice at several colleges: Italian vowels, breath and sound. Our students can Wagner College in NY at age 24, Sonoma State stay seated, stand, or use a chair for balance-as University in the 80’s, College of Notre Dame in needed. Some people have disabilities, but they the 90’s, and through it all- CCSF for 39 years. learn to adapt the work. 23 Bringing Balance to Students Who Have Experienced Trauma Skyler Bright

In 2011, I started working with system that is responsible for ourselves expresses the state students who had experienced rest and relaxation. of our being. Observing a domestic violence at a local student’s posture can help us women’s shelter. I have since With the addition of a third to understand their approach brought my offerings to people prong to the nervous system, to this world. We can then help who are homeless, incarcerated, the new theory recognizes them to balance their gunas, veterans, in addiction recovery, the possibility of a balanced doshas, and corresponding and clients with mental or emotional state. There is the high brain/nervous system activation behavioral health issues. I often alert state on one side, the tuned state. We can create a balancing say my students have been my out state on the other side, treatment protocol. best teachers. I have had many and the place of being quietly wonderful teachers present in the middle. This new I also looked deeper into a and mentors. chakra-endocrine connection. Addicts Everyone has a “By observing the student’s physical are often taught about different way of posture, you can recognize your student’s hormones in recovery, meeting discomfort. state. The way each of us carries ourselves but none are given Some students have a treatment plan to the courage to stop expresses the state of our being.” balance them. We all when they feel pain know we feel better after that they can’t breathe through theory mirrors the Ayurvedic stretching and strengthening our and work at their edge. Others approach to understanding bodies, in a balanced way, in a run away from pain, but may our responses to life. Ayurvedic yoga class. However, yoga is not later return. We work on ways philosophy states there are 3 included in treatment plans for to get to the essence of a pose doshas (mind/body types) and most facilities serving addicts. within their limits. And then we 3 gunas (the essential qualities As many older women can breathe. of nature). In each of these attest, finding the right hormone philosophical classifications, balance can help shift our sense In my efforts to develop there are the two unbalanced or of well being dramatically. All a program for trauma, I more extreme states on either the stretching and strengthening learned of a new brain theory side with a sense of wholeness or work in that supportive yoga that transforms the former homeostasis in the middle. class can have the effect of perspective that there are only activating the endocrine system two classes of the nervous Ayurvedic training prepares and opening and balancing the system. This theory states that one to know how to balance chakras. there is the sympathetic nervous each dosha. By observing the system that is responsible for student’s physical posture, you Knowing that chakras develop the fight or flight response, and can recognize your student’s in 7 year cycles, one can identify there is the parasympathetic state. The way each of us carries when a trauma occurred, as 26 well as the part of the body if there is a blockage in the is. It is about bringing balance, involved in the trauma. With this root chakra which is associated understanding that “like information, you are able to see with the earth element, we increases like” and “opposites which chakras were dominant can strengthen it through the reduce each other”. Simplicity at that time and therefore, corresponding sense organ, the must be emphasized when most affected during the nose - using aromatherapy, and teaching certain populations, period of trauma. This process taste - using diet and herbs. like people that are incarcerated helps determine where there or in recovery. People who have Making Yoga Accessible to is the most blockage, and thus Understanding how all of been dissociated for much of where the most compassion is these components interweave their life may not benefit from Children with Autism and enables us to formulate the most needed. The elements of nature sun salutations. So what will Special Needs correspond to the chakras and effective treatment in terms of help? Meeting them where they can be used to treat and remove daily lifestyle recommendations are - which is the foundation of a blockage of energy in an for clients/students. Simply, the accessibility! affected chakra. For example, more individualized a treatment program is, the more effective it Shawnee Thornton Hardy

Skyler Myers, CAS, PKS, YACEP, CMT She If offered from an accessible and mindful yoga supports children with sensory processing studied over 3500 hours in yoga, massage, approach, children with autism and special needs difficulties and limited body awareness by calming and Ayurvedic Health Care over 10 years. She can benefit greatly from the practice of yoga. the nervous system, supporting the brain in has taught yoga for 15 years to thousands Yoga can support children with special needs processing sensory information more effectively, of students, and taught Yoga Alliance in the following areas: body awareness, motor strengthening balance and motor coordination, registered teacher trainings. In healing from coordination, self-regulation, social-emotional teaching body part vocabulary, and connecting to her own trauma and addiction through yoga development and reducing anxiety. their bodies. and Ayurveda, she now focuses on bringing her system to Behavioral and Mental Health Difficulty with language, vocabulary, memory Yoga may also support children with self- clients, and women in local shelters. She and sensory regulation all play a part in body regulation challenges by providing learning currently teaches at a Cal-WORKs (Welfare) awareness. Children who experience sensory tools to express and release difficult emotions. program, and has developed a 16 week processing difficulties in particular, struggle with In particular, children with language processing curriculum to reduce relapse and recidivism body awareness and deficits struggle through Sierra County Drug Court and sensory regulation. “Teaching yoga to children with special with expressing their Western Sierra Medical Clinic. Various areas of the needs requires patience, a positive emotions. In many brain process sensory cases, the struggle to information and approach and an understanding of communicate how they sensory input. Sensory supports and accommodations that feel becomes an even processing involves bigger frustration and integrating external make the practice accessible and sets can cause meltdowns, information (from the the child up for success.” outbursts and distress. environment) as well Specific yogic breathing as internal information (from the body). Children strategies allow children to release physical who have sensory processing difficulties have tension and stress from their bodies when they brains that are wired differently. Their brains often are experiencing difficult or challenging emotions. misfire and are unable to process or integrate Children with special needs may develop greater sensory information correctly. They may be awareness of their emotions and sensations in extremely sensitive to the senses and internal their bodies through mindfulness and breathing or external stimuli. This over-stimulation may practices. These practices foster a mind-body cause anxiety and may cause the child’s nervous connection and support increased self-regulation, system to be in a constant state of overdrive and self-awareness and more positive self-esteem. tension. The sensory overload may affect the child’s mood, behavior, social relationships and In addition to increased body awareness and self- participation in daily activities. The practice of regulation, yoga games and interactive activities 27 28 are also a wonderful way to foster positive social visual supports by increasing understanding skills. Many children with special needs struggle and decreasing anxiety. They will be more with social skills and social-interaction. Children motivated by predictive, interesting and may learn crucial social skills such as turn taking, interactive prompts. language and communication, perspective taking, and imitation skills through paired and group • When giving instructions, use direct and yoga activities and games. concrete language. Children with language processing difficulties and limited attention One of the biggest factors that can impact children will respond to clear, concise direction and with special needs is their heightened level of well-defined expectations. anxiety. The practices of mindful breathing, guided imagery and poses that calm the nervous system • Use yoga props, a chair, a wall, whatever is help these children to develop coping skills, self- needed and available, in order to ensure safety regulation skills and more effective responses to and success. Children with balance issues, stress, both emotionally and physically. Reduced motor-coordination difficulties and limited anxiety and increased self-regulation may lead mobility will benefit from props to support to improved sleep, mood, behavior and overall their unique physical needs and challenges. physical and emotional well-being. • Set them up for success! Offer physical poses Teaching yoga to children with special needs and breathing strategies that are approachable requires patience, a positive approach and an and facilitate success in order to increase self- understanding of supports and accommodations esteem and gain interest and motivation in that make the practice accessible and sets the their yoga practice. child up for success. Offering yoga to children with special needs Here are a few ways to make yoga accessible to is a tremendous gift and when taught in an children with special needs. accessible way, provides a positive and supportive experience for the child as well as the teacher. • Offer visual tools and supports. Children Making yoga inclusive and accessible to children with language processing difficulties and of all abilities fosters community, connection and children who are visual learners benefit from belonging.

