Statements
Mission
The mission of Small World Yoga is to connect people and create community by increasing access to yoga.
We believe in the power of yoga to transform individuals through healing and connection. We envision a world in which everyone has access to these benefits. By empowering people, we strengthen communities, and ultimately make a big world feel small.
Background
Small World Yoga's purpose is to improve the mental, emotional and physical health of children and adults who have experienced trauma or are living with significant levels of stress, and have little to no access to the life-changing potential of a regular yoga practice. Since its founding in March 2014, Small World Yoga has grown to providing 266 monthly yoga classes reaching 3,000 students. Our 90+ active volunteer instructors teach yoga on-site at 75 partner nonprofits, public agencies, and schools. Small World Yoga's community-building events, the Music City Yoga Festival and International Day of Yoga, collectively bring together more than 1,200 people to practice yoga and to increase awareness about the need for greater accessibility to the transformational benefits of a yoga practice.
Impact
Over the past year, Small World Yoga has grown to serve over 75 outreach locations with 90+ volunteer teachers. We reach approximately 3,000 students monthly between our outreach locations and nonprofit Community Studio. Our new Community Studio opened on May 31st this year and it is Nashville's only nonprofit yoga studio. Our Community Studio allows SWY to serve more individuals and serves as a source of earned income to support our outreach programming. The ongoing recruitment, support and retention of SWY's highly skilled, volunteer instructors is critical to our ability to sustain Small World Yoga's transformational impact in 2022. Recruitment: Small World Yoga's Outreach Manager recruits volunteer instructors through outreach to local studios, teacher training programs and SWY's community events. We intentionally recruit men and women that identify as BIPOC. Where personal resources are limited, Small World Yoga provides scholarships for teacher training and certification to promising students through our TEJAS (truth, equity, justice, action, service) Committee. The Small World Yoga community of teachers is also a strong attractor for volunteers. Our Outreach Managers keep teachers informed and connected with one another. Support: The quality of our students' experience depends upon the instructional skill level and emotional intelligence of our volunteers who tailor each class to the mental, physical and emotional needs of our students. SWY volunteer teachers participate in four professional development workshops each year. These are designed to deepen our teachers' cultural competency in serving diverse populations and expand their skill in delivering trauma-informed yoga. The SWY Outreach Managers support our volunteers' successful interaction with students by serving as the liaison to partner agencies during the start-up period and to manage ongoing logistics. Retention: Because teaching yoga to underserved populations is a labor of love for Small World Yoga instructors, and most have other full or part-time jobs, we offer modest honoraria to cover mileage expenses. These are paid quarterly and provide an extra incentive for volunteers to fulfill their weekly or monthly teaching commitment. Retention is mainly accomplished by maintaining our close-knit community through regular social 'meet-ups', bi-annual full team meetings, and the offering of free yoga classes to our volunteer teachers at our community studio.
Needs
Community Studio buildout: $350,000
Small World Yoga Outreach Program - $203,200 - Providing 266 monthly yoga classes reaching over 3,000 students at 75 community partner nonprofits, public agencies and schools. This includes Professional Development for SWY Volunteer Teaching Corps ($6,000), four professional development workshops designed to deepen our teachers' cultural competency in serving diverse populations and expand their skill in delivering trauma-informed yoga. This also includes organizational staffing ($143,200), allowing us to pay two full-time employees, our Executive Director and full-time Outreach Manager. It includes honorariums for our volunteers yoga instructors to compensate for mileage ($48,000). Lastly, it includes the purchase of 1,000 yoga mats at $5 each ($5,000 total) and recruitment and retention efforts for our volunteer instructors ($1,000).
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Human Services - Human Services |
| Secondary Category: | Mental Health & Crisis Intervention - Mental Health Treatment |
| Tertiary Category: | Community Improvement, Capacity Building - Community Improvement, Capacity Building N.E.C. |
Areas Served
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Wilson |
