Equity, Access, and Giving Back with Inner Peace Yoga Therapy

Michele Lawrence
You're listening to this as yoga therapy. I'm your host, Michele Lawrence. And I've had the opportunity to interview many of those who are making a difference at the intersections of yoga and health. And I'm here to share with you their stories and conversations. Thanks for listening. In today's episode, we're talking about equity and access programs, specifically at our school Inner Peace Yoga Therapy. Joining me today are Erica Bentley, Ferny Tiflis, Wendolyne Omana and Olivia Roberson.  I'm going to start by introducing Erica and Fernie and then I'm going to turn over the rest of the interview to them because they will be asking the questions today. So first Eric Bentley, whose pronouns are she/they is a facilitator, activist and yoga therapist in training who works with currently and formerly incarcerated people and folks in addiction recovery. Erica believes in interdependence and equity and holds a vision of a world where every being has the opportunity to feel valued and whole. Fernie whose pronouns are she/hers is a yoga therapist in training as well and healing centered practitioner working to bring yoga and mindfulness resources to youth and their families living in under resourced communities. We'll get to know a little bit more about Wendolyne Omana and Olivia Roberson as we go through the podcast today, they're going to be sharing some of the projects that they've been working on. Erica, Fernie, Wendolyne and Olivia, it's great to have you all here today.

Thank you so much for having us. Thank you. It's good to be here. Great to be here.

Erica:
Michelle, can you tell us a little bit about when and why Inner Peace started our equity and access programs, how that came about.

Michele:
So at some point in 2019, before the pandemic, I was drawn to start a nonprofit foundation as a separate arm of our school, we had already been a for profit school for 10 years already, we had trained a lot of folks to become yoga therapists. And what I was noticing what was happening with me was that I was really inspired by all of the work that I was noticing our students and graduates doing in the world. And it felt like a turning point for me, where the fruits of the training were becoming more exciting to me than the training itself. And I wanted to see if we could help grow this work so that more people could get access to what our students were offering and the healing that comes with it. And at the same time that the student and yoga therapist could be paid for their work. So that was one part of it. And the other part was that we never had a formal scholarship program for our school, I would often discount or training for students who expressed financial need, but I wanted to put in place a scholarship program that was more comprehensive and was supported by more than just me in this election process. So that's basically the why and the when. And then in terms of how it came about in 2019. In order to implement this vision, I did start down the path of forming our own 50123 Foundation. And pretty soon I realized I was in over my head. And I do have quite a bit of business experience. But I had zero nonprofit experience. I realized it was going to be a lot of work and it was going to take more time than I had in mind. And kind of at that same moment while I was going through that. I was attending a workshop with Beryl Bender Birch at my home studio in Durango and I spoke with her that night at the workshop. I told her about her school and the foundation that I was just starting to work on. And it was kind of in that moment that I sort of forgot but then realize that she was the co founder of the GiveBack yoga Foundation. And she heard me out with great interest. And she also just suggested to me that I consider partnering with give back yoga instead of starting our own foundation. She thought that our missions were similar enough, and that it would be a good idea we could really be served by consolidating our efforts versus diluting there's a lot of dilution in the nonprofit world. And initially, I wasn't super sure that I wanted to partner like I didn't think that that was exactly what we wanted to do. But I gave it some thought. And then maybe a week or so after the workshop, I reached back to Beryl asked her to introduce me to Rob Schware, who's the executive director of give back and after he and I spoke, I was convinced that partnering was the best route for us at the time, and it took a few months that was right around the time then the pandemic was Starting. But we did put our partnership in place in 2020. That partnership means is that give back Yoga is the nonprofit, they are the established 501 C three. But people and entities can make donations directly to give back and ask that the funds be designated for inner peace yoga therapy programs. And then we have a separate account and fund under their purview. And they do all the financial the reporting the accounting, and we decide how to distribute the funds that are in the account under our name. So this partnership underpins what we now call our equity and access programs. And we formally launched our programs in January of 2020. These programs are twofold. There's a formal scholarship program now for students who take our trainings, and also a grant program. We call it seed money. Sometimes we call it the startup campaign. And this is for our students to fund yoga projects that they are doing in their communities. The scholarships to our trainings are funded solely by inner peace. We don't seek donations for those, but it comes off the top of our business, the grants are funded by donations that go through the GiveBack fund. And we as a business donate a portion of our proceeds into this fund every month and we also receive outside donations. So that's kind of I think, the fuller picture of those initial questions that you asked Erica.

