yogaHOPE’s Teacher’s Blog

Subbing at Women’s Hope

Yesterday morning I subbed at Women’s Hope, a 28 day recovery house for women. It’s so nice to be back to teaching these ladies and I am getting a real appreciation for how different women in early recovery are from women in later recovery, and how different women in recovery are from the women in the domestic abuse safe-house. The one thing all of these women have in common is fear, a hesitancy to trust and a low opinion of themselves. During the class, one woman (who said she’s been doing yoga twice a week since she arrived) came in after the class started and sat breathing for a while. She looked visibly shaken and I asked her if she wanted to take child’s pose and she said no, that she would rather sit for a while. She eventually joined in with the class and afterwards she told me that she had been on the phone trying to get a prescription for medication filled and the woman on the phone was so mean to her. She just kept saying, “she was just SO MEAN and I didn’t know why! She kept saying, ‘why are you talking like that’ and I told her it was because she was SCARING ME!!” We had a little talk about the fact that the way that woman was behaving was all about internal stuff and had nothing to do with what was really going on. I said, “you never know what’s going on for her, maybe she recently split up with her husband, maybe a loved on has just died..who knows”…in the end, this woman (the student) told me that was why she wanted to just sit in class for a bit..because she was shaken. It’s very rewarding to know that even after just a couple of weeks of doing yoga, she has learned that the yoga mat is a place of refuge.

All in all, the women enjoyed the class. I kept it mild and relaxing, and a couple of women who had trouble just “sitting” with themselves left the class during the opening breathing exercises. We focused on breath and eased into the practice with some neck stretches, cat/cow, thread the needle, child’s pose, forward fold, crescent lunge on the knee, one very brief down dog…then on to backs for low cobra, locust, bow, supported bridge, modified half pigeon, crunches (which they LOVED, of course) some reclined twists and savasana…the mentioned they like the modified half pigeon and the crunches. They all shook my hand at the end of class….it was so sweet!! Thanks for the opportunity to step in

namaste,
sue

Blessings of the Season at Women’s Hope

I am blessed to be teaching for yogaHOPE. Last Monday’s class was extremely moving for both myself and the women taking class. First of all the yoga room had a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. This made me aware that maybe the women will not be with their children or families this Holiday. Thus, I decided to focus the class on movement and letting life flow. We started with seated meditation followed by sun salutes, standing sequence including warrior I&II, followed by twists and balances. The women were outstanding following the flowing sequence. They laughed and even joked that yoga really heats the body.. It was good to see them laugh. The class concluded with a long savasana. At the end of class I mentioned with tears in my eyes as well as theirs,that this may be a challenging time not being with family. To embrace the light within their hearts and that they have all they need within themselves. Two women shared photos after class. One of her son, the other shared photos of her modeling days in Boston. I am blessed to witness the ability to see the women share, persevere and heal day by day. Thank you Beth for your wonderful assists and presence you give each week to the women at WH.

Kat Larsen, RYT

Hope for healing at HAWC

Today I subbed at HAWC, a domestic abuse safehouse in Salem. I went to this facility a few weeks earlier to speak with the case manager there and it was difficult not to cry..I felt very emotional. The two women who were in the class immediately came into their breath and I was very proud of them, but one woman was clearly disassociating..something I have first hand experience with. She was very “floppy” and I helped her to stay connected to her spine but it is very obvious to see what her “coping mechanism” is. It will be so wonderful to see her transform into owning a little more control and power through yoga.

At the end of the practice (which was VERY GENTLE) the women were laying in Savasana and I was overhearing an exchange between a woman and her little boy who was about 11. She was obviously an angry woman..I felt that in her energy from the moment I saw her, and she was brushing her son’s hair. He kept saying “it hurts, it hurts” and he was crying and she was so hard and mean, saying things like “suck it up” or “I’ll give you someting to cry about”. This was so difficult for me to overhear. It took all of my control not to go into her room and tell her that her son was letting her know that she was HURTING him and to listen. I couldn’t help but cry on my drive home. I thought about it for a while and realized that women can react to their abuse in many ways. Some withdraw to the point of shrinking away completely, and some grasp for control over those in their life who are smaller and weaker than they….namely their children. This is so hard to bear, and I wish upon wish that this woman would practice yoga. Her little boy will grow up and possibly react to his mis-treatment as his mother has. Bullying and abusing those who are weaker than he..continuing this endless maddening cycle!!

It was a very bittersweet moment for me that I was listening to this exchange, while watching my two students in savasana, one of whom was pregnant. She was completely relaxed and peaceful yet I noticed that her belly was moving ALL around..The little life inside of her obviously found the yoga to be energizing and I felt joy and sorry all at once.

