Volunteering Yoga at Family Tree
by Barb DeCet

Volunteering at the Gemini shelter, a shelter for teenagers' ages 11 - 17, who come from abusive or neglected home lives, or who are runaways, or homeless has changed my life in a very positive way.

I first started volunteering to teach yoga at Gemini a year and a half ago. My goal was to share the rewards of yoga with a group of kids who could hopefully benefit from the stress reduction and calming aspects that yoga provides. This venture was a gamble for Family Tree Gemini, my co-yoga teacher, Dixi Gloystein, and myself.

With the outstanding support of the Gemini Care Workers, yoga at Gemini has become a great success. Soon after I started teaching yoga at Gemini, one young girl came up to me and said, 'Keep coming back'. Other kids have said 'how well they slept at night after class', 'I had fun', 'this feels so good', and 'I wish you'd come every day'. One young man on his way to another facility commented on how he would take with him the calming techniques we had done in class. Another girl practiced yoga in her room during the week. In addition, the Care Workers have commented on how calm and relaxed the kids are after yoga class.

In class, there's laughter, there's joy, and there's self-esteem that exudes from the teen's successes. The success of the classes is also due to the outstanding support of the Care Workers at Gemini who have supported the yoga classes since the beginning.

Being present, being committed, and showing someone you care can make a huge difference in that person's life. Some of these kids thirst for and reach out for the smallest amount of care, concern, and positive reinforcement. And who knows, maybe one or more the teens might make a positive life-changing decision based on something they learned, felt, or experienced from the yoga classes.

The genuine hugs and the heart-felt thank you for being there from the kids warms and enriches my heart and soul. Volunteer teaching yoga at Gemini has been one of the best things I have ever done.