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Niroga Newsletter - December 2010
Niroga in SchoolsA Game Changer in EducationIn our rush to teach our most vulnerable children - those dealing with the trauma of abuse and neglect, crime and violence, guns and gangs, drugs and death, and are at the highest risk of dropping out - we forget that they are not ready to learn when they come to school. We need to heal them before we teach them.
Shortly after conducting TLS training for 15 classroom teachers at Jefferson High in Daly City, we got this note from one of them: "This is amazing!!! I just tried it with my class today. They came in after lunch, and we couldn't concentrate. I turned off the lights, and had them do some of the Niroga [15-minute TLS protocol]. And it was like magic... they're taking the quiz, silently focused, AMAZING! THANK YOU!!" Juvenile Hall ClassesPracticing Yoga in a Holding CellIt has been over four years since Niroga began providing yoga classes for the youth and staff at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center. We currently teach 20 classes a week in three units, including the co-ed Day Treatment Unit, where we have been since program inception. The current group of girls have really taken to the practice, and are supporting each other in utilizing yoga as a tool to help themselves deal with depression, anxiety, and challenges with emotional regulation. Recently, during our yoga class check-in, a young woman expressed that while in the holding cell waiting for court, she felt her anxiety getting out of control. "I just started doing yoga, right there in the holding cell, and I felt better. It worked." Another young woman responded, "Oh my god, you know there are cameras in the holding cells. They must have thought you were crazy!" With great confidence and strong conviction came the response, "I don't care what they think. I was doing what I needed to do, to take care of myself. And it worked!" What a beautiful irony that even while being held in a cell, awaiting someone else to decide her fate, she found freedom by making the choice to be in control of herself. - Annika Hanson, Niroga Program Manager From Teacher to Healer BK Bose teaching Niroga Yoga Therapy Niroga offers Yoga Therapy TrainingBuilding on its highly regarded long-standing, year-long training program for Certified Yoga Teachers, Niroga Institute is launching its Level 2 training program for Certified Yoga Therapists early in 2011. The Niroga Yoga Therapy Training (Level 2) will focus on common chronic conditions, and will be complemented by the Lifestyle Therapy Training (Level 3), slated to begin in Feb. 2012, focusing on special populations such as seniors, cancer survivors, vulnerable youth and people with special needs. All yoga teachers are welcome. Spread the word! My Life TransformedRasham's Story
I do not separate myself from yoga, from recovery, from life, from energy, from being. My passion for practice is born from my experience; I consider my history of incarceration, addiction, and suicidal depression a rite of passage; I am blessed to have lived through the misery and pain; I lived through it, and now I encounter darkness as being only the space between the fireflies. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Editor’s Note: Rasham was introduced to yoga 18 months ago at Niroga's class at MPI Treatment Services, Summit Hospital's Residential Rehab Center. She recently became a Certified Yoga Teacher and is now a member of Niroga’s Yoga Corps, prepared to bring yoga to those who need
it the most. Director's CornerChallenge One ThousandYou know a system is not working when: We continue to warehouse a million youth in the United States, and three out of four who are released from Juvenile Halls go right back in. You know something is terribly wrong when: One in two inner-city youth drops out of high school. This is a colossal waste of human potential and your tax dollars, especially when the lifetime cost of a dropout is $260,000 (Prof. Cecilia Rouse, Princeton University, 2007), and we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for each detained juvenile and imprisoned adult every year. You don’t have to look far for root causes. The latest research in developmental neuroscience indicates that chronic stress affects our brains and disrupts emotion regulation. Chronic stress is endemic in our most vulnerable communities and is the most common effect of every major social determinant of health. Additionally, social psychologists have concluded, “low self-control is a significant risk factor for a broad range of personal and interpersonal problems.” Independent researchers have shown that Niroga’s Transformative Life Skills (TLS) programs lowered stress and increased self-control in hundreds of youth, both in juvenile hall and in an urban high school. These results have confirmed that TLS is a powerful catalyst affecting health, education and public safety. What would happen if we could saturate the lives of one thousand of the most vulnerable youth in a community with TLS? If most of these youth acted with self-mastery most of the time, instead of dropping out of high school or ending up in Juvenile Hall, they would be compelling examples for their peers and “be the change you wish to see in the world.” It costs $1,000 per youth per year to do this; for only $3/day, you could help transform a vulnerable life and change the world! Niroga cannot do this alone. We are looking for ONE THOUSAND CHAMPIONS FOR YOUTH as we launch CHALLENGE ONE THOUSAND. Let us meet this challenge together. –Bidyut (BK) Bose YES! I want to help Niroga transform vulnerable lives Printable Mail / Fax donation form
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