My first yoga class was with a well-respected, but stern Iyengar teacher in a drafty YMCA basketball court. I didn't connect with the practice and “dropped out” immediately.

How Yoga Transforms Lives, Interviews, Yoga of 12-Step Recovery

Dr. Nzinga Harrison on healing addiction through mind, body and spirit.

Melanie Taylor, founder of the Life of Wellness Institute, offers seven tips to teachers to create safe yoga spaces for students with eating disorders.

All of us at Give Back Yoga celebrate the life and remarkable impact of long time board member, Isabella de la Houssaye.

Chelsea Roff reflects on the highlights from this year's event and what it truly means to create cultures of prevention.

About Dr. Raj Balkaran

Dr. Raj Balkaran is a […]

Lynn Gifford is an E-RYT, YACEP, Yoga of 12-Step Recovery (Y12SR) Leadership Trainer and Yoga of 12-Step Recovery (Y12SR) space-holder offering weekly meetings each Sunday.

Melanie has dedicated her life and work to transforming what it means to live with stress, trauma, PTSD, and an eating disorder. Melanie guides her students on their own journey to reclaiming their authentic selves through embodied living.

Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist and the New York Times best-selling author of My Stroke of Insight, a book telling the story of what she learned when she had a severe stroke in 1996.

Claudia Cavazza has been teaching yoga to veterans and first responders for years. She has shared the practice of yoga with veterans with the hope that in doing so they might not experience the suffering that her grandparents and family endured.

Julia Dillon is an editor for a foundational 12-step organization, Y12SR leader, and an RYT-500 with the New England School of Integrative Yoga. Julia has taught in studio, outpatient rehab, hospital, corporate and private settings.

David Swenson is recognized as one of the world's foremost practitioners and teachers of Asthanga Yoga. In this short interview, David shares his experience of the impact a yoga mat can have—how it challenge and inspire, and even change lives.

When her best friend passed away, Mariah struggled with walking and moving. After yoga helped her to regain independence, she created Yoga for CP to show others with Cerebral Palsy and disability that they too can practice yoga.

After nineteen years of teaching languages in secondary and post-secondary schools, Susie was ready for a change. Now, she serves as the Program Director for Prison Yoga Project-Alabama. This is her story.

This is an interview with John Gillard, who explored yoga for several years while he was active duty military. “There is no separation between yoga and service for me,” says John. “I receive so much from my practice; it is only sensible to give back, at least a fraction.”

Lucilda Dassardo-Cooper discusses the barriers to traditional yoga spaces for people of color, the health disparities and inequities in medical care, and how she created Project Breath in response.

As she listened to a conversation about violence in schools in 2004, Dee Marie had an idea: teach ahimsa in schools. But her plan was trickier than anticipated to implement. Dee Marie shares how the story unfolded.

Dr. Shannon Prince is a Black social justice lawyer, legal commentator, author, and yogi. In this interview, she shares her thoughts on yoga as an antiracist practice, and how to cultivate the skills to fight prejudice — on and off the mat.

Mark Stefanowksi, Founder of Full Throttle Yoga, has been supporting Give Back Yoga for a decade. In this short interview, he shares what is it about Give Back Yoga and its programs that he feels is essential.

In 2019, Gina Barrett found herself called to serve at the U.S.-Mexico border. Guided by earlier work in Central America and Jamaica as an expert in international administration, Gina founded the Casa de Paz SLV.