yogaHOPE’s Teacher’s Blog

A proud moment at Hello House

Tonight one of the girls received her certificate for completing 20 classes, along with her starter kit.  She had actually graduated from the house last week, and came back tonight to visit with the women, practice yoga as well, and receive her certificate.  She was so happy - literally beaming!  All the other women were interested to see what she received and all asked where they were on their classes - I promised them I’d tell them next week!  This girl who graduated will be coming back to the house each Tuesday to continue to support and practice yoga with the other women in the house.  How amazing is that?  She told me that everyone promises they will keep in touch with the women still in the house when they leave, but they never do.  She vowed to do it differently, and I totally think she will.  You can tell the fact that the other women can see how far she’s come and how well she’s doing on the “outside” makes a difference in their world.  I had a large class tonight (15 or 17 girls) since the mother’s group won’t be running again till January (I can’t wait for assistants in my class!)  We did some breathwork, shoulder and neck opening, and one gentle sun b variation.  Then it was prone postures, abs (they love them!) and a hip opener, before spinal twist and savasana.  I made sure to do a few poses where I could adjust the women.  I don’t adjust in every posture, but when I do adjust, I adjust EVERY woman.  I think it’s important when you are teaching on your own to a large class that you keep it simple and be sure to do postures where every woman gets an adjustment.  Otherwise, women feel left out, and that creates hostility.  One of the women who’s leaving the house soon came up after class to tell me she will also continue to come on Tuesdays and take yoga (she is moving to the same place as the other recent graduate).  It is amazing to see how far this woman has come.  She was one of the stiffest ones in there, and tonight she could actually reach back and grab both her feet in bow! She was amazed.  She said she notices a difference in her posture and her range of movement.  She is finally talking and open where when she began she never said a word.  It’s beautiful to see!  When I left, another girl gave me a sticker tonight that said “Live in peace and peace will live in you” These women are doing their best to do that every day. 

Amanda 

Sharing more than the Asanas at Women’s Hope

Each time I teach at WH it is an experience like no other. The women attending class Thursday seek an hour of yoga. However, over the past six months it has become clear in so many ways the benefits of our presence at the house. Class began with seated pranayama followed by gentle spine openers, cat and cow, standing twists, balances, bridge and a long savasana. At the end of savasana the women stated they we’re in such a state of relaxation that they we’re not aware of their neighbors or any sounds outside the yoga room. After class, one woman shared her home made prayer, scrapbook with us and how she defines spirituality. Other women share how many kids they have, and their struggles of getting sober and taking one day at a time. I’ve come to recognize that the yoga introduces openness, trust, and assists in the ability to move forward. The women usually leave class saying “I’ll see you next time”, or “I love yoga”.  A seed is planted each class, it is wonderful to witness the women blossoming.

Peace- Kat Larsen, RYT

1st day at HAWC

Today was the first day at HAWC- I had five women, whom have never experienced Yoga before, never given a moment thought about their own breathe. The ladies loved it! We started w/ the basics of breathe, and some seated stretching, the breakdown of Sun A and moved thru that several times, and they had fun. We reviewed specifics for injuries, and broke down several other asana’s. The ladies said it was ” hard, but awesome & wonderful” –they also stated that ” they felt better just moving and breathing. Also they stated that they never knew that you could “feel” your stomach muscles!” They loved the Tibetan music and said they felt so relaxed, and that ” they never get anytime to focus on themselves” as they are all Mom’s, and obviously the chaos of their situation….It felt great to make them smile, to nurture them and I am so excited about going back. They loved to have us and the entire staff is on board with our Saturday class. HAWC is a very different program, it works on empowering it’s women, so it is a perfect fit with YogoHOPE…..Namaste, dawnMarie

These women give so much!

When I arrived at Hello House tonight, the energy was real high as the girls were very excited about the upcoming retreat.  We chatted about the details and I became acquainted with 4 new women in the class.  I started the women out with a breathing exercise and immediately they found their focus.  We then did some seated opening postures for our hips and hamstrings, holding the poses and focusing on going inward.  I talked about a chakra cleanse I had attended this past sunday and what came up for me when we focused on hip openers.  I discussed intimacy and being able to give freely and how a lot of pain surrounding this had been held in my hips, but by breathing through it in this workshop, I felt a tremendous release.  They all seemed to focus more on what they felt in their hips.  We did a gentle bridge, then some abs and seated twist to fire up our energy, then we cooled down with supta badha konasana and spinal twist.  I put them into Savasana 15 min before the end of class (they did not know it then) because I wanted to give them all an adjustment.  It was amazing how well they did, hardly fidgiting or losing focus.  When I told them afterward how long it had been, they were amazed.  One girl even said it didn’t feel like 15 min and I said yes, that’s the feeling you’d like to have because it means you’ve truly let go of your thoughts and are PRESENT!  I made sure to say though that for the girls who had more difficulty with it how proud they should be just being with themselves that long.  I feel each week these women give to me just as much as I give to them.  They open their hearts to me, they show strength and courage, and I feel uplifted by them.  They totally change my energy if I’m feeling low that day.  I can’t wait for the retreat!  Namaste.

Amanda

hello house on sat

It was storming/raining when i drove over on saturday. The mood was very mellow when i got to hello house.
Alot of the women were napping and a few were sick.   There were a few new women that came to class.  Before i started class,  J*** one of the regulars was commenting on how she has been using some of the ” yoga breathing”  during the week. She mentioned how she ” was surprised that it worked” when she used it.  Midway into the class one of the women just dropped out of a pose and left her mat. My mind immediately went to ” oh i think i had them hold that pose a little long- maybe she was uncomfortable”  I wanted to break away and have her return but I had to remind myself to bring my attention and awareness to the women in front of me!    I would like to find a way to entice everyone the mat on saturday, even thougth its optional!  The women loved the backround music for the class- which was the windy, stormy weather.

LInda