By teaching to these populations you are, at times, called upon to look at your own demons…this is difficult, rewarding and life changing work.

Blessings to you all,
sue

A moving night at Hello House

I had a full class again at Hello House - 17 women, 5 of them new.  I also had Arwen, one of our new volunteers attending class as well as M, a recent graduate who comes back Tuesdays to take class with the women when she is able.  A New York Times reporter was also coming to observe as they are writing an article about yogaHOPE (hooray!) and she showed up about halfway through class. We started with breathwork and shoulder and neck opening, and the new girls where having trouble focusing so I continued to tell them to close their eyes.  Some did, some didn’t, as I expected.  Then we did cat and dog stretches, and standing forward bend.  They did well with this one!  Then a modified crescent lunge which was tough for them, but they stuck it out and breathed.  I again mentioned closing eyes as a way of going within, asking them to harness their breath as their power.  Then we did a long bridge and I talked a lot about heart opening and what it means to live with an open heart.  I felt held by these women in that moment - truly beautiful!  Then we took a long spinal twist, and savasana, where I gave a head adjustment to each woman. They love it!  After class, the room was very energetic as the women were eager to talk to our NY Times reporter, Katie.  The new women said they enjoyed it.  One woman said she didn’t realize how much she needed to chill out but in savasana, she felt it.  Another woman who is graduating this week, K, told me that when I speak she enjoys listening to what I say, and that sometimes she goes into such a meditative state that she is off somewhere else, even to say that she finds God.  That moved me to tears.  I have seen this woman go from being shy, withdrawn, broken down, to someone who is joyful, laughs and whose energy now carries the women around her.  She has found love, I am sure of it, and it’s beautiful to see. 

 Namaste,

 Amanda

A moving class at HAWC

My first class experience with yogaHOPE.

Saturday, December 1st, 2007.

I went to HAWC, a safe house in Salem, looking forward to a bit of yoga practice as I had just come from teaching a class. I got so much more.

Amanda started the class with some simple breathing and gentle neck rolls. The women were very relaxed by the neck rolls – it was so sweet to see and I could sense their experience was a good one.

Although I was there to take the class I could not help but offer to assist. Initially it was clear that touch was a little scary to these women but once they experienced it, they melted and let go.

Amanda continued leading us all into hip stretches with lots of breathing and the energy in the room was very strong and supportive.

There were joyful nods amongst the women as they acknowledged that yoga “felt good”.

One woman had a bit of difficulty controlling her body. She focused and did her best and I was drawn to her to help guide her into stillness and a sense of her body. Her willingness was so evident and I was so honored by the fact that she trusted me enough to let me hold her shaking limbs until they quieted, until they settled. This silent but profound exchange between one human being and another is what draws me to teaching and I have never experienced anything quite like it before in the hundreds or maybe one thousand classes I have taught.

A woman new to yoga in perfect English (which is her second language) summed up her experience with these words:

“I feel new”

Being able to empower women who have been literally beaten down to bring themselves to a state of “feeling new” is in the true definition of the word, awesome.

Another woman described the experience as “feeling soft”. She went on to explain that “her whole life has been hard” that she’d been hard on her body, that others had been hard on her body, and that when she does yoga “I feel soft, and I know what soft feels like and it feels good”.

Amanda has an amazing gift in that her voice is consistently loving and supportive and inviting. Uhmm.

I left HAWC and was glad I was going to a yogaHOPE training because the experience was so powerful it was difficult to process. There I met more teachers wanting to share their skills with others and I felt energized and excited for the givers and receivers, both.

Alice Canning Senko

YogaHOPE volunteer

Feeling brand new

I taught today at HAWC, the domestic abuse safehouse shelter our program is in.  I had Alice along to attend, but she jumped right in and assisted during much of the class as these women certainly benefited from it.  Thanks Alice!  There were 3 women in class, and a 4th who stayed some of the time, but had a sick child to attend to.  We began with breathwork and you could almost instantaneously see fear leave their face as they began to trust Alice and I and let relaxation settle in.  We opened up our shoulders and neck with some gentle stretches, and then moved into some work for our low back and hips, as well as one core strengthener.  We didn’t stand once, but what we did was enough for the women.  By the time we got to spinal twist and savasana, they were so relaxed.  One woman even had a smile on her face in Savasana!  Afterward, one woman commented and said “I feel NEW”  That was amazing, considering all they’ve been through before they arrived at the shelter.  To be able to feel new is a good start for them. 

Be well!

Amanda