Yoga Hope is a non-profit yoga outreach program based in western Massachusetts bringing the practice of yoga and meditation to underserved women; women who have been incarcerated, are undergoing addiction treatment and rehabilitation,  living on the streets, battered women and women transitioning from hospital treatment for disordered eating.

Founded by Sue Jones, the program consists of volunteer teachers who offer their time and energy to teach classes and offer a scholarship program and teacher training to participants of the outreach program.

Here’s a video of Yoga Hope at work. Visit their site to learn more or get involved.

Two years ago my dear friend Ryan from One Yoga in Saskatoon brought me to a 3-day workshop with Reverend Father Joe Pereira while he was visiting Toronto. To this day that workshop is one of the most vivid examples I have ever had of the true transformative peace that can come from a yoga practice. Fr. Joe is a senior Iyengar teacher and a good friend and colleague of Mr. Iyengar and he worked alongside Mother Teresa for many years in India. Fr. Joe is the founder of the Kripa Foundation where he works to treat HIV patients and people recovering from chemical dependencies.

Kripa Foundation is the largest NGO in India, affiliated with the Union Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, working among people afflicted with chemical dependency & HIV Infection. Kripa Foundation has become a module of non-discriminating, supportive community living, empowering people to introspect and bring about a change in lifestyle. Kripa’s strength lies in the eastern disciplines and facilitating lifestyle change, which it propagates in all its centers as Basic Therapy to cope with life’s stresses including addiction, which is an outward manifestation of the turmoil within an individual.  It is this inner healing which is enabling Kripa to realize its dream of becoming a global presence.