Erica:
thank you. That's so great. I love that you didn't want to dilute the nonprofit world anymore. And yeah, to be able to already partner with something that's established and be supporting that. And I love the funds for the scholarship programs come off the top right. So that's another thing that's kind of cool. Like as a student, knowing that part of the tuition money that I'm paying in at full price rates, say is like going to go into essentially into that pot that then their scholarship funds are pulled from. So I think that's a really cool model.

Fernie
Thanks, Michelle, thanks for introducing us to the equity and access program. So who are they intended for and why.

Michele
So as I mentioned before, we have two things. There's the scholarship, and then the grants, which are also called the startup campaign. So the scholarships are open to everyone, but they're really about minimizing barriers to access. And priority is given to those who are historically under resourced, such as black, native, indigenous, people of color, and LGBTQIA+, because these folks have long been denied access to these types of spaces. Students who are selected can receive partial or full scholarships to our training programs. And then the grants offer seed money for our new and aspiring yoga therapists who provide low or no cost yoga services in their communities. And again, all of our students are welcome to apply. And we give preference to those who are initiating outreach projects to make yoga therapy accessible to historically marginalized individuals and communities.

Erica
Michele, so you mentioned before that before this was in place that you sort of just decided who was getting scholarships, not a formal process. So now that you have this set up, what structures and processes have you put in place to evaluate the applications and distribute the awards?

Michele
Yeah, and actually, this is like one of my favorite things that has come about out of many, I guess, from this whole process. And that is to have something that's more structured that feels more fair, in terms of the selection process. So we have a formal application now. And so there's the process, there's even formal period of time when people can submit applications for our programs. And you can read all about that and view the application itself right on our website. So folks who are interested in applying can learn about that there. The website gives details on how and when to apply. And then once the application period closes, I meet with our advisory board. So putting together an advisory board was also something that was part of this whole process over the past year plus. And that advisory board is comprised of current and former students and we pay them for their work on the advisory board. The Advisory Board evaluates each of the applications via a scorecard that we developed, and make our final selections from there. And then we notify the recipients. In addition to the advisory board, I would love to take a moment to thank you, Erica and Fernie, too, for your help over this past year and a half plus and getting our scholarship application, the score cards and all of the stuff that went with this in place because you've been a tremendous help here too. So that's kind of how it happens. The applications submitted in a certain period of time this goes for both scholarships and grants, it's reviewed by myself and our advisory board. We've got a scorecard to kind of help guide us on what we're looking for. And then we notify recipients.

Erica
That's great. Thank you for explaining that.

Fernie
This sounds really exciting. So how much funding has been distributed in scholarship and grants? And what are some of the projects that have been awarded?

Michele
So I'll share a little bit about what we've done Overall this year. And then I know this is a beautiful segue for Wendolyne and Olivia to talk specifically about their projects, too. So thus far in 2021, we've awarded over $40,000 in scholarships, and $8,000 in grants. And we have several students on full scholarship and many more on partial scholarship. And the students are based all over the US. And they've indicated that they would not have been able to take our trainings without the scholarship. So that to me feels really good. The grant monies have gone to our students who are bringing yoga to people and communities who have limited or no access to these types of services. These projects include Latinx, children and families on Chicago's West Side, youth and adults in addiction recovery in Colorado and South Carolina, and programming for under resourced monolingual Spanish speakers in southwest Colorado. And I'm grateful that we have Wendolyne and Olivia here today, because they're going to talk a little bit more about these projects, which got some funding help from this program.

Erica
so Wendolyne the when I'm really interested to know a little bit about your background and some of the work that you do in this world.

