Yoga's Real World Impact
Sometimes things are bigger than us. A quick look at yoga’s powerful real-life impact on the diverse communities it serves
Reading time: 3 minutes
The Hope Foundation
Yoga community unites to support street children in India
Yoga teachers from around the world came together in June for Yoga for HOPE, a growing movement celebrating International Yoga Day and supporting The Hope Foundation (HOPE), a charity dedicated to transforming the lives of street-connected children in Kolkata, India.
Throughout the event, 22 amazing teachers led in-person, online and on-demand yoga classes, raising more than £3,500 through 200 class bookings. Highlights included a special class held by HOPE Patron Simon Low; Lille Sommerschield’s restorative session in a serene Norwegian forest; and Ulla Vogl’s riverside yoga in Henley-on-Thames. Many of the classes are available on demand for a donation.
Voted ‘Favourite Yoga Charity’ at the OM Yoga Awards 2024, HOPE is inviting more yoga teachers to get involved. “The yoga community continues to show such compassionate support,” said Juliette Whittaker, head of fundraising (HOPE UK). “We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who supported Yoga for HOPE, and encourage more teachers to join our movement and give back to the country that gave the world yoga.”
Yoga is part of daily life for many of the children in HOPE’s care, supporting their health and holistic wellbeing. Since 1999, the charity has helped over 3.3 million people in Kolkata, working to restore dignity and human rights to the city’s most vulnerable children and families.
Visit: thehopefoundation.org.uk
The Prison Pheonix Trust
Delivering a message of hope and healing to people in prison through yoga and meditation
The Prison Phoenix Trust’s (PPT) latest Impact Report describes a growth in demand for yoga and meditation in prisons at a time of huge challenge for prison staff — and the people in their care.
“During a year of much change, we are proud to have maintained the level of one to one support offered by our staff and volunteers to those in custodial settings,” said Suzy Dymond-White, the PPT’s chair of trustees.
“Our yoga teachers continue to deliver classes within the custodial environment and the impact is far reaching. Our digital resources are proving popular with excellent feedback which supports our belief that yoga and meditation have a profoundly positive impact on mood, sleep, stress, mental focus and peace of mind.”
Key highlights of the report include:
• 2024 saw a 33% increase in prisons with regular yoga classes
• PPT reached 5% of the prison population in the UK and Ireland
• 84% of participants in Mindful Yoga courses saw an improvement in mental wellbeing
• 2,143 people living in prison received free resource packs
Visit: theppt.org.uk
Upward Frog
Delivering accessible yoga classes to the Stockport community
Social enterprise Upward Frog takes accessible yoga classes into Stockport’s hospitals and disadvantaged neighbourhoods to help residents manage long-term health conditions. It released its first annual report recently, highlighting yoga’s incredible impact on mental illness, chronic pain, fatigue, ageing, anxiety and on communities.
The report shows the holistic benefits and measurable impacts of practicing yoga, according to its CEO Emma Gartside. “It shows how our vital and wholehearted work makes a tangible difference in communities across Stockport – when yoga can be made available and accessible to their residents.”
Gartside said that Upward Frog is committed to making yoga available to all who want it by removing financial, health and demographic barriers. “Yoga can have a transformational effect on people’s health and wellbeing and we believe it should be available and accessible to everyone, as our report shows.”
Visit: upwardfrog.yoga
Om Magazine
First published in November 2009, OM Yoga magazine has become the most popular yoga title in the UK. Available from all major supermarkets, independents and newsstands across the UK. Also available on all digital platforms.