Shawnee is a C-IAYT Certified Yoga Therapist, 500 E-RYT and RCYT (Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher). She is the Founder/Owner of ABLE Yoga Therapy and Founder/Owner of Asanas for Autism and Special Needs. Shawnee has a Master’s in Special Education and has worked as a Behavior Specialist/Consultant for over a decade. She authored the Book Asanas for Autism and Special Needs – Yoga to Help Children with Their Emotions, Self-Regulation and Body Awareness and developed the C.A.L.M.M Yoga Toolkit to provide a tool for teaching yoga to children of diverse abilities. She has a Yoga School through Yoga Alliance and trains others throughout the US and internationally in teaching yoga to children with diverse abilities. Shawnee’s passion is in making yoga accessible and safe for all bodies and abilities and facilitating healing through asana, meditation, mindfulness, nutrition and healthy lifestyle. 29 30 The Aging Yogi: A Personal Reflection

Mary Gengler Fuhr

As pediatric therapists and yoga long time, a lot of ice, PT, and Having the humility to say “No.” tTime speeds up while the body Chiropractic to recover and have and brain slow down. pain free neck movement. But Having the courage to say, still, I really, really wanted to “How?” Relationships mean more, things do it. mean less. How can I get the benefits of the I made a conscious decision to pose while honoring my body, “In style” is less about fashion say, “No.” “Not today. Not in a mind, and spirit? and more about comfort. group class. Not with someone How can I prevent an injury while Recently while vacationing, who didn’t know me.” It was still experiencing the sensation? I took a “Yoga on the Grass” incredibly difficult, yet I knew it class from an experienced and was right for me on that day. How can I practice now to mature yoga ensure I will be able to instructor. She continue to practice in offered headstand “It’s not about the headstand. It’s about the the future? as a pose, while head space — and the heart center.” How do I turn the “no” providing support into “yes?” to get into the pose if desired, as well as I felt empowered by my After reflecting on what it alternative poses. Yes, I wanted experience with Accessible means to say “Yes” to self-care to do headstand. Yes, I had done Yoga… and preservation, I know what I it easily when I was younger. would say to my younger self, Yes, I had injured my neck doing Having the knowledge to say headstand improperly several “No.” “It’s not about the headstand. It’s years ago. Yes, it took me a about the head space - and the Having the wisdom to say “No.” heart center.”

Mary Gengler Fuhr, OTR/L, RYT, C/NDT, CIMI: Mary is an Occupational Therapist and founder of Maple Valley Pediatric Therapy and Relaxing Resources, PLLC. She has over 30 years of experience as a pediatric OT with expertise in sensory integration/processing, neurodevelopmental treatment, pediatric massage and yoga for children. She is co-author of the book, ‘Pediatric Massage for the Child with Special Needs”. Mary teaches workshops on a number of topics (including yoga, movement and mindfulness, and self-regulation) and provides therapeutic consultations throughout the U.S. and internationally. By promoting a safe and share yoga and mindfulness nurturing environment, the child with their children and at is able to experience a sense of the same time to receive the contentment and joyfulness. benefits themselves. Yoga And Mindfulness We observe the child before, All children are capable of For All Children during, and after a yoga practice and notice changes in energy, practicing and experiencing breathing patterns, emotional the benefits of yoga and stability, and movement ability. mindfulness. By sharing yoga Brenda Bakke & We ask the child to communicate we give children the tools to navigate their world, be how they feel and with our connect with the true self -the support make changes that are happy, and connect with their inner spirit. Every child is able peace, joy, love, and light that Mary Gengler Fuhr meaningful for them. We teach we all have inside of us. parents and teachers how to to achieve a sense of calm and

