For over 2000 years the science of yoga has provided a toolkit to calm the mind and our mission is to make yoga available to those who have least access to it and can benefit most from it.
When you have to cope with homelessness you don’t get to prioritise your mental and physical health and we want to change that. The numbers of those sleeping rough in Sydney is at a five year high and perhaps more alarmingly 27% of the city’s homeless are under 18.
Sissi, homeless at 14, diagnosed with severe post traumatic stress, discovered yoga and now embarking on yoga teaching training with “The Yoga Foundation scholarship” in 2016, continuing her healing and personal growth
Our Street Yoga Program brings yoga to people living both on and off the street in temporary housing facilities.
We’ll provide homeless people with a free service that will bring them respite, mental and physical health benefits and positive social interaction. Our yoga is aimed at equipping people with some simple relaxation skills that can help them manage feelings of stress, anxiety and build mental resilience.
Jean Paul, now enjoying weekly yoga with The Yoga Foundation
We want to pay all our amazing, highly trained yoga teachers so this program is sustainable and of the highest quality. We also need to pay our program manager to ensure the multiple yoga programs run smoothly and the program grows to bring yoga to more people experiencing homelessness. $15,000 enables us to deliver over 100 yoga classes in various locations all over Greater Sydney.
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The Yoga Foundation is an Australian non for profit established in 2009. We lead evidence-based yoga programs to reduce anxiety and depression and improve quality of life amongst people experiencing disadvantage.
We are committed to bringing about personal change, social connection and service integration through yoga.
As well as quality service delivery, we are involved in the development of an evidence base for the benefits of yoga amongst various groups. As part of this commitment, Founding Director Michael de Manincor is currently doing PhD research in yoga and mental health at the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research (CompleMED), University of Western Sydney.
Watch our video below to find our more about our work and the people we have helped.