Contact
Emily Westlake
Administrative Manager
emily@yogabehindbars.org
206-783-0403
Tuition
$325 early bird ($350 after 9/5)
This includes 17 hours of training and a $75 manual.
Payments in installments, scholarships for people of color, and work/exchange available, please contact us for more information.
- Please note that we ask for a non-refundable $25 administrative fee from all participants
- If you unexpectedly can't make it to the training, you can move your registration fee to a future training. Or, if you need to cancel:
- If you cancel up to 14 days before training, you will get reimbursed in full, minus a $25 administrative fee
- Cancellations within 14 days of the training will be refunded 50%
- Cancellations within 7 days of the training will not be reimbursed, except in case of emergency
Who are we?
Yoga Behind Bars shares yoga and meditation with incarcerated people to promote rehabilitation, personal transformation, and a more just society for all.
When we started out, Yoga Behind Bars was one yoga teacher offering one weekly class in Seattle's downtown jail. Today a team of 60+ volunteer yoga instructors teach an average of 26 yoga and meditation classes a week in fourteen prisons, jails and detention centers across Washington state.
peace is an inside job
Yoga Behind Bars Teacher Training
Join us for the most comprehensive training available for teaching in prisons and in other vulnerable communities.
- A safe space for self-exploration, growth, and community building
- Thorough preparation to offer trauma informed yoga and meditation in prison or any other setting to foster connection, safety, and healing. Including:
- Boundary training
- Verbal adjustments and languaging
- Time with current YBB instructors
- Prison culture
- Training on race and social justice and skills for working in environments of suffering/trauma in a sustainable and just way
- Inspiration and community
- The 60+ page Yoga Behind Bars manual, valued at $150
- 17 hours of CE credit with Yoga Alliance
About the Trainers
Rosa Vissers, Executive Director. Rosa joined Yoga Behind Bars as a volunteer in 2010 and has never looked back. She became a staff member in 2013 contributing a wide range of experience working for grassroots nonprofits such as Velocity Dance Center and Dance Art Group. Originally from the Netherlands, Rosa combines her commitment to service and social justice with an international dance career.
Rosa fell in love with yoga in 2005 and completed her 500-hour Yoga Certification in 2007 at Centered City Yoga in Salt Lake City. She earned an MFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah, a BFA from ArtEZ in the Netherlands, and is a certified Permaculture Designer. She teaches at the women's prison in Gig Harbor and men's prison in Monroe. You can see her TEDx talk about the power of yoga in prisons here.
Jess Frank is YBB's Program Director. Her passion for providing transformative opportunities to incarcerated people sparked at the start of her career and has only grown since she became a YBB instructor over two years ago. As a program coordinator for the Post Prison Education Program and University Beyond Bars, Jess became both intimately acquainted with the challenges facing people in the criminal justice system and deeply inspired by the dedication of the students. As YBB's program director, Jess manages and mentors volunteers, oversees program expansion, and conducts site visits and evaluations. One of the highlights of her week is teaching yoga to 25 students at the men’s prison in Monroe.
Guest Faculty and YBB Teachers
Natalie Cielle, Co-Founder and former Executive Director of YBB
Alyssa Pizarro, Race and Social Justice Facilitator
Nova Guthrie, YBB Volunteer and formerly incarcerated person
Gwendolyn Payton, Attorney at Law and YBB volunteer
...and current Yoga Behind Bars teachers TBD!