SHELTERED YOGA

SHELTERED YOGA: How It All Began.

I want to introduce you to Sheltered Yoga, a NJ 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded and run by me, Tina LeMar. We, at Sheltered Yoga, bring evidence-based (Rider U. analyzes our evaluations), trauma-informed mental and behavioral health and wellness and social-emotional learning through our specialized curriculum to shelters, alternative and at-risk/high crime public schools, transitional housing facilities, group homes, public housing, prisons, and many other needed locations. The life skills, self-esteem, self-regulation, self-worth, and confidence building that we teach truly changes people’s lives. I know this personally.

I grew up in a very nice suburb of New Jersey, had many friends and close family, and was very active at school- in clubs and on sports teams. But every year I had to get a note from my doctor just to participate in gym class because of my significant scoliosis, which was accompanied by frequent and severe sciatic nerve pain from my lower back which sometimes caused me to collapse while walking. Despite all of this, there was nothing that would stop me from being an active and athletic teenager. I also had a lot of trouble staying still and focusing in school and was kicked out or punished often- which everyone wrote off as being “one of the disruptive or “bad” kids in the school.” In addition, I was always scared, especially in English class, to take my turn to read out loud because all of the words on the page before me would start moving and I always felt that my brain was reading faster than my mouth could speak so I would freeze and everyone would laugh at me, including some of my teachers. I was usually labeled as an “airhead” or “stupid” among my peers and some teachers and could never move past those labels, which caused me to sink in and out of severe depression. It wasn’t until college that I was diagnosed with severe anxiety, which included panic attacks and even agoraphobia and additionally I was diagnosed with ADHD- my results were off the chart! The Dean of my department couldn't believe I made it to college!

Today, I do NOT suffer greatly from ANY of these challenges. "Yoga, Breathing, and Meditation saved my life." It is a frequent sentence out of my mouth to all the individuals I serve that are living and suffering with very similar challenges.

At Sheltered Yoga we work with beautiful people that are living with a history of layered, generational trauma, bullying, fear, literacy challenges, major behavioral problems, mental and physical disabilities, and people suffering from low self-esteem and self-worth. This all feeds into the generational oppression that is very common among their family members and the communities in which they live. It is very difficult to feel that you can pull yourself out of your situation, when confronted with all of these obstacles, but Sheltered Yoga believes it is very possible and we do everything in our power to help each individual we work with to believe that in themselves.

The children, adults, seniors, disabled, and veterans that Sheltered Yoga serves are being helped, just as I was many years ago. Lives are changing and we couldn't be more grateful and proud to be part of the solution.

Thank you for all of your support. We love you and are very grateful for you.