As pediatric therapists and yoga help our students to focus By practicing yoga and teachers, we support children on awareness of their breath. mindfulness, children also Brenda Bakke, MEd, PT, CYT, C-IAYT : Brenda is an experienced pediatric physical therapist who has practiced and young adults with a variety Helping children to connect to improve their balance skills, for over 30 years in a variety of settings. She is a Registered Adult Yoga teacher & Certified Children’s Yoga of developmental, physical, their breath gives them a way postural control, self-awareness, Therapist who has trained with Sonia Sumar, creator of Yoga for the Special Child. She is contributing author sensory, emotional, and learning to be more in sync with their and self-regulation. They can of the book “Healing Practices to Help Kids Grow up Easier”. Brenda teaches workshops on a number of differences. achieve a calm and topics (including accessible yoga, movement and mindfulness, and self-regulation). Brenda has her Master’s Through our “All children are capable of practicing alert state so they can degree in education, is a certified Accessible Yoga Teacher, and has extensive training in Yoga Therapy. She teachings effectively attend to currently works in a school district & private practice. we have and experiencing the benefits of yoga the world around them witnessed the and mindfulness” and the thoughts and many benefits sensations inside of them. that yoga For Your Best You … On and Off the Mat and mindfulness bring to our mind/body and regulate and As pediatric therapists and yoga students. We partner with focus their energy as needed teachers we have experience parents and family members as throughout their day. in playfully engaging children they support and foster growth in mind/body activities. We in their children. We work in Yoga and mindfulness practices consider the individual child’s private and public schools, are always present and are truly strengths, interests, and areas clinics, and private homes. “for all children”. By sharing yoga of concern to select and design Our goal is to help children and mindfulness with children, yoga and mindfulness activities learn, achieve, and function their families, teachers and and sequences that offer the comfortably and successfully other caregivers, we encourage “just right” experience on any at home, school, and in their children of all abilities to: given day. We assess the child’s community. skills and sensory processing so Be kind that we can be sensitive to their We use a variety of therapeutic Be empowered needs. We consider how we can techniques, equipment, and adapt the environment to make Transforming Anxiety, Depression, & Trauma Through Yoga strategies. Of all of the “tools” Be patient it comfortable and supportive ® that we have available to offer so they can be available to learn LifeForce Yoga Be accepting our children, we have found and interact. We offer props, Accessible Yoga Tools Informed by Current Research that yoga and mindfulness are audio and visual aids, and Simple Interventions to Meet and Transform Be strong Anxiety, Depression, and Trauma the most beneficial and easily other supports while making Self‐Care Practices for All Abilities, Sizes & Shapes accessible. When engaged Be flexible incremental changes as needed. Online Offerings, Professional Development & Trainings in mind/body practices, we Be present yogafordepression.com | 520 349 2644

33 34 of subterranean pulses, waves, beats and rhythms this seemingly chaotic state, there is an intelligent that totally took me away. certainty of where the movement is going and The Wave of Life: A Paralyzed Yogi what it is doing. This is an orchestration of the basic The irony is, on the outside, there is no perceptible elements of movement from our primordial being. Walks inside the Mystery of Healing signs of movement, yet on the inside there is a You could say it is - the wave of life. plethora of electrical, organic pulses and currents that are coming and going - this way and that. In

Mary-Jo Fetterly Mary-Jo Fetterly is a mother of two a Yoga Teacher/Therapist and President of Trinity Yoga Inc. She began her formal training in Iyengar yoga in the mid 80’s, while raising children and studying psychology. In 1995, she received a “Body Centered Therapy”certificate in massage and Somatic based bodywork. She went on to train with Dr. Carolyn Myss who is now one of the leading educators in the field of energy anatomy and intuitive medicine; and then David Swenson, Tim Millar & Ana Forest in the early rise of Ashtanga or hot “Tension is who you think you should be. have an ebb and a flow like the tides. Organs all yoga. Subsequently, she opened “Shanti Yoga Works”, the first yoga studio to be established in Nelson, BC. Relaxation is who you are.” have a motility (movement) like the moon. We During the first operational years of the Shanti Yoga studio, Mary-Jo developed a 200-hour yoga teacher have a placenta that is unique for each organ. So training program, and formed the company “Trinity Yoga”, which has trained hundreds of teachers since From where does movement arise and what when the big movements of life, like standing, its inception. On January 25 2004, Mary-Jo had a skiing accident that crushed her C4, C5 and C6 vertebrae movement is authentic? These were the burning walking running, sports, sex and super-heroics are and left her paralyzed from the neck down. She was diagnosed with Quadriplegia-complete, a “worst case questions as I lay sprawled with my bolsters on temporarily or more seriously unavailable, what is diagnosis” predicted by doctors. Her journey back to health and coping with her current situation – defied my living room floor. It had been a year since left is a reductionism, a tuning in to movement at odds, is a miraculous recovery due to hard work, faith, knowledge, insight, determination, and strong willed becoming totally paralyzed from the neck down. its origins. As a yogi my recovery was charting new ground in optimism. Mary-Jo has continued her studies in Somatic Psychotherapy, Yoga therapy and advanced teacher the world of spinal cord injury and quadriplegia. In that place of origin, paralysis is nonexistent, training. She is a student at the University of Waterloo, completing a Social Work Degree. She has been a Wherever that ancient quote above had come for there is a multitude of movement within. This long time student of Yogarupa Rod Stryker the esteemed North American Tantra master, with whom she from, I could feel it resonate in a place deep within place, a kind-of ‘zero-point,’ was and is fascinating is currently working on her master teacher training with. The devastation, difficulties and challenges of the my being. to me. There is so much there, a potent and rich spinal cord injury haven’t held her back as Mary-Jo continues to mother, teach and inspire others to engage bed of pure potentiality without personality. I in their own personal journeys of healing and transformation “Since my injury 11 years ago I have been How do my prior tensions and gestures affect my remember one morning, just after waking up, teaching in and around Vancouver initially as my old “teacher” self and slowly but surely I have become very physical process now? I was certainly aware of my when I literally was not able to lift or move any part compelled and moved by what yoga can do for all people in every different physical or mental capacity.” nervous system and of my body from Mary-Jo is a leader in the area of Adaptive and Therapeutic Yoga and was a guest at last years International its every pulsation “I was now exploring this somewhat familiar my lying down Conference SYTAR. She has been an Ambassador at the Rick Hansen Foundation for 8 years and now serves as input I could terrain and charting territory from a new position. I couldn’t on their Consumer Advisory Board. From 2004 through to 2008 she served on Yoga Outreach board. She feel inside – albeit lift my arms, legs has developed ART - Adaptive/Restorative/Therapeutic training for community health care professionals quite differently. perspective, from the inside out.” or head. Anything and yoga teachers, a hands on ‘learn from one who knows’ professionally credited CEU. To learn more visit: The tension could I could access, www.trinityyoga.net or www.mary-jo.com be expressed as a my head, neck and shoulders, felt ridiculously, change in rhythm, a shift of intensity or a flutter disproportionately heavy and large. It felt like it of tissue. All of the sensations were a new inner would always be so. There was no movement, at language. I became more and more curious. I least nothing the human eye could see or detect. wanted to explore if there was any way a person with a fully compromised system can still self- Nothing outside of the source, that is. The amazing regulate and find homeostasis and peace. thing is, I was experiencing all sorts of things. I was now exploring this somewhat familiar terrain and Tension accumulated in my body due to the charting territory from a new perspective, from wheelchair, loud noise, or abrupt shifts - you name the inside out. This context is encouraged with the it. It seemed there was no escape for a person who practice of yoga. This inner awareness is patiently can’t move fully. Spasms would cycle much like honed into existence. Like many yogis I could a fridge motor. Living in a raw exposed nervous spend what seemed like an eternity in my able- system I began to really appreciate the cycles, body, in one pose, going deeper and deeper. Now rhythms and phases of the body. I had no idea for the ‘inside’ was all I could really feel. Yet this land instance that the spinal fluid (which houses our of un-movement- movement had a surprising array brain and spinal cord) and the lymphatic fluids

