Street Yoga Newsletter, December 2009
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In This Issue
- SY in the Willamette Week Give!Guide - there is still time!
- Events and Workshops - new San Francisco training added.
- Gratitude (it's always that time of year!) and more.
Giving Back
Creating Sacred Space, FSAT Yoga Circle
Jaime Hedlund, Volunteer and Volunteer Coordinator writes: I feel very grateful to work so closely with our amazing volunteers. I am constantly humbled by everyone's dedication and inspiring work! Currently, 23 volunteers teach weekly classes at 18 partner sites in Portland. This is in addition to the many volunteers that help us accomplish all our other tasks, allowing Street Yoga to thrive and grow. Thank you! I recently completed an 8-week session of classes at Morrison's Family Sexual Abuse Treatment (FSAT) Program, offering yoga, art and movement to adolescent girls recovering from the trauma of sexual abuse. It was very powerful and quite a joy to watch them discover their breath and begin to feel safer in their bodies. We ended the session with a luxurious spa day- each girl soaked her feet (complete with their homemade peppermint foot scrubs), drank tea, sewed flax-seed eye pillows, and had a chance to simply relax. Here's some of what they had to say about yoga:
- What was your favorite thing about the Street Yoga Program?
"I get to be free."
"The way I was able to relieve stress or tension from my body."
"It's healing."
- Why do you come to Street Yoga classes?
"Because it's fun, energetic, and calming."
"To find things I can do every day."
"To center my spirit, mind, body, and soul."
Looking Back, Looking Ahead
It's been a wonderful year for Street Yoga. We remain deeply commtted to this work, and continually grateful for all your support. Street Yoga now offers 23 classes each week, at 18 community partner sites in Portland, and beginning very soon, in Seattle as well. We added a rich offering for parents and social workers, broadened the reach of our yoga classes, developed deeper curricula for girls recovering from sexual abuse, strengthened our board, offered our first advanced training and conducted core trainings in cities across North America. Street Yoga was also instrumental in founding the Yoga Service Council, a growing organization dedicated to promoting the best of yoga service across the United States and Canada.
We couldn't have done all this without your continued support, and without the amazing dedication of the Street Yoga volunteers, staff and board.
In the coming year, we will be holding a wider variety of trainings, stepping up our commitment to national initiatives, deepening our research capabilities and strengthening our local programs. This latter will be especially satisfying, as we focus energies inward to ensure that Street Yoga continues to represent the most coherent, thoughtful yoga service work possible.
Please keep us in your thoughts this season, and consider donating to Street Yoga directly, or through the Give!Guide, so we can continue this vital work.
Warmest regards to you all,
mark lilly
SY Founder and President
Give!Guide
Street Yoga is grateful to have been selected by Willamette Week for inclusion in the 2009 Give!Guide.
Giving is still open, so please support Street Yoga now, and also win great prizes!
The sixth annual Give!Guide is a holiday season fundraiser that serves as a unique vehicle for generating donations for a collection of Portland area non-profit organizations.
Donors can make contributions online via the Give!Guide website. Donations are accepted from the date of the Give!Guide publication (Wednesday, November 11), to midnight on December 31.
In addition to the great incentives offered to donors by the folks at Give!Guide, Street Yoga will be offering the following gifts as a special thank-you:
- Donors giving $50 or more to Street Yoga will receive one free yoga class at a participating studio.
- Donors giving $100 or more to Street Yoga will receive 2 free yoga classes at a participating studio.
- Donors giving $500 or more to Street Yoga will receive a 10-class-card at a participating studio.
- In addition, donors at the $100 level or more will receive a Street Yoga t-shirt.
For more information about the Give!Guide, click here.
Upcoming Workshops and Events
- Karma Yoga Class and Brunch: How May We Serve?
Learn about Street Yoga and The Give Back Yoga Foundation, which is committed to advancing yoga and bringing yoga to hard-to-reach populations. Join us for this event, which consists of both a class and a networking brunch.
When: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Yoga class: 9:00-10:00 am, networking brunch: 10:00- 11:00 am
Where: lululemon Union Square
15 Union Square West, NY, NY 10003 (212) 675-5286
Donation: $20 per person, includes both yoga class and brunch (all proceeds benefit Street Yoga and The Give Back Yoga Foundation) - Watch the Sweat Drop
A New Year's Eve Yoga Class and Party benefiting Street Yoga
When: Thursday, December 31, 2009
doors: 10:00pm; class:10:30; champagne savasana at midnight
Cost: $25
Bikram Yoga Lower East Side
172 Allen ST 2nd FL.
NY, NY 10002
For more information on this celebration, go to our events page
- Help Homeless Kids Stay a Little Warmer This Winter
photo courtesy Barbara Ginsberg
As the winter approaches, times get harder for kids and families living on the street or in homes without adequate heat. If you are a knitter, help us share the warmth by knitting a hat for some of the homeless youth we serve. Hats should be of warm wool or acrylic, (maybe in a rib pattern to assure fit of a wide range and colors that appeal to young guys or girls!).
Hats can be sent to Street Yoga at 833 SE Main Street, Box 226, Portland OR 97214. If you are not a knitter, consider donating $5 (or any amount) for us to purchase hats and mittens. Please click here to donate securely. For each $5 donation, you will automatically be entered in a raffle to win the 100% wool mohair hat pictured to the right --hand-knit by Street Yoga supporter, Barbara Ginsberg. Thanks Barbara.