Wendolyne
Hi, Erica, thank you so much for having me here. Thank you, Michelle. My name is Wendolyne. I been in the area actually in the country for almost 12 years. Because I arrived directly to Durango, Colorado, even though I moved out of town just recently, but still serving the community in Durango, Colorado. Before I go there, let me say that I came as an immigrant, I was under the process of having my legal paper for a while. And during that process, I learned a lot about how can I open the doors for others who have or had restrictions as me, I came without speaking English. So it was a huge challenge to myself. And I didn't understand anything about the culture. Being from Mexico, and also indigenous myself, I was really navigating a different world. For me, it was a huge different conversation. Everything looks confusing, and it's still sometimes but in the process, I decided that it was hard for me why it should be harder for others. And I say it with humility, and with sometimes with regret. But I had the privilege to don't have children and don't have a family in the United States. So I have plenty of time to offer my service to others like me, and be that service 100%. So meaning that  somebody will need to look for a resource or having a solution around any topic, I will have the time because that's my service. So many other remain in my community or who come here specifically to work in forever, live to the children, where they are mothers, they didn't speak, they didn't have the time to go to school. And still some of them don't have the time to go to learn English. And some others didn't even attend elementary school. And I also went to college in Mexico, I went to the university. So I use those tools as me as as a stepping into my privilege and giving it to my own community. So that's my background, a say I moved recently, just because I also currently in university, I am attending UNM,  nutritionist, and I've been studying a little bit of Ayurveda. And I say a little bit because your head is a whole world. And I think that's as you know, that's something that you will study for the rest of your life. So New Mexico is the only place that offers. So I move a little bit away from Durango. Knowing that I will continue working in Durango and studied in New Mexico.

Erica 
Thank you so much for sharing. Can you tell us a little bit about your project? I'm wondering, actually one of my questions is about what the name of your project is, and then the meaning of the name.

Wendolyne
You know, thank you too much. I think it's really important to share the story of other names. So as I shared with Michelle, a couple of weeks ago, I choose Xochiquetzal, because when I was studying, there was a time of my life in the United States that I went to Crestone to study healing arts. And the center that I choose to study is healing arts. We also learn martial arts and meditation is all about being inside of us and having this revolution of like how can you like clean yourself and empower your own self as a healer In that process, I really, really wanted to have my business name because they say, connect with your, your source and ask for for help how you're offering is going to be to the work. So I was like, Oh, I know already. And I chose this goddess from southern Mexico, that I really want to because it does speak a lot about the job that my grandmother, the womb, and then my environmental massage. And it spoke a lot about empowering women. So I was really wanting this to be the process. It didn't work. Every time I just did the name. And the business, or the name was not available for the computer crash, something was going on right there. And I was running out of frustration. So one day, I fall asleep. And I have this dream with this goddess. And then I woke up and I told my I have a really amazing roommate. And I tell them about this. And they say Google it just go for and I like it and give it a name. I don't even know how to type it. I don't know how to write it. So I you know, we they understand that I have I type it out. And I found out that she is a goddess from the town that I was born. She is the Goddess that focuses in providing herbs  that is specific to the benefits of flowers, which that's something that I do, actually, I use a lot of flowers to create oils for my practice. And she is the mom of the community. She never had children. She become the mother of those who had children. And she started taking care of the mothers of the children as their children as the I'm here for you your healing. Cassandra is already heavy for you. And she had a lot of communication with the gods and had a lot of regulation around that. So in a while I tell the story that was like so in alignment, and I was like I can't believe she's here. So I start painting it and drawing it and having the herbs that my grandmother gave me as my companion for life, which is these four herbs. And as I was painting it I just asked a professional graphic designer and multimedia artist to put it in in a match. So Xochiquetzal is a school is focusing on empowering family, friends and neighbors caregivers, meaning they're mostly our women who take care of our children in the community. And that's my my offering.

Erica
Oh my gosh, Wendolyne, and that's amazing. It's such a beautiful story. Thank you. It's so cool when things when the universe speaks like that. Yeah, so aligned. So can you tell us a little bit about Xochiquetzal, about the structure of it. You mentioned a little bit about who it's for. But if you can explain a little bit more about the Yeah, who it's for and how you haven't set up.

