Vision & Mission

Africa Yoga Project educates, empowers, elevates and employs youth from Africa using the transformational practice of yoga. Our vision is to create opportunities for youth to step into their greatness, become self-sustaining and leaders in their communities.

History

The Africa Yoga Project organization began in 2007 with three questions:

• Could yoga positively transform lives across race, nationality, age, gender and economic status?
• Would yoga be valued when offered at no cost to the student?
• Can people who are struggling to survive, who live in an unstable environment, and who have little food to eat, utilize yoga to transform their perception of their lives and their sense of what is possible for the future?

The experiment began in some of the poorest areas in Kenya, where we watched the effects of using yoga and the moving arts as tools for experiential learning and development.

The answer to each question was an unequivocal YES.

Participants received a wide range of benefits from the practice, including personal empowerment, emotional healing, and increased physical health and vitality. They quickly embraced the practice in their lives. Yoga also introduced an unprecedented forum for community support through open dialogue and the opportunity to envision and create new possibilities for the future. Participants began easily accessing their own strength and power, and were hungry for a consistent yoga practice. There was also a strong desire for a community based on the principles of possibility, personal responsibility, service and community action.

Our growth since 2007 has been extraordinary. Over 5,000 people participate in more than 250 community yoga classes weekly in 80 locations. More than 52 young people, trained as teachers by Baron Baptiste, are earning a living wage by teaching yoga to people who otherwise would not have the opportunity.

And all over the world, people like you are getting involved, ready to lead the change in their own communities. Join us!