Q and A with Julie Peters In preparation for Yoga Outreach's first conference (May 25), we asked the scheduled panelists what turns people OFF about yoga. Here's a thoughtful response from Julie Peters, yoga teacher, writer, and owner of Ocean and Crow Yoga studio in East Vancouver. YO: Can you...
Can yoga help teens with trauma beat addictions and stay out of jail?
Imagine lacking the ability to self-regulate in a place where you are denied a privilege every time you break a rule. And your usual coping methods - drugs or alcohol - are gone, cold turkey. This is the story for many teens with substance issues when they are incarcerated. Why?...
Chew on this, Blue Monday
If Blue Monday is a duvet day, Depression is a bare mattress, a pile of stinking sheets and a coin washer four flights down. This is not a typical Blue Monday post with five tips for overcoming the most depressing day of the year. Because real depression is NOT...
Yes. Volunteering makes you better.
According to Statistics Canada, 12.7 million Canadians, are happier and healthier than the rest. They also have better career prospects and an extremely high chance of captaining a pub quiz team over age 90. Why? Because they spend a few hours a month volunteering. Volunteering makes you stronger. ...
Honouring our Hero Friends
This year I was a hero for someone. I feel okay about saying that, because more than a decade ago, when I lived in Scotland a workmate was a hero for me. I was living with a boyfriend with a bad temper. He would shout about laundry done incorrectly,...
Girls Only – How trauma changes the brain
Girls’ brains react differently than boys’ Girls process trauma differently than boys. Apparently, estrogen prompts a larger area of neurons to fire during adverse events, leading girls to remember traumatic incidents for longer and with more intensity than boys. You might remember Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s recent testimony that...
Yoga in your Socks
By Wendy Goldsmith In teacher training, we learned yoga MUST be done barefoot. What if your student split in half doing wide-legged forward fold on your watch? Yikes. Plus, they can’t draw energy up from the earth through a barrier of cotton-acrylic blend. With the exception of savasana, socks are...
Feeling panicky? Calm down quickly by paying attention to your body
Your stomach hurts. Your neck and shoulders have hardened to concrete. Your vision and hearing are stuttering. You feel dizzy. Your mind is hunting for dangers, for solutions, for something … you’re not sure what.This might be how you feel when your body becomes dysregulated or overwhelmed. It’s definitely a...
3 Top Takeaways from Trauma Training with Yoga Outreach
About a month ago, I took a weekend course on teaching trauma-informed yoga. Trauma-informed means the instruction style is modified to better serve people who have been physically or mentally abused, or sexually assaulted. After completion, you can apply to volunteer at a transition house for women and children fleeing...
Rika Lange on Volunteering with Justice Involved Youth
How did you get involved with yoga outreach? It was through a friend who was volunteering with Yoga Outreach after taking the core training. I had just completed my teacher training and wanted to volunteer with Yoga Outreach. What were your thoughts of the Core Training? It was outstanding...