Wendolyne
A school of yoga is very new is still in the process, but it has them the name as a service for the Latin X community is specific to undocumented members of the Latin X community in the La Plata and Montezuma counties. And I've been serving to them since 2000. Well, even before that, but as just as a formal certificates and services since 2017. We educate ourselves a lot all the time without like just ignoring the fact that we need to educate ourselves. So we do emotional health, physical health, and recently we start with mental health support for these families. This cool house is a project as a goal to provide yoga for these families so they can take care of their own children through yoga and understanding how can they provide them at home for their children for their adolescence and for themselves, mainly. So once the first yoga teacher training starts, and I am so grateful that Misha has been mentoring me in this process. So just going through the process for offering this it really excites me a lot because I can see how through this offering, we are unpacking capitalism and we are avoiding the heck of one like I think is the right word to say like hegemonic or hegemonic hegemonic practices that we have been forced to live and that's basically where it's kind of the structure of it. It has I have an office, I don't have an office, I have a reaching ritual, it will be once a month. And it has just to say every gavel, the structure has a as a concept, their retreat structure. So super quick. Some years ago, when I was introduced to yoga, I was also very blessed with the opportunity to start are giving an offering international yoga retreats for people. And I saw and I met a lot of people that I still in my life. And I really appreciate that I also saw the privilege that only white people came to these retreats. And then we were offering this medicine to white people with money. And I also felt that we were in the concept of colonization, because if their children come to these places have really beautiful retreats, that children only going to have the idea that you go to these places for locals to serve you. And then you go to this concept of, yeah, colonization, use the resources from the place that you go with the money that you have enjoy that and come back to your town. And some of them don't have even respect for the, the place that they visit. So when I saw that, I was like, I don't want to be a colonizer, I also have already like, colonized and off via colonizers, so I don't want to be part of these streams anymore. And then so I decided to move from that concept of that idea to offer this to my people. So I say I'm going to do this under the concept of retreat, they leave here, they are part of the community, they clean these houses that are looked luxurious and amazing. So they are need to be in this in under the concept that they also belong to here. So I'm going to run one of those beautiful houses that they clean. And I'm going to bring them and I'm going to offer them trainings or workshops, for the whole day, three days, whatever it takes, but they will claim they won have to serve, they have to enjoy, they have to see because Buddha was so beautiful, they have to see this mazing beauty that they are surrounded by. And that is for me to change in the story of colonizing other places. Like I feel like in order to visit other places, and enjoy from the resources, you have to be part of the community. And that's what they already are.

Erica
That's really beautiful Wendolyne so I actually I heard that as part of your setup for retreat to be able to make it accessible. That as opposed to not only is it that people don't have to pay to come. But not only that, but you are actually paying them a stipend. Can you elaborate a little bit about that? How you can think of this?

Wendolyne
yeah, so being indigenous myself, I experienced a lot of things as an outsider in Mexico.  I saw a lot of spiritual practices from India for by white people. But that was like a dream for me to access is super expensive. It was not even like I didn't even plan to go I knew there was no for me, it was like, I'm not going to afford it. And people that is also speaking English. And I also don't look like them. So imagine that I was like totally like, oh, no, I'm not going to that things. So learning that myself and as soon as I realized how, specifically how I wanted to bring yoga to people, I also thought about the fact that I was the man in their time immigrants come to this country to work bro we barely have time where we go from one work one job to another job. And if you are mama you got from doing two jobs to take care of your family and then wake up the next day for your other two jobs like is really rare when they have only one job. So me the man being their time is not really demanding, right? The offering is like I'm going to provide this to you I'm going to offer food I'm going to offer comfort and I'm going to offer this and this and this you're going to have a training and but what if you were white? What if you were a caregiver who works in a facility caregiving facility and your boss comes and say like hey, you you're going to have these training because it's going to be better for you and we are going to pay for that they will be paying them right for their time. They will be like marking their time and saying like Oh check in check out for my time during my training. So I want to honor that in free the people with the highest respect in that sense like you still do still do that value to me. So let me find the money for paying you for your time for being here because you're being trained to take care of your our children better because they take care not only of the children when one mama goes to work, the other mother takes care of the children when did the other comebacks then change the children? So that's how the community right we roll Give me a lot, because we need to understand we work all the time.

Erica
That's so cool. And yeah, it makes total sense. Thank you so much for sharing. I'm excited to see where your project goes. So on that note, it's an ongoing project and right, it's not just like a one and done. This is like a school that you're starting to. I'm curious, I know you got funds from the seed money and through inner peace. Did you also partner like with other facilitators? And did you get funds from like other sources as well?