- Yoga on the Dance Floor with Ekayani and the Tom Glide Space
US Tour 2009-2010. World class dance music combined with live vocals from the spiritual tradition of India.
A Benefit Party for Street Yoga
When: Saturday, April 24, 2010, 9pm - midnight
Cost: $20 per person
Yoga Shala North Williams
3808 North Williams, Portland, OR 97227 (503) 963-YOGA
You can find information about the artists here.
- Trauma Stewardship Workshop at OHSU
Street Yoga colleague Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, author of the vital book Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others will be presenting a workshop intended for those who, through their caring for others, are exposed to trauma, crisis or hardship. Laura's mindful work is invaluable for those serving vulnerable populations in any capacity.
When: January 22, 2010, from 9 am – 4:30 pm
Where: Shriners Hospitals for Children in Portland, OR
Cost: $50/person
For more information, please contact Cindy Barshay at (503) 418-5380 or Sandy Westfall at (503) 418-5377.
Upcoming Trainings
Upcoming Core Trainings
We offer a weekend teachers' training for community members interested in learning how yoga serves vulnerable young people and their families, not only homeless youth, but young people who are faced with challenges stemming from overcoming the pain of sexual and physical abuse, homelessness, mental illness or familial substance addiction and other traumas.
The training is open to experienced yoga teachers as well as those with little to no experience with yoga. In the past we've had massage therapists, nurses, social workers, teachers and many others join us for a weekend of connection, learning and soul-building.
Please check out the training schedule, including a new training in San Francisco in March!
- New York City, NY January 15-17, 2010; (this training and waiting list are full)
- Eugene, OR, February 5-7, 2010; Sign up now.
- Washington, DC, February 26-28, 2010; Sign up now.
- Portland, OR, March 26-28; Sign up now.
- (NEW!) San Francisco, CA March 26-28; Sign up now.
- Chicago, IL, April 9-11, 2010; Sign up now.
- Philadelphia, PA May 21-23, 2010; Sign up now
- San Diego, CA June 16-18, 2010; Sign up now.
- (NEW!) Minneapolis, MN July 16-18, 2010; Sign up now.
Gratitude
Image courtesy of Campbell Salgado Photography
Share your passion during the Holidays with Street Yoga
- lululemon athletica in the Pearl is hosting a drive for athletic clothing for use by kids and adults in weekly Street Yoga classes at shelters, schools and treatment programs.
When: Friday November 27 - December 31, 2009
Donate new or gently used athletic clothing to Street Yoga programs! Thank you lululemon!
lululemon in the Pearl District
1231 NW Couch St; Portland, OR 97209 (503) 274-0007
Thank you for your support!
- Many thanks to Christophe Leroy of Sacred Hoop Healing Ways for supporting Street Yoga. Cristophe is an energy healing practitioner whose practice is based on shamanic traditions of the Andes. He is supporting Street Yoga by donating 5% of all proceeds from his private sessions through the end of 2009. You can find out more about Christophe’s practice at Awakenings Wellness Center. Thank you Christophe for your support.
- Our wonderful Street Yoga volunteer and fabulous yoga teacher, Sweethome, has generously donated 10% of the proceeds from her class at The Yoga Shala on North Williams. The class is on Saturdays from 10-11:15 a.m. Thank you Sweethome for your ongoing commitment to Street Yoga.
- Thanks to Near East Yoga in Portland for hosting the Advanced Teacher Training this month. Thanks for being part of bringing this brand new training to fruition!
- Thanks to Barbara Ginsberg for hand-knitting a beautiful hat, and making the Hat Raffle happen.
Board News and Call to Service.
Core Values
Our board of directors has been working hard to reflect on the agency's core values and put forth these values to our community. The Board's most important job is to be the guardian of our mission and values and make sure that these values get translated into all aspects of our work. Please visit our mission page to read more.
Do you love yoga and believe in its power to transform lives? Do you feel a call to serve kids and families living on the edge? We are looking for leaders to serve on the Street Yoga Board of Directors, especially individuals with key competencies in strategic planning, fund-raising, accounting, risk management, human resources and marketing. If you're interested please contact Adrienne Boxer at 503.232.0362 or email her at adrienne@streetyoga.org
In return, we offer you the opportunity to contribute to a great organization, professional development and good times with other committed, wonderful individuals. As Street Yoga has grown over the years, so too has our need for amazing people to help us stay solid, balanced and healthy. To learn more, check out our Board Member Job Description, our Board Member Application, Street Yoga Bylaws and our Legal Rights and Responsibilities Document. All documents are available in .pdf upon request.
Twitter and Facebook
Look for web updates on Twitter and Facebook. To follow us on Twitter click here. And for our Facebook page click here to join. This is a great way to stay updated on Street Yoga events and trainings and to stay in touch with the Street Yoga community.
Street Yoga Apparel For Sale
We have a beautiful new t-shirt design that features Street Yoga's take on Ganesh. The theme of the t-shirts is Triumph. We have all colors and sizes - you can check them out here. All proceeds benefit Street Yoga. Street Yoga t-shirts make great gifts for the holidays!
Donating to Street Yoga
We deeply appreciate your support. Any contributions you can make will help us help the youth, one breath at a time. If you want to donate directly, please click here.
Namaste
Thank you and many smiles and blessings to you!
