Healing the South Bronx, One Breath at a Time!

Funded Jan 3, 2024

When I first saw that people had given to my project, I was absolutely ecstatic and my heart was full. I cannot express how grateful I am in words. When I saw that my project was fully funded, I thought to myself: am I dreaming?! This is a total dream come true! Thank you for turning this dream into a reality!

Although the 6-month Yoga Teacher Training was long and took up practically an entire weekend once a month for 6 months, it was all worth it since my students are all very excited to do yoga and practice mindfulness with me. What I enjoyed most was not only did I learn the proper alignments for different poses/asanas; I also learned modifications for each pose to make it accessible to my students.

Additionally, from a social emotional perspective, everyone was so supportive and displayed a general positive aura. It felt very welcoming and comforting to be with such an amazing group of educators that want to do more for their students. It truly was a remarkable journey, and I cannot thank you all more for making this possible!

My biggest takeaway from this training was learning different strategies to help my students deescalate from difficult situations. Learning how to use different breathing techniques, how to identify our emotions, and how to communicate our needs calmly – these are all tools my students can benefit from not only in school but in life.

This training has benefitted my students in so many ways! They are more focused and calmer after our morning breathing routines. They are now equipped with how to handle negative emotions. They enjoy practicing different poses and want to continue to try new and more challenging poses. Their flexibility has increased. Their academic achievements has also improved. I have nothing but good things to say about this fabulous experience and how it helped my students become better versions of themselves.

Thank you so much for making this project possible for my incredible Special Education High School students. They were all extremely thrilled to know that so many wonderful and generous people supported them and helped fund our project. We appreciate all that you have done to make this dream, thought and idea come true to me, my students and our entire school community!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Tong