Wendolyne
Thank you for asking. Yes, we were very supportive by the Give Back campaign that Michelle just mentioned. And that was like the seed money for buying yoga mats and buy in blocks by in strap and also finding childcare for the mamas for, my yoga classes in Spanish. But of course, the project that I'm speaking of requires more financial support. So what I've been doing right now is looking for grants. Do you have any grants, please share? I've been looking for grants that support these, we have some support from some grant ups, and the  Colorado Health Foundation. And this is something like it's still like a little bit of help and support and to continue the list. Yes, this is an ongoing program. So the more support the better. The more we can provide these things, the better because you want is good, the community's hope. That's how we do it. And donations are always welcome.

Fernie
Thanks, Wendolyne, for sharing your inspiring and beautiful story. I'd like to welcome Olivia, and you're going to share about another inspiring project of yours. So hi, Olivia, your project is for folks in addiction recovery. Right? Can you tell us a little bit about the structure of the project and how the idea came about?

Olivia
Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here today. It's been so fun to listen, I feel like I've learned so much about inner peace and about all these projects, things I didn't know. So this has been really fun. So the program that I've been working on for people in addiction recovery, how it works is it's a weekly class that we do on Tuesday mornings out of a community center here in Charleston. And it's open for any people in any type of recovery. So it could be eating disorder recovery, it could be drug and alcohol related. And how it works is we start off with a 30 minute mini meeting where it's basically a peer led meeting. So I'll introduce a theme for the week, some themes that we've worked for, for example, have been like discomfort or pain or boundaries. And I'll usually read like a little passage or just a little inspirational, something like something that I've read recently on theme, and then we opened it up to the group for everyone to share about what it brings up for them. And really, it's an open discussion, you know, we don't have to stay perfectly on theme. And I really like the way that we structure it in that like, it's not about just one person teaching and everybody listening to a lecture, but it's more community based. And we're all seeing each other as equals, which is really beautiful and feels like it's opened up a lot of vulnerability and a lot of closeness within the group. So we do our 30 minute mini meeting. And then after that we have a 60 minute yoga class and really tried to make it accessible to all bodies, trauma informed. We incorporate breathing exercises, yoga, Asana, often a little meditation, and it's been so much fun to grow. That's a little bit about it.

Fernie
Thank you for sharing the tell us a little bit about what inspired you to work with this population in particular?

Olivia
Yeah, definitely. Well, part of it was that I really wanted to partner with this nonprofit called Iron wolf recovery. And I also just realized that it just somehow happened that it feels like throughout my career from a young age, I've always been sort of drawn to this population of people in in recovery. But I have a friend who, who's also like a mentor to me, who recently started this nonprofit called IronWolf recovery. And they work with people who are in recovery. And they're really passionate about inviting in, as opposed to like how we might see the recovery world normally working, which sometimes I feel like in medicine, we can see this big separation between like us, the providers, and then the people in recovery. And my friend and I both felt like we really want to like evaporate that sense of separation and have it feel more like community of people where there's more of a sense of trust. And in addition to that, my friend and I also believe so much The power of incorporating the body into this work and not making it just about the mind, but really incorporating the power of the body. And then, of course, the real importance of community. So she started this nonprofit, and I was really excited about the possibility to work together again. And it's a population that I feel like, really need some support. And I think often in inner peace, and in yoga therapy, in general, we talked about, we want to get out of the studio and into the world and into the communities that could benefit from it most. So what I love about this project is that a lot of the people who come to the classes, they might have never been to a yoga class before. So it feels like really rewarding to be touching an area that maybe it's their first experience of yoga. And that's really important to me to let people know that this is for everybody. And it's not just for a person that looks then White flexible, but really, it's for everyone and and sharing it with them is really meaningful. Has there been any highlights or challenges at all, since you started a project that you want to share? Yeah, I'd love to share some highlights. So something unexpected, for me has been that the majority of the people who come to the classes have been men. And that's been so fun for me, because I'm used to seeing like, mostly just women in the yoga spaces that I teach. And it's been really great to see all these men like being really open and vulnerable, and seeing how meaningful it is for them and seeing them really embrace it. That's been just really fun and unexpected. And also seeing the relationships that are forming within the group. For me, this has been one of the first ongoing in person classes that I've taught. And it's so beautiful to witness the community. And like the ongoing trust that continues to grow, that's probably been my favorite part is like the relationships that are developing and the sense of community among the group having like those regulars who are always coming week after week. And then challenges would be, I would say, growing the class has been a challenge. We're still in that beginning phase where we're trying to get the word out. And so we're always looking to grow and spread the word through social media and word of mouth. And we're kind of learning as we iterate and go along, what's the best way to do that, and I'm finding the best way seems to be like by being a part of the community and just going to different community events and speaking about it super organically and just making those relationships and it's just little by little that it's starting to grow.

