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Give Back Yoga Foundation

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Bringing the therapeutic benefits of yoga to people with limited access to this practice. #GiveBackYoga #YogaCanChangeALife

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"It's gratefulness that makes us happy." 🍂 Brother David Steindl-Rast

Welcome to November and our theme for the month: Shared Abundance.

Gratitude starts by noticing what we already have: a breath, a mat, a teacher who shows up, a room full of people practicing together. Sharing is what happens when that noticing spills over.

This month we're celebrating what this community has grown together, and the people who keep passing it on.

What are you grateful for this week? Tell us in the comments. 👇 💾 Save this for a slow Sunday.

#SharedAbundance #SundayInspiration #Gratitude #DavidSteindlRast #YogaService #GiveBackYoga #YogaCommunity by @givebackyoga

"Trauma-informed" is a phrase we hear a lot in yoga. The newest guidance says it's about much more than the words a teacher uses. 💙

Here's what's changed in the research and practice guidance from the last few years:

🔵 It's the whole room. Federal guidance updated in 2023 describes safety as something we build: a predictable flow, notice before anything changes, and respect for personal space.
🔵 Choice travels. In a 2025 study, people practicing trauma-informed yoga said the choices they made on the mat carried into the rest of their lives. Gentle communication built trust.
🔵 Ask, then listen. The same guidance calls for involving people in decisions. In class, that can be a quick check-in, an anonymous feedback card, or asking regulars what helps.
🔵 Formats matter. A 2024 study in IAYT's journal found some survivors felt safest one-to-one, so teachers and clinicians can widen the options together.

And across 18 studies of survivors of violence, trauma-informed yoga was linked to more safety, self-compassion and self-regulation, with longer programs likely helping most. That's why we support yoga that people can keep coming back to. Love as showing up. 🧡

Yoga works best alongside care from a mental health professional, not in place of it.

💾 Save this, and share it with a teacher who leads with care. Sources in the comments.

#LoveInPractice #TraumaInformedYoga #YogaService #YogaTherapy #GiveBackYoga #MentalHealth by @givebackyoga

Mat Grant Monday: Justflo Wellness 💙

Missy Goss-Coln has practiced yoga for almost 20 years. Trained in trauma-informed and accessible yoga, meditation, mental health and healing justice, Missy found healing in the practice through a move from high-pressure corporate work into nonprofit work. Finally feeling represented in a wellness space, a decade into the practice, changed everything. Now Missy is working to shift the narrative of who well-being is for.

In Southwest Atlanta, most yoga studios are across town and drop-ins can run over $30. So this summer, Justflo Wellness took the practice outside. The Summer Stretch series brought mindful movement and meditation to Cascade Springs Nature Preserve, right in the neighborhood.

One moment stayed with Missy: a dad who had only practiced in short stretches online, between "daddy duties," came to his first in-person, hour-long class. It was his chance to pour into himself before pouring into his family. 🌿

Thanks to our partners at @gaiam, Justflo received new mats this spring so more neighbors could find their way to the mat close to home. That's love in practice.

Missy's advice for teachers planning community outreach: "Consider seasonality when planning the timing of your project." Summer sign-ups were slow, so Missy got creative and spread the word through mom groups, school chats and word of mouth.

🔗 Follow Missy's work: @justflowellness 💛 Save this for inspiration, and share it with someone who needs a reminder to pour into themselves first.

@justflowellness @gaiam

#MatGrantMonday #LoveInPractice #GiveBackYoga #YogaService #AccessibleYoga #TraumaInformedYoga #AtlantaYoga #SouthwestAtlanta by @givebackyoga

All flourishing is mutual. 🌱
Robin Wall Kimmerer

In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer writes about pecan trees that fruit together, sharing what they have through the roots so the whole grove thrives.

Yoga service works the same way. When a teacher shows up for a recovery group, a shelter or a classroom, the people in the room flourish, and so does the teacher, and so does the community around them.

This week we launched Love In Practice, and every piece helps us say yes to more of those programs. 💛

💾 Save this for a day you need the reminder.
📤 Share it with someone who helps you flourish.

#LoveInPractice #SundayInspiration #BraidingSweetgrass #RobinWallKimmerer #YogaService #GiveBackYoga #Community by @givebackyoga

Introducing the Love In Practice collection 💙

Serve. Practice. Repeat.

This is what the last few months have felt like at Give Back Yoga: teachers showing up for their communities, mats landing in new hands, and so much love moving through this work. We wanted something you could carry with you.

Meet the collection: the Practice Love Vintage Crewneck, Everyday Tee and Muscle Tank, plus a soy candle and a sticker for the little rituals.

Every piece helps us say yes. All profits support our mission to fund more of the 400+ yoga service programs that applied for grants this year. Wear it, and help us say yes. 💛

Available only through December 31.

🔗 Shop at the link in our bio.

#LoveInPractice #GiveBackYoga #PracticeLove #YogaService #ServePracticeRepeat #YogaCommunity #Seva by @givebackyoga

Mat Grant Monday: Deanie the Yogini 💙

Adina Crawford is a yoga teacher, Aqua Bootcamp instructor, runner and community advocate in Germantown, Maryland. Through Deanie the Yogini, she brings gentle, chair and yin yoga, breathwork and meditation to women who rarely get access to wellness spaces, including women who have experienced domestic violence or sexual assault and women in the Latino community.

Her approach is trauma-informed and built on choice. She doesn't see her role as fixing anyone. She holds a safe space and lets each woman decide what feels right in her own body.

