Forum and Retreats educate and inspire at-risk youth and yogis

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As we enter a new financial year, we continue to build momentum with the continuation of our programs with clients such as The Benevolent Society, Mission Australia, and Banksia Women. This is a great sign of the success of our programs. All programs are running online during the Sydney lockdown and some programs are on hold until the latest lockdown ends. We are really looking forward to teaching in person as soon as we can.

Yoga Supporting Women June 2021 Campaign

We raised just over $28,000 in our Yoga Supporting Women campaign. Thank you to all the donors, supporters and fundraisers!  Special shout out to fundraisers Akari Yoga, and teachers Sam Bijok, Kate Griffiths, and Lou Eddy who all held special events that raised awareness and funds for women affected by domestic violence.

All money raised in the Yoga Supporting Women campaign will fund programs for domestic violence survivors. We have seen such great momentum with these programs and can’t wait to build on this and expand to more women in need. 

Yoga Australia Forum in July

The Yoga Foundation presented on Yoga for Domestic Violence Survivors for the recent Yoga Australia forum.

The Yoga Foundation’s presentation included various individuals impacted by yoga and domestic violence.

  • Jessica Hobson, The Yoga Foundation CEO. Jessica discovered yoga in 1999 when living in HK and has practised regularly ever since. Seeing participants’ responses to yoga and experiencing first-hand how it can support their mental health recovery is amazing and brings her great joy every week.

  • Keely Oste, Banksia Women Program Coordinator. Keely counts it as a privilege and honour to hold space for, and support women, who have experienced domestic violence. She is trained as a social worker, and uses her training in a variety of ways at Banksia, from case management to community engagement. Yoga has also been a part of her personal life, helping Keely to be more mindful, present and light.

  • Sarah Brown, program participant and domestic violence survivor. Sarah is a single mum to two gorgeous kids and has just started a 500-hour yoga teacher training diploma.

In the session Yoga for Domestic Violence Survivors session we presented on:

  • How and why yoga supports domestic violence survivors

  • Yoga’s specific benefits for this population

  • Teaching challenges and successes

  • Class planning suggestions

  • A survivor’s perspective 

Successful Retreat for At-Risk Youth 

Last month we took a group of nine young people from Youth Off The Streets (YOTS) to Govinda Valley for a two-day, one-night retreat. Four of the YOTS team (educators and psychologists) joined us too. Teacher Anne Saymontry has taught this group for TYF for over a year so knew most of the young people and was looking forward to connecting with them again.

The retreat included time in nature, a drumming talk and meditation, a fire pit and ‘letting go’ ceremony plus three yoga sessions. Everyone participated in all the activities and were respectful and curious. We were all impressed by their attitude and having a go at some new activities. There are many challenges with taking a group of teens from YOTS on a retreat and everyone involved did very well to create a successful and meaningful experience. We look forward to more retreats with at-risk youth in late 2021/early 2022.