Why Yoga Angels Foundation was started
In her own words, Subhadra Griffiths explains the need the Foundation was set up to meet.
Yoga Angels began as classes. For years Subhadra Griffiths taught children, trained teachers, and brought yoga into schools and community spaces in Los Angeles and Jamaica. The Foundation came from a simple observation: the people who could most use these tools were the least likely to be offered them.
Here is how she put it when setting out the case for the Foundation’s Wellness And Mindfulness work:
The need to improve life skills, particularly conflict resolution, decision making, critical thinking and future planning among communities and police is undisputed.
She went on to describe what she had seen in communities affected by crime: people carrying emotional strain, a weak sense of self, and real difficulty linking the decisions they make today to the lives they will be living tomorrow.
The answer she proposed
Her answer was practical. Teach yoga. Train local teachers. Run life skills classes. Share other healing practices. Put on family and community events that bring people together, including events that bring communities and police officers into the same room.
Underneath all of it is one idea that still guides the Foundation. Educate people of every age and every part of a community, and leave certified community leaders behind when you go. That is how change lasts.
Who it is for
The Foundation’s programs are aimed at young people in underserved communities, community members, and the police and correctional staff who work with them. Every one of those groups has a part in making a neighborhood safer and healthier.
Read about the programs that came out of this thinking, or support the work.
