A free outdoor yoga class will be available to underhoused people in downtown Prince George starting this summer. Cynthia Andal, who is spearheading the project, says the model is based on the positive impacts of providing recreational programs to underhoused people in places like Toronto, Portland, OR, and Ladysmith, BC.

“One thing we don’t talk about enough is how dehumanizing it is to be underhoused,” says Andal.

Being underhoused can functionally exclude people from use of public space through bylaws, hostile architecture, RCMP policing, and the oversight of housed people. Ongoing conversations in letters to the editor and online comments about “downtown issues” in Prince George have pitted the needs and rights of underhoused people to public space against the perception of threat to local businesses as a result of stigmatization of poverty, as well as racism, substance use and mental health issues.  

The outdoor yoga class will be held weekly at the Wood Innovation Square on 5th Avenue in proximity to the majority of social service providers and centres of community for underhoused people. At the request of city hall, and with some hesitation, Andal says the classes are open to everyone but she hopes that people will recognize that the program is intended for underhoused people.

“If someone does come and want to participate in this, [I hope] that it's a really respectful way that they participate [and] that they know that this is not directed to them," she said.

To Andal, yoga practice and social justice are intimately linked, something that she says the current iteration of western-style yoga gets wrong.

“I think that [yoga’s] roots are growing as a community," rather than individual growth, working towards poses, or self-centred care. “People aren’t going to see yoga like they see in the studios… in fact, a lot of the things that we will be doing might not even look like yoga specifically, because the asana (the poses), are only a very small portion of what yoga looks like.”

In addition to the instructors, volunteer facilitators will be on hand to ensure that the needs or attendees are met.

After getting the ball rolling, Andal put out a call to her online community and has received a lot of support.

“It’s become a much bigger thing that I had anticipated,” says Andal. There are currently instructors from every yoga studio in Prince George involved, yoga supplies have been donated by Chinook Yoga, and local artist Corey Matthews will be providing naloxone training for all volunteers. Andal will be bringing her many years of experience as a yoga instructor as well as her attention to trauma-informed practice to every session.

"The biggest thing it to set up a safe container for people and let them know exactly what things are going to look like so that there are no surprises," she says.

For more information, contact Cynthia Andal on Facebook.  

Listen to the interview on CFUR-FM: