Yoga Helps Homeless Teens Get Centered

When you think "software engineer," your next thought isn't apt to be "yoga teacher." And when you think "homeless teens," you probably don't imagine them doing the Downward Facing Dog pose on brightly colored yoga mats.

But once you've met Kaiser Permanente's Mark Lilly, you'll realize all four of these things do go together. During the day, Mark works at Kruse Meadows doing Java Software development for the CSSO (Claims Shared Services Organization) project. But every other Sunday afternoon, Mark teaches yoga at Outside In, a social service agency that serves Portland's homeless youth and low-income adults. He is one of eight volunteer teachers who pair up to teach yoga to teenagers who otherwise would probably never practice this ancient art.

Mark says, "Yoga has given me so many concrete benefits - greater flexibility, keener focus, more mastery of my mind, less stress – and I wanted to pass those on to folks who might not otherwise find yoga. I started thinking about how yoga requires not only money for classes, but reliable transportation to make it to a traditional yoga class at a studio or gym." He adds, "Yoga is accessible to everyone! No matter your gender, age, physical condition, strength, or flexibility. If you can breathe in and out, you can do yoga."

Last fall, Mark founded Street Yoga, which is dedicated to bringing yoga to people who lack the means to study yoga in conventional settings. Instead of teaching yoga in health clubs, Street Yoga volunteers began offering classes at Outside In. Street Yoga is part of the nonprofit organization Living Yoga, which aims to teach yoga in nontraditional settings to people who might not otherwise be able to afford it but could benefit from its calming effects. Sarahjoy Marsh of Portland, founder of The Sanctuary yoga studio and Living Yoga non-profit organization, began volunteering in prisons in 1999. She has inspired Mark and others around the country.

"The stronger you are inside out, the better you can deal with issues and problems," Mark says. Robin Corbo, a day program specialist for Outside In, said the training is a positive addition. "A lot of the youth here are so busy trying to get work, housing, medical needs," she says. "To have the time to stop, breathe and lie down, I believe it encourages self-respect."

Mark says, "This fall, we will begin teaching yoga to girls at White Shield. These are kids who are moving through the state's foster care system. Some of them are between placements and some are new to the system, waiting to move to their first foster care home. Some of these girls are in limbo, having just been removed from their home. Upwards of 75 percent of them have been sexually abused, many of them are overweight, most of them are emotionally imbalanced – as anyone would be in such a situation. We are putting our hearts and minds together to create a class that will be beneficial for these girls. We are working to offer a class that will simultaneously lift the spirits of the depressed and low-energy girls, while providing calming guidance to the high-strung, more aggressive girls. We need to offer a class that will work for girls who might have very little physical strength or endurance, and most of whom have struggles with histories of physical trauma and abuse. It's a challenge, but an exciting one." Another group of volunteer teachers at Street Yoga will being teaching at Transition Projects Women's Shelter starting in September.

Mark adds, "We're having a good time, mostly because it feels like we are helping youth who are in very tough situations. As a bonus, we are learning about ourselves."

In addition to offering classes, Street Yoga is also focusing on measuring the effectiveness of yoga with various populations. They are creating an innovative partnership with some of the youths to encourage them to write about their experiences with yoga before and after class, as well as during the week. Mark says, "We set no boundaries on this, but hope it will give them not only a chance to examine themselves more deeply on days when we have class, but to consider yoga—and its breathing and stillness—all throughout the week." He adds, "This fall, we will be expanding our program for recovering addicts, and we hope next year to begin working with severely abused children under the age of twelve."

If you are a yoga teacher who would be interested in volunteering, contact Mark Lilly via e-mail or at tieline 30-5222. You can also contact Mark if you have any special expertise in working with abused children and/or adults or teens in recovery and would like to give advice on how they could set up their programs. Mark says, "We really try to tailor our programs to the particular needs of a given group of people."

For more information, go to http://www.streetyoga.org/.

To read Oregonian's article, please go to url: http://www.oregonlive.com/living/oregonian/index.ssf?
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