Interview with Africa Yoga Project director Paige Elenson + Yoga Aid NYC this Sunday

Paige Elenson: I am a native New Yorker, born and bred. Yoga “found” me in the ’90s when I was on a college spring break to Cancun, Mexico. I went to Tulum to try a yoga class, assuming I would go back to Cancun late that night for a party. The class was with Baron Baptiste, and I never went back to Cancun until it was time to get on an airplane to go home. I have been studying and teaching Baptiste Power Yoga for over 10 years, and teach with Baron at his international teacher trainings. I am also influenced by Jivamukti and AcroYoga.

YNON: Very cool, and I assume that your love of traveling grew from there. How did you end up in Africa? When did you first go there?

PE: I was on a family vacation in Africa in 2005. AcroYoga had sparked a major love for handstands and going upside down in general, and while on Kenya on Safari, we drove by a group of young Kenyan men doing handstands. We were in the middle of the bush, so my Dad warned me not to get out of the car – but I jumped out and started doing handstands with these young men. As it happens, they were a group of professional acrobats that were practicing for a show at a tourist hotel. They were enthralled with my flexibility and wanted to learn yoga. We had a real connection, one that exceeded race and nationality. They e-mailed me months later and invited me back to stay with them. Little did I know we would be staying in the slums of Nairobi, not at a chic tourist resort. I spent a month teaching yoga in the slums, hand in hand with an acrobatic program they called “Sarakasi.” We reached hundreds of young people, who without basics like food and shelter, were coming in droves to take our yoga classes. It sparked a passion to see yoga outside of the studio walls and to share it with people who were hungry and ready for it.

YNON: Wow. That is amazing. So tell us a little bit more about your organization, the Africa Yoga Project

PE: What evolved from that meeting in the middle of the bush is pretty amazing. With the support of Baron Baptiste and his community, we have facilitated the first yoga teacher training in Kenya. We now employ 48 of those teachers, who are all youth from the slums, to teach full-time in their communities. Our teachers are world-class Vinyasa teachers, and teach in environments that most would not even think of visiting. We teach at prisons, brothels, orphanages, social halls – we teach over 200 free classes and reach over 3,000 students per week. Besides teaching yoga, our team is empowered to make change in their communities. They identify and create community projects that change people’s lives. We have built two schools, funded critical operations, paid school fees for young women and helped to clean up the environment. Africa Yoga Project is transforming people and places from the inside out and using Yoga as the catalyst to light it up.

YNON: Wow. Amazing. So how can we help?

PE: This weekend we have an amazing opportunity to support Africa Yoga Project through taking the Yoga Aid Challenge. We are having amazing events that support funding our programming all over the US and Canada. You can register at www.YogaAid.com.

One aspect of AYP’s mission that excites me the most is “By inspiring the global yoga community into active service, AYP delivers effective and innovative programs which create opportunities to learn and contribute across the communities of East Africa.” It is such an opportunity to watch our volunteers and the personal breakthroughs they experience by coming to Kenya. One way to contribute is to come to Kenya and work in the trenches with us. A trip to Kenya as part of the Africa Yoga Project Ambassador Program is the journey of a lifetime.

Here is some information about our Ambassador Program:

By taking the pledge to become an Africa Yoga Project Ambassador, you are making a powerful commitment to change the world one person at a time. The Africa Yoga Project works with vulnerable populations in East Africa by using the transformative power of yoga to empower communities and change lives. Our core group of students are between the ages of 16 – 30 and live on under $2/day. Many are personally affected by HIV/Aids, and are living, or have once lived, on the streets. Through commitments of active service, such as yours, Africa Yoga Project is able to deliver effective and innovative programs that foster peace, improve self-sufficiency, and create opportunities to learn and contribute across East Africa. Our Ambassador Program allows you the opportunity to experience, first hand, the work of Africa Yoga Project, while at the same time giving you the opportunity to contribute on a personal level. As an Africa Yoga Project Ambassador, you will commit to a fundraising pledge of $5,000, which will go directly to funding the progrmas that we offer. To help you meet this pledge, you will engage your community and the support of those around you. You will “lead the change” on a local and global level. In the coming days, weeks, and months prior to your journey to Kenya, you will represent Africa Yoga Project – you will be an Ambassador!

YNON: Thank you so much for everything that you are doing. The event this Sunday in NYC is sure to be amazing, with teachers like Elena Brower, Dharma Mittra, and Dana Flynn offering their teachings…What is the biggest lesson that you have taken out of this seva work thus far? Can you share it with us?

PE: My biggest lesson is that one person really does make a difference, every single one of us. The power of ONE is HUGE as we are all one and connected in a way we can’t begin to imagine.

Thanks so much to Paige for taking some time to catch up with us and to Todd Beer for the amazing photos.

YOU can help – check out www.YogaAid.com and if you are in NYC this weekend, come give love with us at the Yoga Aid Challenge

Check out the flyer below for details on Sunday’s event in NYC

:: COME OUT AND SUPPORT – we hope to see you there! ::

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