Taking Down-Dog to the Streets: Q&A with Stephanie Toby, Director of Operations at Seattle Street Yoga

Even in a granola-friendly city like Seattle, with its countless yoga studios, yoga might not have much street credibility. But yoga’s supporters credit it with a host of physical and psychological benefits. Some organizations put this vision into practice, seeing the teaching of yoga as a form of social justice for everyone.

One such organization is Street Yoga, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing yoga to youth (and their caregivers) who might need it the most. Founded in Portland in 2002, Seattle opened its own branch in 2010. The Seattle branch works with partner agencies (such as the Ryther Child Center and Youth Care) to offer free yoga classes to youth who struggle with abuse, poverty, homelessness, or other forms of trauma. To find out more, we talked to Stephanie Toby, Director of Operations at the Seattle Programs branch.

Seattlest: Nationally (and perhaps in Seattle), yoga has the reputation for being only for a certain small economic sector or audience or even body type -- how do Street Yoga programs address these perceptions?

Stephanie Toby: Street Yoga's motto is "Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere." Yoga can be practiced by anyone. We have photos of some Street Yoga participants that we can show to new participants, so they can see youth that look like them practicing yoga. We let them know that so long as you can breathe, you can practice yoga. We let them know that you don't need to be super strong, flexible, skinny, etc. You gain strength and flexibility by practicing yoga, among its many other benefits.

Everyone has a place inside of them that is whole, strong, joyful, and at peace, and we believe everyone can access this place if given the tools and the support to do so. It's so healing and empowering to know that you are essentially whole at your core, that you can take a breath to calm yourself, that you don't have to keep reacting out of the same habit patterns if they no longer serve you. Our classes are free to the youth that participate so that cost is never an issue, and we come to the sites they are already accessing, so they don't need to find transportation to a separate location.

S: How have community members, yoga teachers, and social agencies in Seattle responded to Street Yoga?

ST: The community has responded very positively to Street Yoga. We are blessed in Seattle to have a large number of people practicing yoga and a greater-than-average understanding and acceptance of holistic practices. There are usually a few staff at our partner sites (social service agencies) that have either practiced yoga or read about its benefits. They care deeply about the youth they serve and want to give them as many tools as possible to help them heal, build resilience and feel empowered.
 
S: What is your favorite thing about working for the organization?

ST: I don't know where to start! Street Yoga is a fabulous organization. Everyone involved in Street Yoga, both staff and volunteers, are incredibly passionate and dedicated people. They all have experienced the healing and empowering effects of yoga and care very deeply about giving everyone access to these tools. The organization is full of creative and dynamic people who continue to find innovative ways to meet the needs of vulnerable youth and their caregivers through yoga. For example, Street Yoga created a Healing Sexual Abuse curriculum, a Mindful Parent and Caregiver series of workshops), and is in the midst of developing additional programming.
 
S: What's on your wish list, as an organization, for 2012? 

ST: We would like to continue to grow as an organization so that we can serve more youth and caregivers in 2012. Specifically, we would like to partner with a few more sites so that we can serve more youth (we have classes starting at 3 new sites in January!); we would like to implement a new program that we developed this year (details coming soon!); and we would like to continue to educate our community about how the tools of yoga and mindfulness benefit marginalized and traumatized populations by hosting a conference. We would love to see this simple and cost-effective, yet incredibly powerful tool to be well-understood and available to all.