35 36 Celebrating Unique Bodies and Souls Adaptive Yoga is simply that – our beautiful, unique bodies and 19 years old and spent those 19 adapting the practice to make souls. years teaching the world about it accessible for all. We’ll use resiliency, openness, warmth, blocks, blankets, sand bags, At the end of the day, isn’t that and joy. In other words, he was a Kerri Hanlon chairs and straps to bring bodies what yoga is all about? yogi. As his mother describes him, of all abilities into their fullest A note to the reader: he was a “unique” and “beautiful “Every body has to be unique again with my He is a yogi. expression of yoga postures, soul”. Thank you Kerri, for sharing because every body is carrying a son, Sean. all with the common goal of Sean, Kerri’s son, who is so him with so many over the years. unique soul.” – Osho When we opened building the mind-body-spirit beautifully described in this article, The world has been blessed by his If you saw Sean, Yoga Home, it was connection. And yes, celebrating recently passed away. He was presence. Of all the readings I’ve done (yep, that’s him always a dream for my teacher trainings, this is in the photo), of mine to create a the passage that has spoken to you would see a yoga class where Sean Kerri believes the heart of a yoga practice is the art of acceptance, of ourselves and others. It’s her belief me the most. The quote comes young man whose body could be with other beautiful that yoga is for everyone – all ages, all abilities, all body shapes and sizes – that sparked her to partner with from Osho’s Yoga; the Science of is physically compromised in bodies and souls just like him. Maura to open Yoga Home. Kerri has always possessed a strong sense of nurturing and an abundance of the Soul, from a section where various ways. His high muscle The issue of “inclusion” is often a compassion for others, but with yoga she learned to be compassionate with herself. Her classes are filled he speaks of the necessity of tone in arms and legs and low hot topic in education – do you with inspiration, empowerment and gratitude. As her personal yoga practice has evolved, she’s come to a posture being steady and muscle tone through his trunk place a child like Sean in a typical listen to her body and spirit and see what type of practice she needs that day and encourages her students comfortable. Osho also says, make stability and movement classroom with supports, or have to do the same. Whether she’s teaching an invigorating Power Class or soothing body and soul with a “Be comfortable, him attend a school Restorative Class, Kerri prioritizes holding sacred space so her students are free to completely drop into because if you are “I’ve seen individuals, with bodies that are that specializes in their practice. She is passionate about bringing Adaptive Yoga to the Philadelphia region, and credits her not comfortable serving students son, Sean, with being her inspiration. She created Yoga Home’s Adaptive Yoga program with classes for in the body, you very different than the ‘norm,’ step into their with similar needs? children and adults with physical, cognitive and/or emotional disabilities at Yoga Home, at schools, day cannot long for greatness by acknowledging areas where their It’s a deeply and residential programs. She also leads the Yoga for Caregivers Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Kerri is Co-Executive Producer of “On the Other Side of the Fence”, the international award other blessings bodies don’t serve them.” personal choice and that belong to there is no right or winning documentary that spreads the message of acceptance and diversity. Recognized by the United deeper layers.” wrong. The same Nations for Extraordinary Public Service, Gold Medalist at the New York International Film Festival and challenging. He has metal rods applies for yoga. Emmy Winner, the film chronicles relationships between children with different abilities as they stage a In a society where there is great and plates in his spine, jaw, musical. Kerri also serves as an Ambassador for Accessible Yoga and lululemon. She brings her 20+ years focus on the external body, hips, ankles and toes. Breathing Sean is very welcome in our experience in Consumer Insight, Marketing and Development, most recently with PBS and NPR, to the this passage has meaning for deeply is hard work, as are most classes at Yoga Home, and world of yoga. Her focus is on building community – be it through public media, celebrating all individuals many. In every class I teach, I functions you and I take for he has enjoyed everything for their unique contributions, teaching yoga classes or creating the sacred space of Yoga Home. Trainings try to infuse the importance of granted. from Power Flow to Vinyasa to and Certifications: • Opening Yoga Instructor Certified, Adaptive Yoga Level I/II with Matthew Sanford • stepping into our own bodies, Restorative. He (and I) come 200-Hr YTT: LIVE LOVE TEACH with Philip Urso • Yin Yoga Certified with Corina Benner • Reiki Level 1 Certified and celebrating our bodies, I believe this is why Osho’s with the expectation that he will because they are wonderful quote speaks to me. Sean’s body participate as he is able to – and vessels carrying our souls. Some is unique, as is his amazingly that just being in the room and days it resonates, others it joyous, warm and beautiful soul. being in breath with community doesn’t. Even for me. is enough. But here is what I know is true: It’s also incredibly I’ve seen individuals, with valuable for Sean bodies that are very different to be in community than the ‘norm,’ step into their with individuals greatness by acknowledging whose bodies are areas where their bodies similar to his and don’t serve them. They receive specialized acknowledge the issues, but, instruction and more importantly, they focus on assistance to the incredible gifts their bodies enhance their bring. I’ve seen this again and practice. 37 38 Unlocking Equilibrium with LifeForce Yoga concentration, meditation, I have witnessed a profound the self, unlimited and untainted body sensing, and Yoga Nidra change over the years, both in by the constrictions of life. (deep meditative relaxation). myself and my clients. There LifeForce Yoga has taught me Sometimes this work fills a is nothing more inspiring that each of us is so much more Rose Kress 90-minute session. Sometimes than watching someone use a than our changing emotions, so this work takes 5 minutes. It practice to uncover wholeness. much more than our changing During childhood and into anxiety, self- accessibility, all depends on the setting and I believe in LifeForce Yoga as a mood states. Each of us is whole, adulthood, I suffered from worth, and that support the individual. They direct the way to transformation. It allows connected, here and now. chronic pain and an anxiety self-image individuals practice and the work. each individual to experience disorder, identified as obsessive intensified. Yoga in mood compulsive disorder. I struggled was like a beacon management. Rose Kress, ERYT-500, LFYP-2, CIAYT, YACEP, Director of LifeForce Yoga, has been a student of yoga since with intrusive and disturbing of hope, calling me The elements of 1994. She began studying with Amy Weintraub in 2002 as a means of finding ease from anxiety and chronic thoughts. I believed others back to the mat. At LifeForce Yoga include: pain. After becoming certified to teach yoga, Rose began assisting Amy at workshops and the LifeForce Yoga shared my affliction, yet no one the gym, I encountered Amy meeting the mood, centering Practitioner Training. Rose is now the owner and director of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute. She is also owned up to it. I felt separate Weintraub and LifeForce Yoga. strategies, breathing practices, the author of 2 CDs, Mantra Chanting with Rose and Pathways to Relaxation. Rose focuses on the therapeutic and alone. In high school, a I did not know I was practicing visualization, setting intention, aspects of yoga – for the body, mind and soul. She integrates LifeForce Yoga techniques into therapeutic friend introduced me to yoga LifeForce Yoga or learning tools sound, hand gestures, yoga for those suffering from back pain, cancer, pulmonary disease, structural issues, and chronic pain. and I experienced a glimpse of to manage my mood. What I did movement, self-inquiry, Rose maintains a class schedule and private yoga therapy practice in Tucson, AZ, where she lives with her physical ease. I liked it enough to know was how good I felt after meditative relaxation, and husband. Rose considers begin a home practice and was class. After years of practice, meditation techniques. All the herself a life long student of on and off the mat tools are informed yoga, yoga philosophy, and for years. I would “These practices are calming, and soothing, by current the body. Since 2007 she stop practicing research and has studied asana, subtle and then my body like a quiet breathing practice, in a restorative feedback from body, the yoga sutras, would start to yoga pose, with a peaceful image, and a clients, students, and yoga philosophy with hurt, so I would trainees, and soothing sound.” Rama Jyoti Vernon and start practicing LifeForce Yoga has taught at several of again. However, Practitioners. Rama’s retreats. Rose has my interest in the taken the Functional Yoga My work, using LifeForce Yoga, practice of yoga was consistent. becoming a yoga teacher, Therapy Training with Maria begins with assessing mood. then a yoga therapist, and now Mendola and continues her In college, my struggle with This might mean questions for owning LifeForce Yoga as a yoga therapy studies under clients or a simple survey of the business, I no longer suffer from the direction of Maria. www. room at the start of a yoga class. obsessive compulsive disorder. yogafordepression.com Instead I have come to realize Once the mood is determined that I am an individual that we begin with a practice to carries a diagnosis of obsessive meet that mood. I use breathing compulsive disorder. practices or yoga poses that include sound to burn off the For me, LifeForce Yoga was the excess energy for the anxious key to unlocking equilibrium person. After meeting the mood, in my mind and my mood. As a we move into intervention professional, I use LifeForce Yoga practices. These practices are for self-care, with all my clients, calming, and soothing, like a and in all my yoga classes. It is quiet breathing practice, in a the strongest tool in my toolbox. restorative yoga pose, with a LifeForce Yoga is not a style peaceful image, and a soothing of yoga. Rather it is a series of sound. After the intervention, yoga techniques, some of which comes the balancing practice. have been modified to provide The balancing practices include