Fernie
That's great. What's next for you, then are the project? Are you planning to make this ongoing?

Olivia
Definitely, we are looking to definitely continue the program where we're just gonna keep on going as it has been, and hopefully continue to grow, or staying at the community center. And we're really excited to see what's what's next we're actually thinking about adding, right now we have one class per week, we're thinking about making it twice weekly. That would be the next little iteration. We're definitely excited to keep it going. And we really want to be in it for the long haul and really a part of the community and not just in an hour, but kind of more devoted to the people.

Fernie
So tell us more about how have used the funding that you've received so far.

Olivia
Yeah, absolutely. So what's really great about this grant money is that part of it can be used to pay the yoga therapist and training or the new yoga therapist. So part of the money is towards me for teaching the classes. And then also some of the money went towards a donation for the community center where we host the classes. And then I also partnered with several people in putting this project together. So one of them is a faculty member at Inner Peace, Durga Leela, who we met with several times both in the process of applying for the grant and afterwards in talking about how to structure the program. So Durga is an amazing teacher who focuses on yoga of recovery. So it was really important for us that we made sure that we tailor these classes to best serve a specific population that we are working with. And then lastly, we use the money to buy some props for the class. And what's been a really fun extra thing with that is that since we are hosting these classes at the community center, we keep the props in the closet there and but there's so much else going on at the community center. I wanted to tell the people they're like please use this stuff like it's here for you and let's all use it let's all share it. So one of my favorite things that they do there that has been using the props is that they have ecstatic dance, which is an event where you dance and like free for movement, but there's no drugs and alcohol. There's no talking on the dance floor, no shoes, so it's just a very from a yoga therapy lens. It's just such a beautiful somatic like healing practice. I love going there and as a part of that offering there Have a little like yoga corner where if you, for any reason want to go over to the altar, you can just have a moment do some yoga. And it's been beautiful to see people using the props so much they're at those events. And they also have yoga classes for kids at the community centers, I think they've been using the props a little bit as well. So that's just been a fun addition, that was that was unexpected, so that I feel really excited that those props are really getting well, well loved and well used, because that was the intention for it to be supporting the community in whatever way that might look like. Tell us a little bit more about how you form your partnerships with IronWolf. And we're joined as well, definitely. So Courtney, from who's the co founder of iron Wolf is someone who I actually met early on in college, during my first internship for psychology. So she was doing her neuroscience PhD, doing addiction research, Medical University of South Carolina, and I was just volunteering there, we were doing alcohol research with mice, actually. But she was always someone that just kept it so real and was so encouraging, and loving and kind and smart. And so I really valued my work with her even if I wasn't really that interested in, in the mouse research, it was like this is someone that I really want to be around and learn from. So we we kept in touch through the years even as I moved out of Charleston. And then as I was looking to move back to Charleston, we reconnected and I was able to speak with her about her nonprofit. And we realized we really are so aligned in what we're trying to do. So I knew that I wanted to partner with her and continue working with her in whatever way possible, and Durga I met through Inner Peace Yoga Therapy's, Foundations of Yoga Therapy training. So that was breathing room Yoga Center in New Haven, Connecticut, back in 2019. And what I love about faculty at Inner peace is that they really care a lot about the students and they're open to continuing their relationships with you beyond when the training is over. So when I reached out to her about if she would be interested in helping me as I was writing the grant and everything, she was so proud of my grant application, she was so open to it. And that meant a lot to me. And I'm excited to continue that relationship with her as well.

Fernie
Well, thank you so much, Olivia for sharing about your journey and your project. So Michelle, these are just two of the amazing projects happening this year. Where do you envision our equity and access programs going in the near future?

