Radha Yoga Youth Outreach

For seven years, Radha Yoga for Youth Outreach (RYYO) made a difference in the lives of many marginalized youth in Ottawa, offering yoga to youth in agencies serving youth around the city. The program was run through the Ottawa Radha Yoga Centre and grew from one part time teacher in 2004 to 2 full time youth coordinators by 2011, eventually serving 25 agencies and about 500 youth a year. Youth served ranged from teen mothers and youth living in poverty to youth with eating disorders and attending alternative school. All youth coordinators in the RYYO program had completed the 700 hour Yoga Development Course at Yasodhara Ashram.

RYYO thrived due to the dedication of the youth coordinators and the unstinting support of the Ottawa Radha Yoga Centre community in their offering of both time and money. We would like to thank the Trillium Foundation, the Ottawa Community Foundation and the Ottawa Kripalu group for their generous grants over the years which were instrumental in the growth and flourishing of the RYYO program.

As a mark of the success of RYYO and its importance to the Ottawa community the program coordinator of Christie Lake Kids said that she would do anything she could to make the program work because of the amazing impact it has had on the children in that program.

In order to allow youth in Ottawa to continue to be served in the best way possible, Bronwyn Daigle of Rama Lotus Centre, has been given the RYYO agency information which she will make available to teachers interested in taking on this challenge.

RYYO will live on in a number of ways:

• A RYYO program in Spokane, Washington is under way and is presently using the documents produced by the Ottawa program.
• A Radha trained young woman in Vancouver is offering RYYO classes on a Karma Yoga basis.
• The Teacher’s Manual will be made available to others interested in offering a similar program.

Hatha for People With MS

Since opening in 1983, the Radha Yoga Centre has offered yoga to people with MS. In 2011, for a number of reasons, partly the challenge of having to lift participants, this program has ended. People interested on yoga for people with MS can contact the MS Society for further information.