Courtney Hergesheimer | DISPATCH

Volunteer Candy McDowall teaches yoga to youths in the Huckleberry House, a shelter for runaways. The goal is to give the teenagers, some of whom are prone to impulsive outbursts of anger, a technique to help them manage their emotions.

The Columbus Dispatch Wednesday March 6, 2013 4:34 AM

This is not the typical yoga class.

The students are wearing baggy jeans, not form-fitting yoga pants. The music in the background is hip-hop and pop, not new-age instrumental. Theres constant laughter and chatter Stretches are hard, one teenager complains and friendly teasing about passing gas and taking naps.

Its a class for at-risk youths who live in a shelter for runaways, and the easy vibe so often present in pricey yoga studios has no place here.

This class is at Huckleberry House, a nonprofit shelter for teenagers at 1421 Hamlet St. Candy McDowall, a former Huckleberry House counselor, has been teaching the weekly classes there for six months.

McDowall came back to Huckleberry House after taking training through Yoga Gangsters, a nonprofit organization that tries to take yoga to at-risk people. She teaches the classes as a volunteer.

Each class has a different mix of kids, because each week, new kids arrive at and leave Huckleberry House. McDowall bantered right back with the five teens in one recent class, but shes also keenly aware of her role.

Many of the Huckleberry House residents are there because an adult has beaten them up or sexually assaulted them, and they might be nervous about another adult touching them. Some are there because they cant get along with their parents, and might have trouble listening to grown-ups telling them what to do.

Original post:
Yoga classes help at-risk youths manage stress