39 40 as companions on the road to healing, from of this ancient practice. More than anything yoga diagnosis through treatment, recovery, and is about creating a relationship with all parts of sometimes even recurrence. In the end, their ourselves—even the parts that feel broken or hearts broke open to reveal a fierce strength and a are missing. As teachers it is our dharma, our Yoga and Cancer: A Healing Journey tenderness that allowed them to protect, care for, commitment to those teachings, that can make a and embrace a self that ultimately was larger than difference in the lives of those we serve. the disease inhabiting their bodies. © 2009 Linda Sparrowe; excerpted from Yoga Linda Sparrowe I look back on that time with such gratitude for International Magazine (yogainternational.com) the women who helped me understand the power

tumor. I listened to another ravaged by not one Linda Sparrowe has a long and varied career in the holistic healing arena, with a special emphasis on type of cancer but four; and my heart broke for yoga and women’s health. She’s been editor-in-chief of Yoga International magazine, as well as managing The moment I drove into Shambhala Mountain the woman with uterine cancer who was young editor and acting editor of Yoga Journal. Called “a principal creative force and a defining voice for yoga in Center, high in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, enough to be my daughter. With every tale told, America,” she’s been instrumental in bringing the authentic voice of yoga to thousands of practitioners— I began to worry. I had come to this spiritual I felt less confident that they would be able to and teachers—who are ready to take their practice to the next level. Linda has lent her writing, editing, and retreat center to teach yoga at the “Courageous do even the gentlest of my asana choices. The coaching skills to a variety of book projects and has authored several books of her own, including Yoga At Women, Fearless Living” retreat I co-founded for shiny gift I had brought to the party began to look Home; YogaMama; A Woman’s Book of Yoga and Health (with Patricia Walden); and Yoga: A Yoga Journal women touched by cancer. The women I met pretty tarnished. Book. Linda co-leads the Courageous Women, Fearless Living retreats for women touched by cancer— that day—all 65 of them—weren’t those who had her heart’s work—and a yearly yoga and meditation retreat in Costa Rica for beginners and advanced already beaten While each story practitioners eager to dive deeper into their practice. She also leads workshops for yoga teachers on how to back the disease was unique, I “More than anything yoga is about creating a teach those who may be facing any number of challenges from body issues to anxiety or depression. Linda and needed to quickly understood is on the advisory board of the Yoga and Body Image Coalition and has contributed a chapter in the book replenish their relationship with all parts of ourselves—even that what Yoga and Body Image and the foreword to Yoga and Eating Disorders. Her talks and practices appear on energy or regain connected these the parts that feel broken or are missing.” yogaanytime.com and YogaUOnline, as well as in audio and video interviews online. She is featured in the their strength and women and would films Yoga Woman and What Is Real? a film about Jivamukti Yoga. lindasparrowe.com flexibility—I had bind them together plenty in my yoga tool kit for them. These were went beyond the physical manifestations of women reeling from a new diagnosis or right in their disease. That bond was formed through the the throes of wrenching treatment—or, in a few heart of their emotional pain and their fear—for cases, dying from the metastasized cells that had their families and for themselves. I went back taken over their bodies. Could yoga really help to my room that first night and put aside my them? carefully scripted class notes. I set the intention to pay attention deeply and to meet the women I joined the other presenters on opening night. wherever they were at any given moment—in Judy Lief, a longtime Buddhist teacher and other words, to author of Making Friends with Death, who teaches truly teach yoga. mindfulness training and meditation practice, was there, as was Victoria Maizes, MD, executive From the opening director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Om of our first Medicine, who shares the latest findings in early morning integrative cancer research and nutrition. practice to the final bow five days later, I was eager to meet our guests and still hopeful everyone moved, that my trusty tool kit—poses for stiffness, breathed, and digestive woes, and lymphedema; breathing cried. They learned techniques for nausea, fatigue, and anxiety— to love themselves would help them through at least some of and support each their challenges. As we all sat together in the other, and chose Shrine Room, I met one woman who shook with to embrace yoga Parkinsonian tremors brought on by a brain and meditation

41 42 tailored for specific constituencies. God Bless you services of trauma healing, Therapeutic and and all those connected. Accessible Yoga, and Mindfulness programming within chronically homeless communities of Los Integrative Awareness Medicine operates as Angeles County. For more information, visit our Integrative Awareness Medicine: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, rendering website at www.iamwc.org. Approaches for Healing Mental Freidel Kushman With God and Yoga Therapy I holistically healed my own “diagnosed schizophrenia”. My partners and I operate a nonprofit organization rendering trauma-healing services at the street Illness and Historical Trauma within level within the chronically homeless community, and collaborate in service with the County of Los Angeles to develop and implement a holistic framework across LA County government agencies and Chronically Homeless Communities social service institutions for the healing and decriminalization of Chronic Homelessness, Mental Illness, Trauma, and associated conditions. I am enrolled in year 3 of Loyola Marymount University’s Yoga Therapy Rx program. My life teachers include Swami Sitaramananda, Swami Dharmananda, Freidel Kushman Jivana Heyman, Bidyut Bose, Durga Leela, Cheri Clampett, Larry Payne, Arun Deva, Amy Wheeler, and countless homeless humans and animals across the globe. www.iamwc.org Honored to share this space together. May all beings know Peace. The individuals we serve through Integrative permanent housing; those who are graduating Awareness Medicine suffer from a range of health from treatment programs; individuals reentering conditions not limited to untreated superficial society after incarceration; clients engaging in injuries, incompletely healed broken bones, after-care; and many who are living and working amputations, spinal conditions, chronic dis- in the community. We focus on spiritual healing ease, and complications from violent trauma. and provide holistic and culturally relevant Individuals we serve also suffer from a range programming. We encourage building on a of mental health conditions and associated foundation in ethics to support and cultivate an behavior that is mostly criminalized, including internal foundation of well being. We find that schizophrenia, mood disorders, violent or this foundation is necessary to maintaining job psychotic tendencies, general malaise, and placement, engaging in educational programs, other symptoms associated with long-term and supporting personal evolution. impoverishment or chronic homelessness. Integrative Awareness We tailor functional Medicine is collaborating “We tailor functional yoga therapy yoga therapy groups with the County of Los and facilitate one-on- groups and facilitate one-on-one Angeles in the development one sessions to provide sessions to provide human connection of a holistic framework for “Applied Resiliency Across human connection and individual trauma processing.” and individual trauma Systems.” We believe in processing. the necessity for conscious self-regulation of physiological systems into Permanent and affordable Housing is a homeostasis. We see the causal relationship foremost priority in the healing of mental between historical trauma and noncommunicable illness and trauma associated with the growing disease. We support public servants in their homelessness epidemic. Provision of housing efforts to practice and educate the public on addresses external and unmet material needs. holistic amelioration and reversal of negative However, what comes after permanent housing health conditions. Most importantly, we believe in to facilitate the healing of internal dimensions? demolishing barriers to access for the healing of We strive to provide Los Angeles County chronic homelessness. with cost effective and evidence-informed programming for increasing individual well being Existing programming and developmental within the chronically homeless and permanently systems-change frameworks are designed to be housed populations. We serve individuals holistic, culturally relevant, trauma and resiliency- living on the street, in tents, shelters, hotels, or informed, grounded in ethics, and appropriately 43 44 Access to Yoga Is a People with disabilities are our that all who wish to practice with others. Accessible Yoga teachers. They challenge us to yoga have access. calls on yoga teachers and Matter of Social Justice demonstrate our commitment to practitioners to see that our real yogic principles, to honor every A powerful yoga practice does differences are imagined, and to person, to seek beyond what we not require specific physical create welcoming spaces that already think we know, and to movements. It does require us to bring more yogis into the fold Virginia?? willingly explore ways to ensure be aware of our true relationship and respect their human rights.

