We share trauma-informed yoga and meditation with people involved in the criminal justice system to promote rehabilitation, personal transformation, and a more just society for all.

Education

Yoga classes behind bars (ycbb): in 2017, we offered an average of 37 classes a week in 17 prisons, jails and detention centers throughout washington state. Included in these facilities were two new programs for men at washington corrections center in shelton and youth at whatcom county juvenile detention center. We provided 1,995 hours of trauma-informed yoga and meditation instruction, a $248,869 in-kind donation by our volunteer instructors. trauma informed yoga instruction (tiyi): we offer yoga teachers, educators, mental health professionals and clinicians a 17-hour trauma-informed yoga training program. We focus on accessible, practical tools for inclusive, resilience-building approaches to yoga as well as the intersection of yoga and social justice work. In 2017, 143 people attended our training. yoga teacher trainings behind bars (yttbb): yoga behind bars trained and graduated 5 incarcerated women to become yoga instructors. We are one of the first organizations in the country to offer such professional development opportunities. We also supported and mentored 6 incarcerated men who graduated from our teacher training in 2016. These men started teaching classes behind bars in their respective facilities.