The moment that stayed with her: eyes filling up, then the smiles, then the hugs. "Plant the seed."

Thanks to our partners at @gaiam, Adina received new mats this year so more women can take that first breath on their own mat. That's love in practice.

Her advice for teachers who want to serve their community: "Start by listening, not teaching. Start with one person, one breath, one safe space, and let the impact grow from there."

🔗 Follow Adina's work: @adinavcrawford

💛 Save this for inspiration, and share it with a teacher who's ready to start with one breath.

@adinavcrawford @gaiam

#MatGrantMonday #LoveInPractice #GiveBackYoga #YogaService #TraumaInformedYoga #ChairYoga #GermantownMD by @givebackyoga

You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. 🌊 Jon Kabat-Zinn

Hard weeks still come. Practice doesn't make them stop. It helps us find our footing while they roll through.

That's what our teachers bring every week to recovery centers, veterans' groups, shelters and schools: a few steady breaths, and the reminder that balance can be learned.

💾 Save this for the next big wave. 📤 Share it with someone who's riding one right now.

#LoveInPractice #SundayInspiration #JonKabatZinn #Mindfulness #YogaService #GiveBackYoga #YogaForMentalHealth by @givebackyoga

Does yoga actually help mental health? We went to the research. 📚

The strongest evidence comes from randomized controlled trials, where people are randomly assigned to yoga or a comparison group. Here's what some of the most rigorous ones found:

🔵 Anxiety: In a trial of 226 adults with generalized anxiety disorder, 54% improved with yoga vs. 33% with stress education.
🔵 Depression: For people still depressed on antidepressants, adding weekly yoga meant 51% responded by six months vs. 31%.
🔵 Trauma: In a trauma-informed yoga trial, 52% of women with chronic PTSD no longer met diagnostic criteria, compared with 21% in the control group.

One more finding matters most to us: across 19 trials, people who practiced more often saw greater relief, and benefits faded when classes stopped. Consistency is the medicine.

That's why we fund teachers who show up every week in recovery centers, clinics, shelters and schools. Love, backed by evidence. 🧡

Yoga works best alongside care from a mental health professional, not in place of it.

💾 Save this for the next time someone asks if yoga "really works." Full citations in the comments.

#LoveInPractice #YogaForMentalHealth #YogaResearch #YogaService #GiveBackYoga #PracticeNotes by @givebackyoga

Mat Grant Monday: Garnet Heart Wellness Co 🧡

After more than 30 years of practice and years running a yoga center in Vermont, Danielle Vardakas moved to West Palm Beach and saw a gap she couldn't ignore. Vermont offered scholarships so people in need could train with qualified teachers. Florida didn't. And in a city with an extreme wealth gap, many people couldn't afford yoga or meditation at all.

So she started a nonprofit to change that.

Today, Garnet Heart Wellness offers free yoga and meditation six days a week, in the studio and live on Zoom, for anyone on EBT or Medicaid or in addiction recovery. Their buy-one-give-one teacher training means every paying student opens a free seat for someone with a low income. About 600 people have been part of it so far.

One moment Danielle shared: a mother in recovery, after more than a decade of addiction, regained custody of her children. Now her kids practice right beside her.

Thanks to our partners at @gaiam, Garnet Heart received new mats this spring to keep those classes going. That's love in practice.

Her advice for teachers thinking about outreach in their own community: "That is true yoga! It is bhakti. It is ahimsa. I'm excited to see your impact!"

🔗 Learn more about Garnet Heart: link in bio 💛 Save this for inspiration, and share it with a teacher who's ready to serve.

@garnet_heart_wellness @gaiam

#MatGrantMonday #LoveInPractice #GiveBackYoga #YogaService #YogaForRecovery #YogaForAll #WestPalmBeach by @givebackyoga

“Well-being is a skill.” — Dr. Richard Davidson, neuroscientist

We love this one because it’s backed by science. Dr. Davidson’s research shows that calm, compassion, and resilience aren’t fixed traits we either have or don’t. They’re skills, and like any skill, they get stronger the more we practice them.

Yesterday was World Mental Health Day, and this feels like the right follow-up. Every class the teachers and yoga therapists we support lead in a recovery center, a classroom, or a hospital room is a chance for someone to practice well-being, one breath at a time. That’s Love In Practice.

What’s one small practice keeping you steady this week? Tell us in the comments, and save this post for the days you need a reminder. 🧡

#LoveInPractice #GiveBackYoga #YogaService #MentalHealthMatters #WellbeingIsASkill by @givebackyoga

Yoga doesn't just feel good. The research shows it changes how we handle stress, emotions, and even the brain itself. 🧠

For #WorldMentalHealthDay, we're sharing a few minutes with Dr. Sat Bir Singh Khalsa of Harvard Medical School, one of the leading researchers in yoga science, who has been studying yoga since 2001.

In this clip, he explains why chronic stress matters so much for our health, how yoga builds the capacity to stay steady when things get hard, and how meditation can quiet negative thought loops and, over time, even change brain structure.

This is why yoga service matters. The teachers and yoga therapists we support bring these tools to people carrying the heaviest loads: in recovery centers, hospitals, shelters, schools, and prisons. That's love in practice.

🎥 Watch Dr. Khalsa's full talk on stress, resilience, and burnout on our YouTube channel. Link in bio.
💛 Save this for a day you need the reminder, and share it with someone who does.

#WorldMentalHealthDay #YogaForMentalHealth #YogaResearch #YogaService #LoveInPractice #GiveBackYoga by @givebackyoga