Non-profit organizations are a great way to give back to the community. However, not all non-profit organizations are equal. Here’s a list of 6 non-profit yoga organizations that are improving our community.
We all know that yoga is beneficial for physical health, but what about social and emotional well-being? According to the Huffington Post, these six organizations are helping to change the world through yoga.
Each week, there are so many awesome blog posts that it’s hard to keep them all straight. So, here we go, 6 non-profit yoga organizations that are helping our community.
Yoga has become a business, with yoga teachers running retreats, private practices and teacher training programs. These activities help interested students learn about, appreciate and understand the philosophy of yoga.
But there is another aspect to the activity of yoga. The business side where students cannot afford regular yoga. The side where a person who suffers emotional or physical harm has to pull themselves together and find a way to cope with life. Therefore, my friends, I present to you yoga teachers who offer free yoga classes to people living in poverty or who have experienced trauma.
These yoga teachers are doing great work with their non-profit yoga organizations. Here are a few of them:
Founded by yoga teacher Kate Berlin, this St. Louis-based nonprofit is a leader in the field of yoga. The goal of the St. Petersburg, Florida-based organization is to raise awareness of domestic violence and support those who have experienced abuse through the practice and philosophy of yoga.
The Purple Dot Yoga Project offers free yoga classes at domestic violence centers and one-on-one sessions with victims of domestic violence. Through a network of yoga teachers who volunteer their time, the Purple Dot Yoga Project is making a difference in the lives of many people.
Through various yoga fundraising events, this project connects with the community in motion to raise awareness. These events provide an opportunity to address the often difficult topic of domestic violence. There will be stories told and support from yoga studios, businesses, institutions, ambassadors, volunteers and the community.
Hands to Heart Center noticed the lack of yoga studios in neighborhoods of color and organizes free yoga and mindfulness classes for people living in poverty in Boston.
Susan Lovett founded this Boston-based nonprofit in April 2014, which provides yoga classes and workshops in disadvantaged and low-income neighborhoods. Susan is a licensed social worker, a K-8 teacher and a certified yoga instructor. She began teaching yoga classes at Frederick Pilot High School in Dorchester.
Over time, Susan received requests from other schools for additional courses. The students enjoyed their new yoga practice, and the benefits of yoga began to become apparent.
As a non-profit organization, Hands to Heart Center fulfills its mission with the help of volunteer yoga teachers.
In January 2012, Yoga Bridge introduced a unique model of yoga asanas and guided relaxation as a way to support people recovering from a diagnosis such as cancer. Yoga classes for cancer survivors and caregivers are small and offer individual attention. These classes are given by certified yoga teachers, specially trained by Yoga Bridge to teach yoga with cancer.
The program includes restorative yoga, yoga for strength and flexibility, chair yoga, gentle yoga and meditation. Practicing yoga can help relieve fatigue, depression and anxiety. This practice can also improve sleep and muscle strength.
Yoga Bridge classes are free for anyone in treatment. Cancer survivors and their guests can also participate for a small fee.
Wake up. Conversion. The result. This is the first statement you will read in the mission statement of the Give Back Yoga Foundation. The non-profit yoga organization believes that yoga is accessible to those who may not have the opportunity to experience the transformative benefits of this powerful practice.
This organization supports and funds certified teachers from all traditions through cash and mat scholarships to teach yoga to low-income people. The Give Back Yoga Foundation also offers various programs to promote positive body image, help at-risk youth and adults live better lives, help veterans recover from PTSD, and more.
A yoga gangster is someone who intentionally uses their thoughts, words and actions to empower humanity. Founded by Terry Cooper, this Miami-based nonprofit aims to empower youth. Free yoga classes are offered to children in crisis and at-risk youth in schools, prisons, youth centers, homeless shelters, rehabilitation centers, foster homes and other nonprofit organizations.
Yoga Gangsters offers a 3-day yoga certification program in several cities in Florida and across the country for interested yoga teachers. Yoga Gangsters yoga classes have impacted the lives of over 3,000 people (mostly youth in crisis), trained over 700 volunteers, and raised over $200,000 through community events.
This non-profit organization provides holistic medical procedures and treatment options for people with special needs, including autism and other developmental disabilities. This New York-based organization offers a range of holistic services through its OM Holistic Center, including yoga, massage therapy, nutritional counseling, pastoral care, music and art therapy, as well as Reiki, all for free or at a very low price.
Debbie Stone, founder of Pop.Earth, wants to make a positive impact on her local community in the short term and be a catalyst for change in the United States and other parts of the world in the long term. The work done at the New York center serves as a model for dissemination to similar centers across the United States.
The benefits of yoga are truly astounding, and with the help of these and many other non-profit organizations, yoga is reaching those who otherwise would not have the opportunity.
Do you know of other nonprofit organizations that do yoga? Tell us why they’re great in the comments below!
We wrote this post because we have been wanting to do an article on non-profit yoga organizations, but we have not found a way to do it that we feel is interesting enough. Our main reason for doing this though is because we do not know much about non-profit yoga organizations. We want to help make people aware of these organizations, because we know that there are a lot of people that are not aware of them. Many people do not even know that there are non-profit yoga organizations. So its important that we help them out by breaking these organizations down. And of course, there are a lot of other people that could use this information too, so we wanted to give it to them. We hope you enjoy this article.