Beginnings of Yoga Outreach

In 1996 Annabelle Tame, from the Prison Phoenix Trust, England, gave a talk on teaching yoga within the prison system to a group of yoga teachers from the Lower Mainland. Inspired by Annabelle’s talk and under the direction of Sandra Sammartino, a loosely knit group of yoga teachers came together to bring yoga into the correctional system within British Columbia. Yoga Outreach continued to grow from this foundation, expanding to serve a diverse range of facilities. The love, commitment and passion that started this project, continues today.

Who We Are -Board

Beth Sampson, President

Yoga Outreach has been a very big part of my life over the last 9 years. In 2002, I was teaching two Yoga Outreach classes and felt very deeply connected and aligned with the mission. When founder Sandra Sammartino announced she was closing her centre, Kairos, I realized that Yoga Outreach needed to find its roots beyond her centre’s community in White Rock if it was going to survive. So in 2003, I asked to be entrusted with the organization and became the Executive Director of Yoga Outreach. My goal was to succeed Yoga Outreach from its founding mothers into a broader-based community where it could expand and grow to include all of the resources that the Lower Mainland and the rest of British Columbia has to offer. My vision was to see Yoga Outreach shift from a grassroots organization into a social-profit charity organization; increasing services to at-risk communities, building a broad and diversely interconnected community of stakeholders, and providing leadership for other individuals and organizations akin to its mission. I have been fortunate enough to be in a leadership position ever since that time, transitioning from Executive Director to Board Chair in 2006.

Beth graduated from The West Coast College of Massage Therapy and is a licensed RMT. She also holds a BFA from The Cooper Union in New York City and is currently working on attaining her BA in Heath Science from Thompson River University.

Chelsea Bedford, Treasurer

Chelsea is the Financial Controller for the Vancouver-based event production company, brand.LIVE Management Group Inc.  Her career focus is strategic and financial management for growing operations.  Through working in a variety of industries including hospitality, real estate development and event production, Chelsea has built a diverse background in financial and project analysis.

Chelsea recently joined the Yoga Outreach Board of Directors as Treasurer. Yoga plays a significant role in her life and having the opportunity to give back to the community through the passion that serves her the most is a very rewarding experience.

Chelsea is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Victoria.

Dominique Veniez, Member at Large

Dominique is a RYT 200. She has been practicing yoga for 6 years and has been inspired by her teachers Swan, Donna Farhi and Gioia Irwin. A ballet dancer for 13 years, yoga was the logical next step for her as a movement practice. The movement practice became a way of life for Dominique and a way to find balance. She is continuing her studies and is working towards her certification as a yoga therapist.

As a full time mother, Dominique has spent the last 15 years volunteering in her community in the Arts and in social assistance. Through her own yoga journey, Dominique can attest to the healing qualities of yoga and is truly inspired by the work and dedication of Yoga Outreach to their mission statement. She believes that, if given the opportunity, anyone can find more balance and calm in their life when touched by the healing gifts of yoga.

Laura Track, Member at Large

Laura’s two greatest inspirations are the practice of yoga and the ideals of social justice. To her, Yoga Outreach represents the perfect union of the two. Laura has been practicing yoga for over 10 years, and obtained her teacher’s certification in 2008. Inspired by the transformative and healing influence of yoga in her own life, Laura has always sought to share yoga with those around her and has been volunteering as a yoga teacher with the YWCA since 2009. Laura became involved with Yoga Outreach in 2007 and is thrilled to deepen her engagement with the organization as a Board member.

A qualified lawyer, Laura also seeks to use her education and skills to advance social justice, equality and human rights through her work. She has worked with the Pivot Legal Society, a non-profit legal advocacy organization dedicated to using the law to advance the interests of marginalized populations, particularly those experiencing homelessness and poverty in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She is now Legal Director at West Coast LEAF (Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund), an organization whose mission is to achieve equality by changing historic patterns of systemic discrimination against women through BC-based equality rights litigation, law reform and public legal education.

Danielle Desjardins, Secretary

Danielle has been a lover of yoga for 8 years.  The love affair began in a cold, dark community center on a rainy January evening as a New Year’s resolution with beloved teacher and blissologist Eoin Finn.  Since that time, Danielle has committed to a regular practice and is blessed to have met many kindred souls and to have learned from some great yoga teachers while on her mat.  Gratitude goes to her many beloved teachers for lighting the fire over the years:  Jason Hagemeister, Jesse Enright, Clara Roberts Oss, Christine Price Clark, Insiya Rasiwala Finn and Todd Inouye.  And now on to the next phase- taking the practice off the mat with Yoga Outreach! Danielle has lived the yoga experience and knows how valuable the yoga practice is as a source of inspiration, healing and self knowledge.  The yoga journey is not about perfection; and can be sparked on a rainy January evening in a cold, dark community center.  Yoga Outreach provides an opportunity for individuals who may not have access to the healing powers of yoga to start this imperfect journey.

When not on her mat, Danielle is a chartered accountant with over 11 years of experience in public accounting.  She currently works at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as a senior manager in their corporate tax practice. Danielle has previous board experience as secretary, treasurer and fund-raiser for the Association of Women in Finance.

Who We Are – Staff

Delanie Dyck, Executive Director

Delanie has been practicing Yoga for more than ten years and has been an instructor for seven. It was during this time that she became passionate about making Yoga more accessible as a means for healing. It is her belief that Yoga is a powerful tool for change and that simply by finding oneself on the mat each of us can change the world.

