Taryn

One Yoga Community

There are many ways to define the idea of community. We asked our teachers, students and outreach partners to collectively define what community means to us. At One Yoga, community is…

an environment in which everyone can respectfully express their true selves.

rich in the welcoming spirit of inclusion & the open-hearted embrace of diversity. Community creates belonging and freedom. Community is the space within which to be challenged and thrive. Community cultivates respect & deep listening.

a value that is realized when we gather in harmony. It may involve simply being present to one another or sharing food or sharing ideas. A strong community is like a ship that goes through troubled waters and through calm seas. There are struggles on the seas and struggles within but friendship and shared values holds the community together. It is different from a family because we are not related by blood but by a shared hope or dream or vision or goal. Some communities exist only for an hour and others have a life time membership. A community can be as small as three persons or as large as thousands.

real people willing to work with kids who have been in trouble and the collaborative effort to show kids another way to understand their health and wellness.

warmth, safety and acceptance, wherever you may find it.

understanding the relationship between all things and helping to make the connections.

being part of something larger than yourself, where you are accepted for who you are and supported in your highs and in your lows.

a group of individuals coming together to share, support, respect and nourish each other’s personal growth and a peaceful planet Earth for all beings.

Community is connectedness- however one describes it. As a community, we have a responsibility to one another, knowing that the health and well-being of any individual is dependent on the health and well-being of all. Each of us has something to offer and to receive.

How do you define community? What are the ways you connect to others and create community in your life?

Midday Meditation – Yoga in the Workplace

You know the feeling: It’s a typical weekday morning. You settle in at your desk to get cracking on the many emails that flood your inbox. Or maybe instead of settling in at your desk, you are busy running around the office, running around town or in meeting after meeting with little time to stretch. By the afternoon, you’re tired, lacking focus and motivation.

Sound familiar? Not to the employees at Second Harvest Heartland. Thanks to their wellness committee and One Yoga’s outreach program, nonprofit workplaces are able to offer affordable, weekly, on-site yoga classes for employees! Angela Vincent currently teaches for a similar partnership at Project for Pride in Living, which offers yoga as a health benefit to their employees and volunteers.

“I have a lot of problems with my neck,” says Lisa, a Second Harvest Heartland employee, “and I have found that the stretching that we do in yoga really helps, and my neck feels much better after the class.” In addition to physical benefits, several studies show the cognitive benefits of yoga and meditation in the workplace. In a 2010 study of mindfulness-based meditation, psychologists noted that participants who had trained in meditation for less than a week for only 20 minutes a day demonstrated a significant improvement in their cognitive skills (including their ability to concentrate) and performed better than the participants who did not receive training. A 2009 pilot study at Ohio State University also suggests that even in small amounts workplace meditation and yoga can reduce feelings of stress and increase sleep quality in office workers.

Each week, One Yoga instructor Shira Charis and twenty staff members at Second Harvest Heartland transform their conference room, pull out mats and dim the lights to set up the space for on-site yoga. Classes take place during the employees’ lunch break so that it requires no extra time commitment. For staff, the space is a welcome breather from the hectic work week.

As Patricia, a Second Harvest Heartland yoga student, explains, “At first I wasn’t sure how I would feel about changing my clothes and then changing back again, but the hour of relaxation and escape is totally worth it. It is so nice to have a lunch period that provides an escape like that.”

Jealous? You can have it, too! Talk to your supervisor, human resources department, or wellness committee and request yoga at your workplace. As an added bonus, revenue from One Yoga’s workplace yoga classes help to support our community outreach fund, making yoga accessible to even more people!