yoga for youth - programs

Y.O.G.A. for Youth Mexico

STATEMENT
May 2010

Driven by conscience and a commitment to serve, five Mexican women, Aradhana, Bhagwant, Guru Prem, Sat Hari and Sat Nam Kaurs, undertook Krishna Kaur's Y.O.G.A for Youth Program in Mexico. Since August 2006, a team of certified Y4Y instructors have been teaching two to four classes a week at the girls' prison to both, the girls being judged in one area (Diagnostic) and those already serving time in another one (Treatment). Attendance has reached up to 90% of the population.

Simultaneously, other instructors taught at the young mens' detention camps; and Centros de Integración Juvenil¸centers for drug and alcohol rehabilitation for the young. In Casa Alianza, the Mexican branch of the New York based Covenant House, dedicated to rescue youngsters 12 to 18 years old who have been abandoned, mistreated or driven out of their homes to live in the streets, subject to sexual and labor exploitation and drug addiction, YOGA para Jóvenes serves three of their facilities. Classes are also given to the staff of this institution, in an integration effort and better understanding of the blessings of Yoga and meditation.

The work of this group of teachers is best summed up by two testimonials:

"Yoga practice came at one of the most difficult moments in my life. I was in a rebellious stage and nothing made sense. There was no relief.

I decided to stop the suffering and started to connect with and know the real me, a person I did not believe existed and that now I enjoy so much.

In the outside world I searched for so long my well-being in friends and stimulants, to no avail. Today I know that happiness and contentment are in me: I decide how I want to feel.

Thanks to YOGA para Jóvenes I have a better perspective of the future. I am now conscious that every action bears consequences.

I am proof and bear witness that you can change your life. It always makes sense. I believe that what's important is to know that you are a valuable person.

Thank you for creating this Program to help the young in the search of their identity and happiness. Thank you truly, were it not for you I might not be the woman I am today."

~ Testimonial written to Krishna Kaur by a 16-year-old girl at the detention facility in Coyoacan, Mexico City

"My sincere recognition and gratitude to the members of the YOGA para Jóvenes group of teachers that, since August 2006, have volunteered their service to the young interns in this Center in both areas, Diagnostic and Treatment.

I do not overlook mentioning that their dedication has led these minors to recognize through this discipline the importance of maintaining physical and emotional balance, which undoubtedly contribute in their process of reincorporation to society.

For these reasons, we expect to count on your continued participation and support. We reiterate our commitment in the practice of this discipline."

~ Lic. María del Carmen Pérez Rocha, Director of the Young Women's Detention Center

A drop in the bucket for the dimension of the needs... YOGA para Jóvenes is at work... the challenges are enormous, but so is the will of this group of teachers committed to serve.

Teachers participating at present: