Yoga Gangsters Visits an HBCU

Florida A&M is the first university that offers the Yoga Gangsters certificate. Terri Cooper, the founder of Yoga Gangsters offered students a free two-day workshop at FAMU recreation center over the weekend.

During the workshop about twenty students learned basic yoga poses and they became in touch with their own personal trauma.

Yoga Gangsters is a non-profit organization that empowers the youth in inner cities through practicing yoga.

Cooper started the organization after accepting her past dealing with drugs and an unstable childhood. She struggled with an addiction and she was a chain smoker. In her late thirties she was bartending on South Beach and realized her life needed to change.

“Yoga saved my life…I hit rock bottom for a moment. I found yoga and it helped me get my life together and it helped me find my purpose,” said Cooper.

Yoga Gangsters started after Cooper became a yoga teacher and she wanted to give back to kids who grew up with the same upbringing as herself. She started volunteering at jails and schools and her classes started getting bigger.

“I wanted to share it with kids just like me, kids that had a lot of abuse or trauma in their past and kids that didn’t know how to manage themselves,” said Cooper.

Kimi Walker, a FAMU alumna and student health services health educator took the Yoga Gangster training in Miami. Walker said she was the only African-American woman within her age group in the training. Cooper says most of the people in her training are yoga teachers, schoolteachers, case workers, people in trauma and people in non-profit organizations.

Walker said she was drawn to Cooper’s studio 305 Yoga because “They had a karma yoga program, the yoga of self-service, and apart that was her non-profit Yoga Gangsters.”

She said, “I called Ms. Tanya Tatum up and I told her I went through certification and I told her about it.  We have to bring this to FAMU. We have to get more African-Americans involved in yoga. ”

She said, “I thought FAMU is a really great place for it. I’m really excited that we’re the first university. I’m really excited that we’re the first HBCU and hopefully in the future they’ll be able to branch out to more HBCUs”.

Participates were encourage to push boundaries with their bodies and to become self aware with their personal issues. “We never allow ourselves to be in our emotions,” Cooper said. “Our society doesn’t allow us to process it(emotions) We start to pile it on.”

During training participates engage in an activity called the inner circle where the person can address their inner everyday battles through non-verbal communication.  This activity allows people to vent and realize that they are not the alone in their life experiences.

Brittany Claybrooks, a graduating senior in health care management at FAMU  from Detroit, MI said the training excited her and that she began to become more self-aware.

“I guess it forced me to relate to people but it also forced me to be honest about my situation to complete strangers and sometimes that’s not always the easiest especially since you’re on campus…,”said Claybrooks.

Walker hopes participates can bring the training back to their communities and share the training with others.

Cooper said, “This is the future of our program. If we can get this on more college campuses, I think that would be great. I mean that’s a dream come true and to be at an HBCU is even more profound.”

For more information on Yoga Gangsters, please visit yogagangsters.org.

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DC Journalist

As I packed up everything to go back home before I leave for my internship in DC, I felt fear. I will be interning in DC for two months at the American Public Health Association as a communications intern. This internship is great for me because I'm interested in health. Health has become something very vital to me because of my background. I was born premature and I have food allergies, eczema and seasonal allergies. Staying heathy is something I deal with daily. So, to incorporate health issues with my career is really a dream come true.

 I'm fearful because I've only been to DC once yet I'm excited to explore my career and test my limits as a journalist. This is a big step for me because this will be a life changing experience. I don't know what to expect. I haven't been this anxious in a while. It feels weird when I tell people where I'm interning because I can't believe it myself. I am really grateful for this opportunity for immense growth. May I achieve a stronger work ethic, curiosity, connections, life lessons. May I become a better journalist. I will post a weekly update every Friday. Wish me luck!

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       The "Adventurous" Phoenix

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As a premature baby doctors informed my parents that I would be underdeveloped hence the ankle muscle growing at a slower rate than the rest of my body, amblyopia, eczema, seizures and allergies. Growing up I got rid of bronchitis but I did have asthma for a while and there might always be little things that I will have to pay attention to for the rest of my life. This does not mean I am suppose to stop living or dreaming or achieving because of my ailments. They make me Precious and why would I stop being Precious so I can fit in with the crowd. But I admit sometimes it is hard being me because there are times where you get sick of your daily routine which is fine; you cannot penalize yourself for that, everyone needs a break.

Through all of the doctors I’ve went to for eczema and allergies they have only prescribed high doses of hydrocortisone which only treats the symptoms for one week but reappears with vengeance. My mother is an advocate of Integrative/Alternative Medicine because we had experience doctors and their side effects. She was opened to trying a new way or shall I say old way, the natural way. I, on the other hand, had ambivalent feelings; I wasn’t sure what to expect but I wanted to be cured for once. My first alternative doctor was Dr. Kalidas from the Center for Natural and Integrative Medicine, Orlando Florida. This was in 2008, my junior of high school and my worst eczema breakout. I barely went to school, my self-esteem was low, I could not walk, eating food was a hassle and I didn’t sleep at all. Dr. Kalidas did extensive blood work and he explained that my body lack essential oils and that I had leaky gut syndrome. Hearing leaking gut for the first time at seventeen sounded very disturbing; I assumed Dr. Kalidas was just making up things so he could take our money. The supplements as well as the appointments were extremely costly, but they worked. It was miracle; in four months my eczema cleared up like I never had any flaky, itchy, scarring skin. I was elated but I could not keep up with the supplements and my parents and I looked for substitutes. I also cut back and I chose to use only three out of the eight recommended. My senior year in high school I was officially cured with seldom flare-ups and through an increased vegetable regime I defeat the flare-ups.

I was sure eczema was a thing of the past and I was moving on to the next stage in my life, college. I attended college four hours away from home and I was slightly worried about what would happen if I break out? Who would know what to do? How would I defend myself without my family? But I couldn’t stop living or put a hold on school because of eczema. So, my freshmen year was great; I had a running partner who ran cross-country. She was great at pushing me past my limits, which meant more hot sun and longer duration of running. I barely had break out. My skin was clear; I even ate tomatoes from time to time.

My sophomore year was opposite because my running partner transferred back home; so my running regime ceased. My appetite was still the same but I was stress; my new living arrangements were inadequate. I knew I was better than my new surroundings and I needed to be stable. I was so focused on being my better self mentally that my health fell to the side. It was irritating the condition of my skin and my coursework, which only increased flare-ups. Also, I wanted to fight this by myself; I knew my parents would not always hold my hand. But I should have known no one could fight a battle this intense by themselves.

Love,

The “Realizing” Phoenix