UPLIFT Yoga Bash and the mission of sharing mindfulness with youth
We’re all looking for ways to uplift our lives and if we’re lucky, we are introduced to the tools and practices that promote health and wellness in all areas of our lives. If we’re really lucky, we’re introduced to yoga and mindfulness as early as possible. Fortunately, the yoga community includes people like Erica Austin, founder of the nonprofit organization Keep Friendship Alive and UPLIFT Teen Yoga, a curriculum that provides tools to help teens to thrive and encourages them to live in the present moment. (UPLIFT Teen Yoga video youtube.com/watch?
For seven years, Erica has crisscrossed the country, speaking to over 250,000 college and high school students on behalf of Keep Friendship Alive. The mission of Keep Friendship Alive is to help youth navigate the many challenges they face, and to empower and encourage them to make healthy decisions. Now the organization is expanding to reach a younger audience with UPLIFT Teen Yoga. The idea of a yoga rave, UPLIFT Yoga Bash, was born in 2012 out of her inspiration to create a unique, fun, and uplifting fundraising event. The first event gathered 400 yogis and has grown to more than 700 yogis including teens from the UPLIFT Teen Yoga program.
We took some time to connect with Erica and a few of the UPLIFT Yoga Ambassadors
NM: How do you integrate the events you produce with your worth with youth?
Erica Austin: This year, our teen girls from the program will attend the event as our VIP guests, which will be exciting for them as being exposed to so many passionate adults having fun without drugs or alcohol—seeing their love for yoga and mindfulness—is powerful!
NM: What are your future plans?
EA: We would like to dedicate our focus to the expansion of our teen program by recruiting and training yoga instructors to lead the program. We are also talking to schools, studios, and after-school programs as possible venues for the program.
Camilla DiCiano | UPLIFT Ambassador and UPLift (all caps)Teen Yoga Program Lead
NM: How has yoga changed your life?
Camilla DiCiano: Starting my yoga journey has changed my life 180 degrees. After going to fashion school and then working in merchandise marketing, I quickly found myself exhausted, unfulfilled, and uninspired by the fashion industry. I wanted to find something more meaningful to me.
NM: Why are you an UPLIFT ambassador?
CD: The impact yoga has had on my life! If ONLY I had these tools and awareness for my life as an adolescent, my teenage years would have been radically different. I have always had a passion to mentor and connect with young girls, as I vividly remember the confusion, insecurity, and trials I experienced.
Natalie Bailey | UPLIFT Ambassador and UPLift (all caps) Teen Yoga Program Lead
NM: How has yoga changed your life?
Natalie Bailey: Yoga has not changed my life, it has transformed it: I cannot live without the mental clarity, physical connection, and overall positivity that I now enjoy on a daily basis because of yoga. I am more familiar with my true self, more forgiving of my mistakes, and am more aware of the expectations I create that blur the lines between reality and truth.
NM: What inspired you to be an UPLIFT ambassador?
NB: As a former middle school teacher, I always knew I wanted to continue to connect with young kids in meaningful and impactful ways. As an insecure teen myself, I recognized the amazing value that yoga can have for young girls in strengthening their confidence and understanding the true beauty they have within.
Jaysea Devoe | UPLIFT Ambassador
Jaysea is 12 years old and has completed the Yoga Alliance 200 hour teacher training. She is currently the youngest certified female yoga instructor in the U.S.
NM: How has yoga changed your life?
Jaysea Devoe: Yoga gives me a different perspective and taught me how to enjoy life and live in the present moment.
NM: What is it about UPLIFT that inspired you to be an ambassador?
JD: I love that they are spreading awareness and mindfulness to teens!
Ashley Galvin | UPLIFT Ambassador
NM: How has yoga changed your life?
Ashley Galvin: After my very first yoga class I knew I was embarking down a life-changing road. Yoga is my passion, my career, and my way of life. It is so much more than a pose: I am always learning and growing in my yoga practice and in life.
NM: What is it about UPLIFT that inspired you to be an ambassador?
AG: UPLIFT Yoga Bash is unlike anything I have ever come across. It is a huge, super-fun, and spiritually uplifting event. I can support this awesome yoga party and know that there is something much deeper behind all the fun.
Dylan Werner | UPLIFT Ambassador
NM: How has yoga changed your life?
Dylan Werner: I am a former firefighter and paramedic. After I was laid off, I turned to yoga. I took a chance on moving to LA to pursue teaching yoga full-time. I spend every day of my life doing, thinking, teaching, or talking about yoga.
For more information on UPLIFT’s mission and the UPLIFT Yoga Bash for 2018, visit: upliftyogabash.org.
Natalie Macam is a Yoga Teacher who teaches locally in Los Angeles: www.nataliemacam.com.