Tēnā koutou katoa,
The last 6 months has proven to be very affirming for all of the positive work we are doing – with a lot of exceptional prisoner feedback around our in-person classes, as well as our correspondence course.
The challenge now is to find new ways to keep delivering yoga at our current pace. We have programs beginning in some new units around the country, including two Mums n Bubs units, and an Elderly unit. We feel so fortunate to have skilled teachers on board who are equipped to deal with these vulnerable groups.
On October 6th we held our first trauma-informed yoga in prisons workshop in Auckland at the gorgeous Kawai PuraPura. Jane, John, Adele and Adhyatma came together to present a comprehensive, practical training session. Following on from this workshop we delivered approximately 50 brand new Teachers Handbooks to all our affiliates. Thanks to Ricoh for gifting free printing of the Handbook.
Adhyatma and Jo Vernon went to speak to around 200 people at the Ministry of Justice last week as guests of the Diwali team who had chosen YEPT to be the (grateful!) recipient of this year’s fundraiser. They then enjoyed a sumptuous meal after talks of chickpeas, puri, salad, dahl and rice. Thankyou Diwali team!
Adhyatma was also cheerfully surprised to receive a Kiwibank Local hero award this year alongside many other amazing kiwis doing stunning work in the community.
Thank you to Mercury Energy for a grant that is helping a new teacher Holly Cahill provide 12 weeks of yoga in the special treatment unit at Springhill Correctional Facility.
We’re currently embarking on an ambitious project to explore how we can best bring tikanga māori into our yoga education curriculum to bridge the two spiritual philosophies and practices together for our prison populations. Taane Mete teaches in an Auckland prison and doing a phenomenal job weaving his Māori ancestry and knowledge into his prison classroom. Below is his story.
Wishing you and yours a harmonious summer.
On behalf of YEPT,
Adhyatma, Adele, John, Jasmin, Andrea, Jane and Pat
Teacher Profile – Taane Mete
“When I teach yoga in prison, I keep asking myself 3 basic questions:
1 Why do I teach yoga?
2 Who is yoga for?
3 Is yoga inclusive or exclusive?
With these three questions, I look at how I bring Tikanga and Matauranga into the yoga framework. In actual fact, they are very much the same. Ancient practices that centre around awareness and understanding.
READ TAANE’s FULL PROFILE >>
Prisoner Stories
The last 6 months has proven to be very affirming for all of the positive work we are doing – with a lot of exceptional prisoner feedback around our in-person classes, as well as our correspondence course. We get so many amazing letters from prisoners doing the Correspondence Course…this is an excerpt from one of them.
