The Give Back Yoga Foundation

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The Give Back Yoga Foundation

Yoga can change a life. The Give Back Yoga Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in the United States and a registered charity in the United Kingdom.

We help yoga teachers, health workers, and charitable organizations bring to individuals facing illness, hardship, and inequality. Over the past thirteen years, we have offered yoga to people in prisons, hospitals, and mental health centers. We have trained over ten thousand yoga teachers and healthcare workers, awarded more than $400,000 (USD) in grants, and dist

ributed more than 20,000 mats to kickstart programs in communities where there are barriers to access healthcare. OUR MISSION
Our mission is to bring the therapeutic benefits of yoga to people facing illness and hardship. We help yoga teachers, healthcare workers, and charitable organizations offer yoga to people facing addiction, cancer, eating disorders, incarceration, and post-traumatic stress. We also work with community partners to increase access to yoga for populations that face systemic bias and prejudice. HOW WE WORK
We support a broad spectrum of the yoga service movement; from teachers leading classes in their local communities, to seedling yoga service projects, to established not-for-profit organizations. Our strategy includes three key initiatives:

START-UP SUPPLIES
We send free yoga mats to yoga teachers and healthcare workers to lead not-for-profit yoga projects in their local communities. SMALL GRANTS
We provide funding to yoga teachers and small organizations to kickstart not-for-profit yoga projects. RESEARCH & EDUCATION
We work in collaboration with academic institutions to conduct and disseminate research on the benefits of yoga for individuals facing illness and hardship.

04/30/2026

As National Volunteer Month comes to a close, it’s worth asking:

What helps you stay in this work?

Because yoga service isn’t just about showing up once—it’s about continuing.

Renewal is what makes that possible.

✨ The practices that ground you
✨ The community that supports you
✨ The moments that remind you why you started

Take a moment to reflect:

What’s helping you stay connected to your purpose right now?

Hold onto that. It’s part of your foundation.

04/27/2026

🌼 Mat Monday | Renewal Through Connection 🌼

This week we’re featuring Justina Valdez and Wildflower Wishes in Phoenix, AZ.

What started as a shared yoga practice with her own children has grown into a community-centered program bringing mindfulness and movement to kids and families—many of whom face economic barriers and limited access to wellness resources.

Through playful activities like “Yogi Says” and kindness challenges, children are learning how to regulate their emotions, connect with others, and build confidence.

The impact extends beyond the classroom—parents are sharing that their children are bringing these tools home, helping create moments of calm and connection within their families.

Thank you to our Mat Donor Gaiam for supporting access to this important work.

04/25/2026

Growth doesn’t always look like progress.

Sometimes it looks like sitting in the unknown.

Like trusting something is shifting beneath the surface.

Renewal often begins in places we can’t yet see.

🌑 What’s quietly unfolding for you right now?

04/22/2026

On Earth Day, we’re reminded that renewal happens in cycles.

Rest. Restore. Regrow.

The same is true for us—and for the communities we serve.

During Stress Awareness Month, this is your reminder:
🌎 You are part of the ecosystem too.
🌎 Your energy matters.
🌎 Your rest matters.
🌎 Your ability to receive support matters.

In yoga service, we don’t just give—we participate in something larger.

And when we care for ourselves, we help sustain the whole.

04/20/2026

🌅 Mat Monday | Renewal Through Service 🌅

This week we’re honored to highlight Erringer Helbling and Project Sunrise from Demati in Washington, DC.

Project Sunrise offers weekly sunrise yoga sessions for the global security community—bringing together veterans, public servants, and others in meaningful public spaces like the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.

These gatherings create opportunities for participants to move, reflect, and reconnect in environments that feel familiar and accessible. For many, it’s a chance to transform stress and grief into healing through shared experience.

One particularly powerful moment came leading up to September 11th, when participants gathered at dawn in collective practice—embodying connection, remembrance, and renewal.

Thank you to our Mat Donor lululemon for helping make this work possible.

Learn more: https://www.demati.com/projectsunrise

04/18/2026

There’s something powerful about learning to be at home in your body.

Not when it’s perfect.
Not when it’s easy.
But exactly as it is.

Because when we meet ourselves with compassion, it naturally extends outward.

Renewal begins here—within.

04/15/2026

April is National Volunteer Month, and in yoga spaces, service often comes from a place of deep care.

But care without boundaries can quickly lead to depletion.

Renewal in service work means:

✔ Saying yes with intention
✔ Knowing when to rest
✔ Remembering you don’t have to do everything to make a difference

Your presence is powerful—but it doesn’t have to come at the cost of your well-being.

Sustainable service is what allows this work to continue.

04/13/2026

💛 Mat Monday | The Power of Service 💛

This week we’re featuring Jen Larsen, who teaches trauma-informed yoga at the Hampshire County House of Corrections in Amherst, MA.

With over 20 years of experience and specialized training in trauma-sensitive yoga, Jen brings practices focused on breath, awareness, and nervous system regulation to incarcerated individuals—many of whom would not otherwise have access to yoga.

In a setting that is often overstimulating and high-stress, these classes offer something deeply needed: a moment of quiet, a chance to reset, and tools participants can carry with them beyond the mat.

Participants report feeling calmer, less reactive, and more aware—and one individual was so inspired that he pursued yoga teacher training after his release.

Thank you to our Mat Donor lululemon for helping expand access to this important work.

04/11/2026

Life has a way of pulling us in a hundred directions.

Yoga invites us back.

Back to the breath.
Back to the body.
Back to ourselves.

Renewal isn’t about never falling apart—
it’s about knowing you can return.

Again and again.

04/08/2026

Stress doesn’t always look like overwhelm.

Sometimes it shows up as:
– rushing through a sequence
– over-planning your class
– feeling like you have to “get it right”

During Stress Awareness Month, we’re invited to notice—not fix.

As teachers, awareness is where renewal begins.

Before your next class, try this:
Pause and ask yourself—
“What is my energy like right now?”

No judgment. Just information.

When you teach from awareness, your students feel it.

04/06/2026

💛 Mat Monday | The Power of Service 💛

This week we’re highlighting Joanna Roewart, a Registered Nurse and yoga teacher who brings yoga to law enforcement and firefighter recruits at a local community college in Mooresville, North Carolina.

With a background in trauma care, Joanna understands the importance of supporting both physical and mental well-being—especially for those preparing to serve in high-stress roles.

For many recruits, this is their first exposure to yoga. What begins with hesitation often becomes a meaningful experience of strength, awareness, and calm.

One participant shared that while they didn’t know what to expect, they found both a physical challenge and a sense of peace through the practice.

Thank you to our Mat Donor Gaiam for supporting this work.

04/04/2026

Compassion isn’t something we force—it’s something we make space for.

Through practice, we soften.
We open.
We become more able to hold what’s here—within ourselves and for others.

Maybe renewal doesn’t mean changing who we are.
Maybe it’s about creating more room for what already lives within us.

🌱 What are you making space for right now?

Address

Boulder, CO

Website

http://givebackyoga.org/

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