To the role of Executive Director for Yoga Outreach Delanie brings a wealth of knowledge in human resource management, business management, and experience in non-profit administration. For the past several years she has been volunteering for Yoga Outreach in an administrative capacity and is very pleased to take on this new role in the next phase of the organisation’s growth. Delanie looks forward to moving Yoga Outreach into a larger leadership role in the community and beyond as a provider of yoga to people facing multiple challenges in their lives.

Sarah Holmes de Castro MA, RYT 200, Coordinator

Sarah has been practicing yoga for over 10 years and teaching for 7. She began volunteering with Yoga Outreach 5 years ago and has since taught within a variety of settings including transition houses, addiction recovery centres, mental health programs and with marginalized youth. Sarah is currently Coordinator at Yoga Outreach, working with teachers and facility staff to deliver Yoga Outreach programs, and coordinating trainings. She also teaches at Onsite and the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health & Addictions. She continues to deepen her understanding of yoga as a practice to support healing with studies in Integrative Yoga Therapy. In 2010 she received certification in teaching Trauma-Sensitive Yoga at the Boston Trauma Centre, a facility under the directorship of Bessel Van der Kolk, international authority in PTSD. She is particularly interested in yoga as a path towards Post Traumatic Growth and committed to sharing the gifts of yoga that have been such a profound tool for healing in her own life.

Who We Are – Advisory Council to Teacher Training Program

Nicole Marcia MA, RYT 500, Curriculum Developer (Mental Health & Addictions)

Nicole is a Yoga Therapist at the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addictions, Riverview and Onsite. She holds a Master of Arts Degree with a specialization in Yoga Therapy Studies through Lesley University in Boston, USA and is a graduate of the 1000-hour Integrative Yoga Therapy training program. Nicole has developed and implemented Yoga Therapy programs for local businesses, community, health and social service organizations. She conducts Yoga Therapy sessions for groups and individuals with special needs including chronic pain, addictions, mental health issues and stress related illnesses. In 2010 Nicole received certification in teaching Trauma-Sensitive Yoga at The Trauma Centre in Boston, MA. Nicole is a faculty member at Ajna Yoga and Yoga Outreach where she develops and implements Yoga teacher training programs.

Angela Kairya, BA, BSW, RYT 500, Curriculum Developer (Anti-oppressive, Strengths-based practice)

Angela is a social worker and yoga teacher. In 2007, she completed a comprehensive 500 hour yoga teacher training through the South Okanagan Yoga Academy with a focus on restorative yoga and yoga for mental health. Angela has worked in the social services sector for over a decade with “at risk” and marginalized groups as a counselor, support worker and educator. Over the past 5 years, she has worked primarily with women who are survivors of violence. Angela has developed and led trainings in anti-oppressive practice, basic counseling skills, and trauma based safety and containment strategies for both service providers and volunteers. As a yoga instructor, Angela has continued her studies in the Anusara® tradition and yoga therapeutics as she endeavors to make yoga accessible for every body.

Ella Cooper, Curriculum Developer (Youth)

Ella is a certified yoga instructor, creative facilitator/consultant and arts educator. She specializes in creating and implementing empowering community centred programs for at risk youth, community centres/assistance programs and local school districts in Vancouver, Surrey and Toronto. Known for her playful spirit and calm nature, Ella received her yoga teachers certification from Saltspring Centre of Yoga and is influenced by the Classical Hatha/Ashtanga Yoga traditions and the principles of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Vinyasa Flow and Jivamukti yoga.  Ella infuses her workshops and classes with positive themes and focused intention to facilitate community connection and personal well being. She has been invited to present workshops in yoga studios in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Saltspring Island and Williams Lake and offers classes in Hatha Flow, Teen Yoga, Community Partner Yoga and Vinyasa Flow.

Ella has been joyfully practicing yoga and meditation for 9 years. She also explores her love for arts and yoga as a recognized photographer and multidisciplinary artist who is in love with all things green.

Alison Granger-Brown, MA , Advisor (Corrections)

Alison is currently contracted to Corrections Service Canada and has worked with federally and provincially sentenced women for over twelve years in a therapeutic capacity. Her educational career began with Nursing in London England, becoming a Recreation Therapist in 1999 and gaining an MA in Training and Leadership in 2007. She is currently completing a PhD in Human Development. The combination of this education and experience together creates a wealth of knowledge about issues relating to women offenders as well as organizational culture, wellness, and leadership through an appreciative, solutions focused approach. As a co-founder of a Participatory Research team which started within a Provincial Custody setting and is connected to UBC Medical School, she has gained expertise in managing complex research topics and multi-faceted research teams.

 

James Fairbanks, M.Sc., M.Ed Counseling Psychology, Advisor ( Mental Health & Addictions)

James has intensively practiced most varieties of Hatha Yoga over the last 30 years. He teaches a variety of forms of  yoga to connect with students, generally in the Advaita (non- dual) tradition. James has practiced Insight Meditation at Buddhist monasteries throughout Asia and  North America and has facilitated numerous meditation & yoga retreats every year for the last 14 years. He has an active Counselling practice in Vancouver and is the Clinical Manager at the largest residential treatment centre for men and women addicted to drugs & alcohol.

Funding for Yoga Outreach

Funding for Yoga Outreach comes from various sources:

• Proceeds from the annual “Reaching Out With Yoga” gathering & the annual 30 Day Challenge
• Donations from individuals and organizations
• Yoga teachers donate a percentage of their class fees
• Community-building fundraising events & workshops
• We are grateful for support from the Vancouver Foundation and the W. Garfield Weston Foundation

If you would like to teach, donate or volunteer with Yoga Outreach, or like more information about the charity, please contact us.