SPeople with all types of relationship with others), Satya us disabilities can benefit as (requiring action consistent to much as anyone from the with truth), and Daya (requiring honor practice of yoga. Disabled yoga efforts to alleviate suffering, each person Do we practitioners recognize the such as that caused by and treat everyone with justice, have a tremendous power that yoga dehumanization). respect and equality. In this way bio for has to transform and improve and in these troubled times, Virginia? our existence and relationships. Similarly, exclusion based on yoga teachers can function It enables us to heal ourselves specific characteristics such as peace workers and foster and the planet. We learn and we as disability violates federal inclusion. teach. civil rights law. Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act It was fitting when San Francisco Yogis realize a broader spectrum prohibits discrimination on the was recently mobilizing against of beneficial effects when their basis of disability, and requires hate groups that a number yoga practice extends beyond reasonable accommodations of yogis, rather than counter the postures, or Asanas - the and modifications to afford protesting, held yoga and third limb of yoga. Advancement people with disabilities equality meditation practice outside in yoga is predicated on the of opportunity to participate. the Civic Center. They gathered foundational first and second Thus, under both ancient and to support peace and create limbs of yoga, the Yamas modern precepts, access to more space within to help & Niyamas (restraints and yoga is a matter of social justice. people come to common observances). These understanding, principles are our “A powerful yoga practice does not require according to Seva guide to leading an Simran Singh, ethical life and are specific physical movements. It does require who led the essential to attaining us to be aware of our true relationship meditation. meaningful benefits from the other six with others.” As a disabled civil limbs of yoga. rights advocate, I Discrimination against yogis am often locked Yoga teachers are called to with disabilities violates the into fight mode. Yoga improves assist others in achieving spirit of yoga and the letter of my mental, physical and spiritual yoga’s transformative benefits. the law. health in ways I could not have This assistance must include imagined, and profoundly affects everyone, regardless of ability. Yoga studios are charged my ability to connect with the Offering yoga to select students with upholding the law just peaceful energy Singh describes. based on perceived mental or as yoga teachers are charged physical ability, while excluding with elevating the collective I believe that our survival others who have disabilities and consciousness. Unjustified depends on the recognition that may benefit most appreciably exclusion of yogis with we are interconnected. What from yoga, violates such Yamas disabilities violates the law and happens to one, happens to us as Ahimsa (requiring proper generates negativity. Yoga asks all. We cannot move forward by leaving others behind.

45 46 I lower myself down. to avoid right hip problem, a powerful woman Later in rest pose, arms spread, palms up, with a disability. I lie down on my back and I remember to breathe Electric flow slows. place feet on chair with knees as tired muscles grow quiet. I lie still bent Body Electric I enjoy the paradox: It is difficult to imagine being in someone else’s body, to understand the difficulties he or she might be dealing with daily. Although as yoga teachers teaching in the disability community, this is exactly what we Mariana Ruybalid try to do! Many years ago a student gave me this poem she wrote that uniquely presents her important perspective on her yoga practice in the her own words. I am grateful to Mariana Ruybalid for her permission to share this with you here. For books by Mariana go to https://www.createspace.com/3617176

I physical therapists wanted it to. I giggle because I forgot again. My body, a live wire, I tried to remember to swallow Getting out of the electric wheelchair, too much electricity charges but, concentrating on saying through, “perplexing” I feel free and safe on the floor, power, power, power with no a blob of saliva runs down my I cannot fall because I’m already control. chin. down. A muscle fires drawing left arm Never mind trying to walk, I cannot get any lower. up, again, my right hip wants to flex From all fours, I straighten legs, a hidden train conductor got stuck when the left one bends, I rise to downward facing dog, and goes over the same track, leaving me in a gravity defying an upside down V, crouch, over and over. I know what I stretching my lower back. want to say, for which no balance can compensate. JoAnn, using belt around hips, but my tongue is wrapped in pulls back weight to my heels. thick felt, After ten steps, a jolt of pain Sandbag on hands a warm blanket muffles my runs through my lower back and words right hip, outweigh hidden train conductor’s leaving me frustrated seeing leaving me sweating, and oh so incomprehension irritated! control of old patterns. in a stranger’s face. Da? My shoulders extend I used to want to punish this II with controlled power wired body I go to Yoga with this live body. I actually feel graceful that never moved the way JoAnn, the teacher, reminds me Stretched muscles get weary. to breathe.

47 48 classes are what led me to begin sharing yoga with Most of us are striving for equality in our communities, people with disabilities. That is what eventually grew both socially and economically. But if we don’t have into Accessible Yoga. equality in spiritual teachings then we’re really in trouble. Let’s take our yoga teachers down off of their The truth is no one deserves the yoga teachings more pedestals, and give them a chance to be human with all than anybody else. These teachings, like all spiritual their weaknesses and all their problems. In our shared understanding, are universal truths that belong to humanity and suffering, we can join hands and support everyone regardless of ability or background. As each other to dive deep inside, where all yoga teachings yoga teachers, it is our job to find ways to make these take us—to a place where we are all perfect and free. teachings accessible and universal. If we control and Thank you, Michael Stone, for continuing to teach us, limit the teachings, we expose a limitation in our own even in your death. The Imperfect Yoga Teacher understanding.

