Yoga for At-Risk Populations

Use your teaching skills to bring yoga and healing to students suffering from trauma.

By Molly M. Ginty

A rape survivor who shudders when touched. A male prison inmate with both knees shattered by bullets. A child who slumps since she witnessed domestic violence in her home.

These are the people you'll serve when teaching yoga to at-risk students, defined as those who've suffered trauma.

Since Bo Lozoff founded Durham, North Carolina's Prison-Ashram Project in 1973, yoga programs for people in crisis have spread across the United States. From classes for inmates at Living Yoga in Portland, Oregon, to classes for veterans at Yogani Studios in Tampa, these programs are thriving—and redefining their instructors' teaching practices.

Just as offering yoga to at-risk students can pose logistical challenges (tattered mats, nonexistent props, and a half hour of trudging through prison security checkpoints), it can present teaching dilemmas you've never faced before.

As the result of trauma, students may have migraines, stomachaches, locked shoulders, or other physical problems. They may lash out—or stare through you as if you didn't exist. Those left numb may inch through Sun Salutations mechanically. Those who've become hypervigilant may race through the sequence three steps ahead of the class.

"When you teach at-risk students, you learn to address physical problems, diffuse anger, and spark interest," says Leah Kalish, director of the Los Angeles-based Yoga Ed, which trains instructors across the country to work with urban schoolchildren. "You get the lethargic student to feel her body again by rolling on her mat. You ground the anxious student by looking him in the eye and telling him to root his feet into the earth."

If you know how to teach at-risk students, you can help them regain control over their bodies, minds, and lives. "Yoga calms the nervous system, slows the thoughts, and helps you realize you're accountable for your actions and have all the answers inside you," says Shaina Traisman, director of Yoga Behind Bars in Seattle. "When yoga penetrates at-risk students, it gives them the tools to heal from old trauma—and to respond to new challenges in a healthier way."

How can you prepare for this work? Read Lozoff's We're All Doing Time. Watch Doing Time, Doing Vipassana, a film about how meditation is lowering recidivism rates in India. Train at Yoga Ed, Yoga Behind Bars, New York's Lineage Project, or a similar program in your region. Pair up with a mentor or coteacher who has done this work before.

Even if you don't plan to make this population your niche, you never know when a student suffering from trauma might drop into your regular class. Take note of the following tips from teachers experienced in working with at-risk populations.

Get Grounded

The key to teaching at-risk students is to be a devoted student yourself. "You need to embody what you want to teach," says Hala Khouri, author of Yoga Ed's curriculum for at-risk students. Practice asana, pranayama, and meditation daily so you're calm enough to support those living under extreme stress.

Also come to terms with your own history. "Teaching at-risk students can trigger you, especially if you have unresolved issues around violence or abuse," says Seane Corn, who is based in Topanga, California, but offers yoga to needy and HIV-positive children in India, Cambodia, and Africa. "You need to address those issues and feel safe working with them so your students can feel safe too."

Before walking into class, surrender your expectations and check your ego at the door. Focus on bhakti (devotion) and karma yoga (selfless service). "Your intention should be to offer choices, self-awareness, and power to at-risk students," says Kalish. "It's about what you're giving, not what you're getting back."

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