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In 1998, Sarahjoy Marsh began teaching yoga at the Columbia River Correctional Institution. Her intention was to bring life skills through yoga to people who have essentially been written off by society.  Marsh says, “In the prisons three very different life stories; the officers, the inmates, the yoga volunteers flow into one: a desire to support and create change.” 

 

Sarahjoy created a curriculum to teach people with multiple barriers; sexual abuse, depression, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress, anxiety and detoxification from drugs or alcohol.  She founded Living Yoga in Portland in 2001.  

 

An inmate at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility said, “I can cope with the stresses and the non-stop madness that is prison life…I’m always happy and light-spirited when I leave class. It’s like I’m free for an hour twice a week.” 

 

In 2009, Living Yoga volunteer teachers provided 10,000/student/hours to populations who would not otherwise have access to it.   http://www.living-yoga.org/yoga/outreach/portland/C4/

 

Tags: prison yoga, restorative justice, non-violent communication, karma yoga, altruism 

posted 3 years, 8 months ago
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