Newsletter, May 30, 2003

In addition to the work we have been doing with Outside In, Darcy Lyon has been putting together some exciting plans for teaching at Transition Projects, a transitional housing center for women here in Portland. They are dedicated to helping women transition off the streets, and are very enthusiastic about yoga classes there. Some of you have been in contact with her, but just to shine some light on her good work and give you a chance to contact her directly, you can email her here .

The first Street Yoga teacher training will be Wednesday, June 25th from 5:30 to 8:30pm at Outside In. Please click here to check out the schedule for the class. You will all get a chance to meet Andre Pruitt, head of the day program. He's a great guy and brings a lot of super postitive energy to his work. He will be discussing Life on the Streets for about 50 minutes, and then we'll each take turns doing some practice teaching from the curriculum.

The goal of this practice is to help each of us appreciate our own core strength. Each of us has something powerful to offer, and we will be teaching to a group of people who are struggling simply to stay alive. Our stregnths, in all their forms, will be beneficial examples of the healing energy we have gotten from yoga. These practice teachings will also be a chance to examine together our words and our body language, and how they might impact the youth.

The class will conclude with a brief role play about situations that might occur in class when someone might act our or break down. It will give us a chance to embrace our work more sincerely.

So far, i have Matt, myself, Sarahjoy, Andre, Karen G., Stevalyn, Bryce, Larry and Liz F. pencilled in for the June 25th training. All are welcome with no advanced notice, but a heads up will let me crochet the right number of funny hats for everyone, so drop me an email if you think you will join us. (just kidding about the funny hats; they're really quite nice!)

The Wednesday evening class in the transitional housing unit upstairs at Outside In is not happening any more. It was down to one regular student, and she changed jobs and couldn't come anymore on Wednesdays, and neither Matt nor i could teach to her new schedule. I think most of all, the program lacked the keen support of O/I staff, not for any failures on their part, but simply b/c we haven't put together the strong program we are working on for the day program. I am hoping we will be able to restart this class in the transitional housing unit after the summer.

I think that one of the weaknesses of this class has been that it was never more than voluntary. With only 25 residents, and many of them with widely varied schedules, there is a very small pool of potential students. What we have been considering is working more directly with the housing staff to create a structured wellness program for the youth living at O/I, where they would get specific life activity credits for taking yoga classes each week. This way, yoga would become part of their structured getting off the street program. That way, we can perhaps get up to five people on a regular basis. Our work in the day program will certainly inform this effort. Any thoughts around this are certainly welcome.

The next Outside In orientation will be Wednesday evening June 18th. The teacher training will be the following Wednesday, the 25th. You can contact Outside In at 503.535.3815, and they will set you up for an orientation.

I put this news item out with trepidation, but ultimately i think it is noteworthy in our context. Last week, a young woman who had been coming to Outside In and availing herself of a number of its services was murdered by an unknown assailant. There is no way to paint this picture in a good light. It is scary and upsetting to me, and i know members of the Outside In community are very shaken by this. You can read about it here.

I put this out so that we may each offer a silent prayer for the life of this young woman, and also so that each of us is reminded that life on the streets is not kind. It is violent and we have to be always aware of that and act accordingly. I will ask Andre to address this briefly in our training class next month.

Two quotes seem apt for ending this little update. One came to me from Stevalyn, and the other via the Internet

‘Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.’ --Carl Bard

‘When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murders, and for a time they may seem invincible, but in the end they always fall, always.’ --Gandhi