In 2014, Santa Cruz native and visionary organizer Shandara Gill had an idea that seemed unlikely at the time: bringing yoga into jails. Not as a trendy workout, but as a healing practice for some of the most marginalized people in our community—incarcerated citizens.
That idea laid the groundwork for Yoga for All Movement (YFAM), a nonprofit dedicated to making yoga accessible to people who need it most. Rooted in the principles of restorative and transformational justice, YFAM set out to use yoga not just as exercise, but as a tool for resilience, connection and healing.
Fast forward to today, and YFAM is thriving. The organization now offers more than 26 weekly classes across Santa Cruz County, reaching jails, juvenile halls, mental health facilities, schools and senior centers, as well as holding public community classes at the London Nelson Center. On Oct. 11, YFAM invites the community to experience its mission firsthand at Yoga for All Day, a free celebration of practice, connection and healing.
A Radical Beginning
When Gill and her team of volunteers first reached out to local jails about bringing in yoga classes, the response was lukewarm at best. “It wasn’t exactly a hard yes,” laughs Executive Director Katie Davidson, the organization’s second paid staff member. “Some administrators were skeptical—what did yoga have to do with rehabilitation? But because we offered it at no cost, a few institutions agreed to give it a try.”
The impact was immediate. For those in the system, yoga provided more than physical movement—it offered space to breathe, regulate and connect with themselves and others in a setting often defined by disconnection.
It’s easy to think of offering these special services as rewarding bad behavior, but the reality is that most incarcerated citizens arrive with histories of trauma, abuse and marginalization. Restorative justice is about holding people accountable, while also allowing them to attempt to make amends. Transformative justice goes even deeper, looking at the root causes and systemic issues that lead people into incarceration in the first place.
In the West, yoga often gets packaged as a boutique fitness class for the flexible and the fit. YFAM works to dismantle those barriers.
“People say all the time, ‘I can’t do yoga because I can’t touch my toes,’” Davidson says. “But yoga can be done in a chair. It can be just breathing, or meditating for a few minutes. It’s not about the poses—it’s about connection.”
That connection—mind, body, spirit and community—is what Davidson calls truly transformative. “When you practice, you start to realize we’re not separate. Someone else’s suffering is not separate from ours. That awareness changes how we treat people, whether they’re our neighbors, our students, or strangers on the street.”
For Davidson, that lesson is personal. Before joining YFAM, she had a successful career in New York journalism. On paper, she had made it—interviewing celebrities, reporting from red carpets—but her sense of fulfillment came not from her career, but from her yoga practice. “When I left a yoga class, I felt most alive, most myself. That’s what drew me deeper.” Eventually, her path led her back home to Santa Cruz, and to YFAM.
One of the organization’s founding board members, renowned Santa Cruz yoga teacher Hannah Muse, has been teaching in jails and schools since before YFAM became a nonprofit. She emphasizes that the work has always been community-centered.
“For nine years we’ve been quietly doing this work, often without resources or staff,” Muse says. “Now it’s time to celebrate and share it more widely.”
Part of that growth has included moving from an all-volunteer base to hiring staff and compensating teachers. “If equity is one of our principles, we need to pay our teachers equitably too,” Muse explains. “We now have over 50 trauma-informed teachers in our network, and every one of them is paid for their work.”
This shift has allowed YFAM to deepen its impact, bringing resilience-informed yoga into spaces where trauma runs deep. “Yes, our work is trauma-informed,” Muse says, “but it’s also resilience-informed. We focus not just on what’s broken, but on what’s possible.”
YFAM’s offerings go far beyond the walls of correctional facilities. Public classes at the London Nelson Community Center welcome students from all walks of life. Recently, occupational therapists from Santa Cruz County Mental Health began bringing clients—some struggling with severe trauma and even agoraphobia—to these open classes.
“To see those students walk in, participate, and leave smiling is powerful,” Davidson says. “It shows how universal this practice really is.”
Yoga, she emphasizes, is not about silencing the mind or achieving a perfect pose. “Meditation isn’t about stopping your thoughts. Our minds produce thoughts just like our mouths produce saliva. The practice is about being with whatever arises and creating more space around it.”
Behind YFAM’s programs lies a web of community support. Early on, teachers knocked on the doors of jails and schools, offering free classes. Now, institutions are reaching out to YFAM, eager to bring the benefits of yoga to their clients—and willing to pay for it.
Funding still remains precarious, with much of it tied to grants and contracts vulnerable to cuts. Private donors and community partners play a crucial role in keeping the movement alive. “In a world where there’s so much to complain about, people want to know they’re contributing to something positive,” Muse says.
FITS TO HERE
That positivity is exactly what YFAM hopes to share on Yoga for All Day. The free Oct. 11 event will feature a community yoga class, live music, kirtan, sound healing, mindfulness moments, and a panel discussion with people who have experienced firsthand the impact of YFAM’s programs—whether through incarceration, recovery, or mental health challenges.
“It’s really a day of healing and connection,” Davidson says. “A chance for people to take a break from the noise of daily life and experience community in its truest sense.”
Rooted in Compassion
From two classes a week in county jails to more than two dozen classes across Santa Cruz today, YFAM has grown into a movement that embodies its name.
“We’re not just teaching yoga or meditation,” Muse says. “We’re building a movement rooted in compassion and dignity.”
For Davidson, the work is about giving others what yoga gave her: tools for peace, connection, and resilience. “I know what it’s like to feel disconnected and to find healing through this practice. That’s why we do what we do—because everyone deserves access to that possibility.”
On Oct. 11, the doors are open wide to everyone—a celebration of resilience, equity and the power of community to transform lives, one breath at a time.
Yoga for All Day takes place noon–4pm on Oct. 11 at Pacific Avenue and Cooper Street in downtown Santa Cruz. yogaforallmovement.org
