OUR KARMA PROJECT
Another round of Yoga for Suicide Prevention begins May 16th!
We are so thrilled to offer a Yoga and Meditation program to these girls in addition to the already wonderful and creative services they receive through the Life is Precious program. The project will take place in the Bushwick, Brooklyn location which is an entire floor of a defunct school that has been so beautifully converted for the Life is Precious program (the picture above is a mural in their kitchen). The girls will receive yoga and meditation classes taught by a teacher of Honduran descent, and will focus on offering them tools to be centered, expressive, and at peace.
LIFE IS PRECIOUS
Comunilife’s unique Life is Precious™ program prevents suicide in young Latinas – the teen population with the highest rate of suicide attempt in the country. Life is Precious™ combines individual and group counseling, arts therapy, academic support, and nutritional and fitness activities. Psychiatric services are provided by partnering clinics. To date, more than 200 girls have gone through the program. They have improved academic performances – where once 50% of these young women were held back or dropped out of school, now 100% are being promoted on time. They have improved family relationships – finding the language, the support, and the approach with which to work out deep personal conflicts with parents and grandparents who struggle to understand what they are going through or what they need. They are making friends – finding solace in the company and support of girls who are going through the same battles that they are. They are feeling new pride in their bi-lingual, bi-cultural backgrounds. Most importantly – not one of the deeply troubled Latina teens has completed a suicide attempt since joining the program.
OUR TEACHER
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Guillerma's life journey took a dramatic turn in 1999, when on a whim, she landed in an ashram in India. One day, as she smelled a eucalyptus leaf and watched the sun set and the moon rise, she had an epiphany: she had to do something where she was helping others. The idea sat with her for a long time but she eventually enrolled in the Swedish Institute of Massage in New York City and in 2004 became a New York State Licensed Massage Therapist. In February of 2006, she took a Thai Massage Course at the Thai Massage School of Chiang Mai. In March of 2007 she became certified to teach Hatha Yoga after completing her training at Yoga Vidya Gurukul in the state of Maharashtra, India. She completed a 300 HR teacher training in Hudson, NY in 2012. Guillerma loves to travel and explore different cultures and take pictures of everything around her. She has exhibited her photography in Brooklyn and New York City. She considers herself a student of life and tries to sprinkle her creativity and passion for life in everything she does. Guillerma believes yoga and massage are wonderful tools to better handle life. Whether one comes to the mat seeking spiritual growth, less stress or a better body, one will undeniably surpass one's expectations if one commits to a practice. She continues to learn about health and the healing arts and her massage sessions include different techniques including Ayurvedic Massage, Energy Medicine Techniques, Lmphatic Drainage among others. She encourages her clients to investigate what it is that nourishes their bodies and minds and to adapt these things into daily life for overall well being.
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