Yoga for Women, on the Inside and Outside

For thousands of years, people have found freedom and strength in yoga. Those principles are particularly motivating for the women in Donna Jagielski’s classes in conjunction with Perryville Prison and Maricopa County Juvenile Detention Center in Arizona. 

Donna’s taken special yoga teacher training and is 500-hour certified to work with people who have experienced trauma. That would include just about every woman who’s been in prison. Donna’s designed a yoga program for people on the path to re-entry, and those who are trying to adjust to life on the outside. Her three-part series shares basic poses, breathwork strategies, and mindfulness techniques, while also incorporating positive affirmations and journaling. Donna is offering the program through the Televerde, Persevere, and Arouet Foundations, which supports workforce development for incarcerated people and returning citizens. She needs our help to rent a space in which to hold her classes for women who are in the process of reintegrating into their communities. 

Studies show programs like Donna’s can make a difference. At NYU, researchers found that yoga was an effective treatment for anxiety. Other trials have linked yoga to decreases in impulsivity and agitation and increases positive assertiveness and self-reflection. We believe that moving your body and finding inner quiet shouldn’t be a privilege for the few, so supporting Donna in this work? It’s not a stretch.