Michele
Yeah, well, I'd love to see it grow, right, just in general, all of this grow. One aspect that I'd love to see grow is to acquire more outside donations so that we can have a greater impact and that we can fund more grants, and have more yoga therapy happening in various communities. And the majority of the funds right now comes from our business, which I'm committed to doing. And I'd like to create more partnerships and sponsorships with other organizations to bring in more money. That's sort of what's next for me to focus on. And then another thing is to have a more direct path to individuals who need services. So we have all of these yoga therapists and training or graduates who are great at what they do, and are ready to offer services. And there's a lot of people out there who I know can benefit from what these individuals do. So how can we bring the two together? Right, so maybe that is a an online directory of yoga therapists match with clients in need, or having a more direct route to certain organizations like recovery centers, like schools and other community organizations where they think these organizations think of inner peace first, when they're looking to add yoga therapy services into what they do. And we can match them with qualified folks to make that happen. So that's really what's next. For me. It's like, how can we bring in more money to have a greater impact? And then how can we have more direct routes to access we'll keep funding the projects that are happening out there by Wendelin, by Olivia, and all the others who apply and receive grants. But I'd love to see if we can grow sort of the one on one aspect and the community aspect of services where students and graduates can be doing the work on an ongoing basis. And I'd also love to mention that in terms of practical timelines of things. We are still accepting applications for grants for this period, which ends next week. Awards will be notified in January. So we award grants in July and actually I think by the end of December, we'll be notifying and then we have our scholarship periods opening up again in January. We do that twice here as well. So everyone is welcome to apply. If you can apply more than once, in the same year, you're welcome to do that. And I look forward to seeing what new projects come in.

Erica
That's great. Thank you, Michelle. Okay, so to recap, the scholarship fund is money that is coming from inner peace yoga therapy, the seed money fund is something that people can directly donate to Yeah,

Michele
that's right, to donate as well as a business. So we take a portion of our cash and put it into that fund, which turns into cash in these grant projects that are awarded. So does that make sense? Yeah, the handover any cash to give back yoga to offer people scholarships to our programs, they just come and either come for free or come for a discount, and there's no money exchanged. In terms of the grants, we donate a portion of our revenues into the give back Fund, which then gets turned over directly to individuals, and outside donors can also put money into that fund. I'd love to see that part of it grow.

Erica
Awesome. Okay, great. Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that flexibility that's there. You've built into it. So where can people donate?

Michele
So if folks want to donate to these projects, the most direct way to donate to Inner peace is by going to give back yoga.org. There's a Donate link right from the homepage. And you can designate as you make your donation who you want the funds to go to inner peace yoga therapy is one of the organizations listed under designees. And that money goes directly to us in these projects that we're working on that we mentioned today. In addition to that, if you'd like to donate directly to when to lens projects, you can do that. And we're going to include a link on how to make that donation right in our show notes on the podcast today. Also, if you'd like to donate directly to iron wolf recovery will include the link to do that on our show notes as well. And of course, you can look for iron wolf recovery on Instagram, and social media as well. Any final comments from Wendolyne from Olivia from Erica or Fernie before we wrap the podcast today,

Olivia, Wendolyne
thank you so much for having us today. It was such a pleasure to connect and hear all the good things that are happening through this work and see it trickle out into the world. Also just want to mention if anybody wants to connect with me personally online, you can find me at Olivia dot k dot Robertson on Instagram, love to know who's listening and connect and talk more. Thanks again. Thank you so much for having us. Xochiquetzal, the school of yoga is one of the inputs that goes through Construyendo Poder Retiros, the program that I working for. And if you want to find more about what we are doing, we are in Facebook at Construyendo Poder Retiros and we are on Instagram at Construyendo Poder Retiros you want to follow us and find out more about where we are doing in the community.

Erica
Yeah, just want to say thank you for having us on Michelle, and thank you, Olivia, Wendolyne and Fernie as well for your efforts and energy, it was really nice to connect this morning and hear about what's going on.

Fernie
Thank you, everybody, for sharing your inspiring work. And Michelle, thank you for bringing us together and just reflecting on really what yoga therapy and yoga is all about. Right? Like it's not just the inner work that we're doing, but how can you share that with the world. So really grateful to be part of inner peace and getting to know everybody.

Michele
Thanks all. It was really great to be with you here this morning. I'm so inspired by you all and grateful for your support. And also last mention Giving Tuesday is next week. And I know that there'll be a lot of campaigns and a lot of focus on that. So that would be a great time to donate to give back yoga or any of these causes that we mentioned today. If you'd like to learn more about who we are and what we do, visit us at inner peace yoga therapy.com

Transcribed by https://otter.ai