Yoga Behind Bars Teacher Training 
April 5th & 6th,  2014

Join a growing force in your community creating social change with yoga and meditation.

In this two-day training, you will hear stories from the field, learn how to increase your impact as a teacher, gain a greater understanding of the prison culture you'll be entering, get real-time feedback and guidance from masters in the field, and receive the Yoga Behind Bars manual, one of the best resources available for teaching in prisons. Class counts for 14 CE credits with Yoga Alliance.

Be prepared to have your mind blown and your heart opened. OH AND! All the people involved are awesome.

Prerequisites:
1. Completion of or current enrollment in a Yoga Alliance certified 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training course or equivalent experience.

Conveniently located in Seattle's Madison Park neighborhood at the beautiful Lila Yoga studio. 

About the Trainers

Rosa Vissers, interim Executive Director & Development & Communications Director. Rosa joined Yoga Behind Bars as a volunteer in 2010 and has never looked back. She became a staff member in January 2013 contributing a wiide range of experience as a development professional for grassroots nonprofits such as Velocity Dance Center and Dance Art Group. Originally from the Netherlands, Rosa combines her commitment to service with an international dance career, which has taken her across the US, and to Hungary, Germany, France and the Netherlands. 

Seeking a practice to cope with the stresses of dancing, Rosa fell in love with yoga in 2005 and completed her 500-hour Yoga Certification in 2007 at Centered City Yoga with D’ana Baptiste. She earned an MFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah, a BFA from ArtEZ in the Netherlands, holds a certificate in Non-Profit Fundraising Management from the University of Washington, and is a certified Permaculture Designer. She believes together we can create a compassion revolution.

Nari Baker, Program Director. Nari comes to Yoga Behind Bars with a background in social justice advocacy and a passion for yoga. She is a graduate of Hampshire College and a Fulbright grantee. For the past 10 years, Nari has been engaged in community organizing, politics, and art-making in communities of color, in particular, Asian/Asian American communities. She has worked at the Wing Luke Museum, ChangeLab, Seattle Yoga Arts, and Yoga for People of Color. In 2012, she completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training at Seattle Yoga Arts with Elizabeth Rainey and Denise Benitez. Nari deeply believes in the transformative healing powers of yoga, and embodiment as a radical tool of resistance for people whom are oppressed and marginalized. In addition to yoga and social justice work, Nari enjoys spending time with her family, making art, cooking and reading.

Nova Guthrie: While incarcerated, Nova found Yoga and began sharing the practice with other women behind bars, teaching sometimes more than 15 classes a week for over 5 years. She has unparalleled experience with the specific needs of incarcerated women and techniques that can truly bring healing.

And current Yoga Behind Bars teachers Vanessa Skantze, Bonnie Dike, Laurel Rayburn, Stephen Coger, Julie Dean and Ferrah Roberts.