Natalie Tomlin, special to wtop.com

WASHINGTON - Yoga is doing more than improving the bodies and minds of those who belong to a local studio. Yoga outreach programs are extending their reach throughout the area, making the popular practice accessible to anyone who is interested.

Jasmine Chehrazi, founder of Yoga District and Yoga Activist, is one of many yoga instructors and enthusiasts in the area helping to combat yoga's cookie-cutter image.

"The point of the practice for many is self-realization and understanding who you really are," she says. "Everyone has that question -- everyone. It doesn't matter where you come from, how you look, whether you can touch your toes or not, what your cultural or economic or racial background is. We have to adapt the practice to make it relevant."

She believes yoga is a practice that serves each individual in a unique way, and she is helping to spread the practice of yoga to a variety of communities throughout the area.

In 2006, Chehrazi founded Yoga District, which offers affordable yoga classes at six not-for-profit, community-run yoga studios in D.C. A seventh studio is currently being constructed in Anacostia and will open later this year.

At Yoga District, instructors teach classes of all skill levels for $11 or less.

Despite the affordability of Yoga District classes (compared to other class rates in the D.C. area, which hover around $18 a session), Chehrazi quickly noticed the practice was still restricted to the studio setting and was not reaching a wider demographic. So in 2008, she created Yoga Activist.

Supported largely by Yoga District, Yoga Activist focuses on partnering yoga instructors with social service organizations that offer yoga programs for their communities. From classroom management to trauma sensitivity, the nonprofit outreach program helps prepare teachers for instructing yoga to under-served communities.

Teachers at Yoga Activist can also set up their own outreach programs, bringing yoga instruction to churches, schools, halfway houses, mental health centers, prisons and other locations where the community members may not otherwise have exposure to yoga.

The rest is here:
Yoga outreach brings healing to all D.C. communities

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) July 09, 2013

What: Yoga master Guru Jagat is hosting a Kundalini yoga lung strengthening experience to benefit Claires Place Foundation, Inc. On July 13th, practice the healing power of Kundalini yoga, participate in a healing circle, as well as get pampered with holistic treatments and organic swag. The one-of-a-kind event will also host a health and beauty silent auction featuring items such as Moon Juice cleanse, and an Acusage and Neuromuscular Myotherapy. So, breathe, heal, and awaken your mind to support children living with cystic fibrosis.

Details: For a donation of $50.00 experience Kundalini yoga, an ideal practice in todays fast paced world as it requires little time to practice and produces profound results. Yoga means union and Kundalini creates the union between the flow of the practitioners spirit and the universal life force. This process opens up new realms of reality, vitality, prosperity, and creativity. Ultimately Kundalini yoga is a practice that awakens the inner power that exists within every human to create self-mastery and joy.

Where: RA MA Institute for Applied Yogic Science and Technology 304 Lincoln Blvd. Venice, CA 90291 310-664-3700

When: Saturday, July 13, 2013, 3:00 6:00 pm PDT

Who: Claires Place Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization designed to help children and families affected by cystic fibrosis. Claires Place Foundation is named in honor of Claire Wineland, now a teenager, who has been living with cystic fibrosis her entire life. Claire and her parents want other families to experience the benefit from the kind of support that they received and continue to get; hence, this is the motivation for the foundation. Claires experiences have catapulted her into a position of being a spokesperson and an inspirational model for people living with this disease. She has documented and created videos on how to enjoy life with CF and live life to the fullest. Claires Place Foundation is a way for Claire to give back and make meaning of what she has had to go through; the foundation is her way to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. To read more about the foundation and make a donation, visit the website (http://www.clairesplacefoundation.org).

Guru Jagat is founder of RA MA Institute for Applied Yogic Science and Technology, a portal of practice of these ancient solutions to modern problems. From depression, blood toxicity, anxiety, and insomniathere is a Yogic science called Kundalini Yoga that will heal, prevent, and change the human system from the inside out.

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Yoga Innovator to Host Fundraiser to Support Claire’s Place Foundation

BELLEVILLE The future of Sukha Yoga Center was uncertain when owner Sarah Fraser learned she would have to move by the end of July, but after asking for help, she said the city has embraced her business.

John Conkright, owner of Ben's downtown, is Fraser's landlord. The City Council recently approved a deal with Conkright, allowing him to expand and renovate areas downtown.

Included in this deal was the demolition of a building at 18 S. High St., which houses Sukha Yoga Center. The city paid Conkright $185,000 for the building, which will be turned into a parking lot.

"One of my students read it in the paper and came in and told me, 'I heard they're selling your business,' and I was like, 'Wait, what?'" Fraser said. "I would have rather had a heads-up, 'Hey, I'm thinking about selling the building,' but it is what it is."

Mayor Mark Eckert said when he was negotiating with Conkright, he knew the South High Street building had a tenant on a month-to-month basis, but it was Conkright's business to work that out, not the city's.

Fraser wrote a letter to the mayor, asking for assistance in the form of relocation options and remodeling expenses.

"I asked the city for some help. If you want me to stay here, help," Fraser said. "I got a room full of people right now. As soon as they get done, ... they're going to go shopping. They're going to eat something."

Fraser posted the letter on Sukha Yoga's website and invited her yoga students and supporters to write letters as well.

"A lot of the students were telling the city of Belleville, 'I wouldn't be (in) downtown Belleville if it wasn't for coming to this class,'" Fraser said. "Majority of my population here (have) disposable income. They can't spend large amounts of money, but they can afford to have a sushi roll after the noon class."

Mary Housman, having attended Fraser's yoga classes for three years, said she was happy to write a letter to the mayor.

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With city's help, Sukha Yoga to stay in Belleville