Jivana Heyman Jivana Heyman, eRYT-500, C-IAYT, IYM, is founder of Accessible Yoga, which includes Conferences, Trainings, and a new online Network dedicated to sharing yoga with every body. He is co-owner of the Santa Barbara Yoga Center, and an Integral Yoga Minister. With over twenty years of training and teaching The recent death of beloved yoga teacher and writer students that we are also struggling, and if we can be in the Integral Yoga tradition, Jivana has specialized in teaching yoga to people with disabilities with an Michael Stone has been haunting me. I think there are honest about our own path, then I think we have the emphasis on sharing yoga philosophy. His passion is making yoga accessible to everyone. He has led over some important lessons in his personal struggle that we opportunity to lift our students up with us. In fact, we lift forty yoga teacher training programs over the past 16 years, created the Accessible Yoga Training program need to learn from as a yoga community. Even though the whole yoga community any time we speak honestly in 2007, and currently leads trainings around the US and in Europe. In December 2015, Jivana was invited to he was teaching the world how to deal with the pain of and with integrity. teach Accessible Yoga at the United Nations in Geneva, and continues to work toward expanding access to our human existence, he was personally dealing with the teachings of yoga. For more information about Jivana and to find dates for upcoming Accessible Yoga bipolar disorder, which he had not publicly discussed. Unfortunately, these days we see that aspirational Training programs please visit www.accessibleyoga.org. marketing seems to work. We look at the covers of yoga I have no problem with yoga teachers keeping their magazines and that somehow inspires us to want a personal problems to themselves, because that’s perfect body and a perfect life (as if that actually exists!). what healthy boundaries are. We are here to serve So when yoga teachers neglect to share their truth, our students and not just talk about our own issues, they contribute to a communal delusion that yoga is for especially if they’re unresolved. For myself, it is a some and not for all. constant struggle to find a balance between over- sharing and being authentic in my teaching. What I’m Personally, my interest in spirituality began when I was concerned about is the idea that as a yoga teacher we about eleven years old and I realized I was gay. I felt have to achieve some divorced from the “normal” life I saw around me. It was kind of perfection a horrible feeling. I was miserable for in our own lives “As yoga teachers, it is our job to find ways to and that our faults many years. Ironically, somehow reduce our make these teachings accessible and universal. ” that feeling of being capacity to teach. In an outsider is at the fact, I think it’s the core of the spiritual other way around: our personal challenges make us teachings. The ability to be the witness and stand apart more effective teachers because we are forced to apply from our ego and connect to a deeper place within us is the teachings in our own lives. what yoga is all about.

Accessible Yoga, the organization I founded, is It took many years for me to accept that I was gay, dedicated to changing the consciousness around who and even longer to acknowledge the beauty of being can practice yoga and who can consider themselves a different and of being the outsider. Then in the late yogi. If, as yoga teachers, we try to force ourselves into 80s I was surrounded by friends dying of AIDS. It was a perfect mold, only sharing the attractive parts, only devastating. Only by confronting that pain was I able demonstrating the poses we’re good at, then we’re to do something positive in response, to bring yoga to digging a hole for our students. If we can show our the HIV/AIDS community in San Francisco. Those early 49 50 Notes Notes

51 52 We want to thank everyone who generously offered their time and resources to all of our fundraising campaigns and events. We Join the Growing Accessible Yoga Network couldn’t have done it without you!

And a special Thank You to our Generosity.org Sponsors!

Steffany Moonaz Anonymous Katie J Olson Susan Kamnikar Maria Fandino Wendy M Bell Jeanne E Gerber An online yoga community for all of us! Joan Potter Brenda Bakke Shawn Brow Free teacher and studio listings Karen C Barker Judith Spagnola Joan Warner A resource for students looking for the right yoga teacher Michelle Pancake or yoga studio Christa Fairbrother Alison Berkley Antonio Polanco Search by location or topic Sarah Helt For example, “Do you know anyone in San Francisco who has experience teaching yoga for people with arthritis?” Constance B Barnes Moshe J. Kushman Natalia Gospodinoff Diane Luther Emily Iwan David W. Dratman www.accessibleyoganetwork.com Christina Monaco Irene Vanhulsentop Wendy Winter-Romer Kathleen E Kinney Danielle Foster Elizabeth O Metz Jan D Karowsky Candice Fields Judith L Lamare Jane K. Morris Andrew Thorson Mary Louise Picerno

53 Accessible Yoga Training with Jivana Heyman

Join the Accessible Yoga Movement!

The Accessible Yoga Training focuses on how to make the yoga teachings available to everyone, Upcoming Trainings: regardless of ability or background. We’ll explore the • Chateau de Yoga Sivananda, Orleans, France many ways that Yoga practice can be shared with July 5-9, 2017 students who have disabilities, chronic illnesses, or • Sivananda Yoga Ashram, Reith, Austria with seniors. We’ll take a fresh look at why and how July 12-16, 2017 we practice, and from that new place of understand- • Spiral Path Yoga, La Crescenta, CA ing, how we can share yoga with every body. September 7-10, 2017 30 Yoga Alliance CEUs • Notre Dame Plaza, San Francisco, CA October 9-12, 2017 “The Accessible Yoga 4-day training shifts the perception • Yoga Buzz, St. Louis, MONeed of modern yoga and returns it to the essence of the yoga November 9-12, 2017 update teachings. By making yoga accessible, the practitioner • Santa Barbara Yoga Center, Santa Barbara, CA and the teacher alike develop a deeper understanding of January 12-15, 2018 the true practice of yoga. Jivana Heyman is an incredible teacher who inspires others by his being. He is a living • High Tide Yoga, Jacksonville Beach, FL February 16-19, 2018 example of authenticity and service.” – Hersha Chellaram • Yoga NW, Portland, OR, TBA Visit accessibleyoga.org/training.html • Seattle, WA, TBA for more information. 55 56 Yoga Alliance ad goes here