Africa Yoga Project

I first met Paige Elenson in Utah in 2008.  We were at a training with our teacher Baron Baptiste and Paige was assisting.  I literally met her while she assisted me with a pose and you know those moments when someone assists you and the pose becomes so much more.  That was the moment I shared with Paige.  She probably doesn't remember it at all but the memory is very clear for me.  The assist was full of confidence and love.

Later that day we watched a video Paige had created about the Africa Yoga Project.  As most of you know I can cry at anything.  I was lying on my back propped up to watch the video and I was so moved and so emotional that the tears were just flowing down my face. This is what yoga is about for me.  It is an action word.  It is about transformation and unity.

 It takes someone full of confidence and full of love to create an organization like AYP.  Paige was on a family vacation in Kenya and decided to stay in Kenya and the Africa Yoga Project was created in 2007.  AYP teachers have introduced thousands of students in Kenya to the practice of yoga, as well as provided educational scholarships, job training, food stipends, temporary housing and health services.

Their students, ages 16 to 30 years old, come from impoverished backgrounds in Nairobi, Kenya and live on under $2 a day. Many are personally affected by HIV/AIDS and are living or have lived on the streets.


Africa Yoga Project offers financial support to 48 teachers in exchange for teaching yoga in the communities of Nairobi, Kenya. Their teachers come from the slum areas in which they teach and are able to reach the communities for positive social change. Many yoga teachers come to AYP via acrobatics or dance, which they performed on the streets as a way to sustain a living.   Africa Yoga Project offers the yoga teachers confidence and hope. Yoga is a way to give back to the communities in which they live- AYP promotes unity and non-violence. For many AYP teachers, it is a way to earn income to support their families and continue their education.

I am currently mentoring an AYP teacher and FSYC is paying her living wage for one year so that she can teach for free.  Michelle and her husband will be traveling to Kenya in January 2012 to work alongside the teachers and their students.

So I ask you to support the Africa Yoga Project by making a donation - not because of me, Michelle, or Paige. Let your donation be a reflection of what yoga means to you.  From the first time you stepped onto your mat to today - what has yoga meant to you?   Your donation will help this organization cast its net bigger over Kenya.  One love for Africa.

Love and gratitude,

Lori