Community Yoga Austin was founded in 2010 by Jyl Kutsche and Alison Fox, two yogis with a vision. When they looked at their city of Austin, they saw underserved members of our community dealing with high levels of stress, anxiety, and trauma. Jyl and Alison believed in the power of yoga and mindfulness to heal and transform our community. And so, with the mantra of sharing the practice, Community Yoga Austin was born.
Programming
Our current programs target at-risk populations in the Austin community, including prison inmates and K-12 schoolchildren from underserved areas. Our Elementary and Middle School Program helps children practice mindfulness while developing essential skills for a lifetime of health and wellness. Our High School Youth Wellness Program provides yoga therapy to at-risk teens, many of whom have experienced significant loss, trauma, abuse and/or neglect in their lives. Instructors take a clinical, mindfulness-based approach to help these youth manage their personal wellness on multiple levels and integrate yoga, relaxation training, stress reduction, anger management and life skills. Through our Prison Yoga Program, we work to establish connections with men and women at the Travis County Correctional Complex (TCCC), who have been physically severed from the larger community, and welcome them into — at the very least — the yoga community. By sharing the discipline of yoga with them, they are offered a tool that can help them to break cycles of violence, addiction, and negative-thinking.
A guiding principle at Community Yoga Austin is to share the healing practice of yoga by nurturing leadership in the community. While simply teaching yoga is a helpful first step, training and supporting community leaders to teach is the best way to ensure accessibility and sustainability. During the 2017 school year, we trained 20 students at Akins High School in basic mindfulness and yoga skills. With our support, these students built a mindfulness program for Manchaca elementary school, and taught mindfulness to seven hundred children by the end of the year. These students also successfully petitioned the AISD school board and ended suspensions for elementary school children, in favor of alternatives like restorative circles and mindfulness classes.
We Need Your Help!
Community Yoga Austin is making a difference in the lives of hundreds of Austinites, and we need the support of the larger Austin community to continue this important work. We are 100% reliant on donations, and we would like to raise $12,000 – enough to fund six full months of programming.
By contributing to this campaign, you will not only help us to meet imminent funding needs, you will also build a foundation upon which Community Yoga Austin can expand to serve even more of our Austin community.
Gifts of all sizes can make a difference, and we have great perks, including passes to yoga classes, online courses, Alamo drafthouse gift cards, Juiceland Gift cards, stickers, and even hugs! Please also support us by getting the word out and sharing this campaign with your friends. We are a community organization, and we need the help of our community. Thank you!