Yoga in Schools: New Mexico

We offer free in-studio classes to Santa Fe middle and high school students. Please email us at yis@santafecommunityyoga.org with a request for a Yoga in Schools pass and a waiver, and include a student ID if possible. Thank you! 

The Yoga in Schools (YiS) program was created in 2002 and has offered a yoga-based, alternative movement class in the Santa Fe public schools each semester of each year since its inception. With many schools losing funding for physical education teachers, YiS has been able to offer the schools a unique option in place of traditional physical education classes.

In 2009, the program expanded from its humble beginnings to include a program specifically designed to teach Test Taking Skills to grades 3-6. Since these grades are required to sit for mandatory testing each year, the YiS program developed a yoga series specifically for this situation. The feedback from teachers and students was overwhelmingly positive. 

In the Fall of 2011, Yoga in Schools started offering 3 distinct programs to high school and middle school students. The first program is designed specifically for teenage athletes. Yoga teachers work directly with sports teams to increase total body strength (not only sport specific strength, but well-balanced strength as well), increase overall flexibility, and decrease the likelihood of sports-related injuries. The second program is offered through general PE classes at the school. Yoga teachers offer a series of yoga classes during PE as part of the overall physical education curriculum for each school. This is tailored through individual PE teachers and yoga instructors for each group. The third program is an after school program, which offers students fun yogic movement and conscious breathing exercises as a healthy afternoon activity that is the perfect prequel to homework time. 

In 2013, Yoga in Schools launched an initiative in partnership with La Familia Medical Center that provides yoga instruction to underserved students on the south side of Santa Fe, for whom low graduation rates, minimal access to health and wellness education, and high levels of poverty all pose major challenges. This program has been tremendously successful, with consistent reports of higher test scores, lower stress levels, fewer violent incidents, improved overall mood and energy levels, and improved attendance. 

Through its Yoga in Schools program, Santa Fe Community Yoga offers all of these incredible services to students in school with opportunities for scholarships, as well as at our studio free of charge.  Teachers are paid and we therefore rely on the generous support of our community and its contributions to continue this valuable work.  

Please consider giving what you can to Yoga in Schools - every little bit helps: $4 pays for one local student to attend class at SFCY and $30 pays for a YiS teacher to teach one class at a local school.

All donations are tax-deductible. Please ask for a receipt if you need one.  Thank you!

Donate to Yoga in Schools now.

Yoga in Prison Project

History

The Santa Fe Community Yoga Center was founded by Michael Maitreya Hopp. By 2000, he partnered with Doug Booth to offer yoga classes via the Heart Mountain Prison Project. At its peak, the project operated in all eight of New Mexico’s state prisons, offering a combination of yoga and meditation classes. A highlight of their project was a two-day silent meditation led by the male inmates at Santa Rosa Correctional. Sadly, following Michael’s untimely passing in 2004, the project’s activities began to decline. Doug Booth continued efforts for a time, but eventually, the program ceased operations.

present day

Nearly 20 years after yoga was first introduced in New Mexico’s prisons, board member Phoenix Savage revitalized the Yoga In Prison Project in 2023. She initially secured a small contract through the Re-entry Division of the New Mexico Department of Corrections, delivering trauma-informed yoga, meditation, and mindfulness classes three times per week during two 8-week sessions at Springer Correctional Facility. However, this model proved unsustainable due to the facility’s distance—approximately 2.5 hours one way from Santa Fe.

In 2024, the project was restructured into a Peer-to-Peer training program. Under this new model, Savage conducted four training sessions ranging from six to nine weeks each. Female inmates received one-on-one weekly instruction in yoga, meditation, and mindfulness healing modalities. Later in the day, participants practiced together in a peer-led setting. High attrition typical within carceral environments—due to fluctuating schedules and competition for prison jobs—of the dozen women who began the trainings only five completed the training and have gone on to become Peer Instructors.

Presently there are several more in training that will conclude in June- bringing the total number of Peer instructors to eight with two being paroled later this year. By the end of Fiscal year 2025 Springer will have seven Peer Instructors actively leading classes for their fellow inmates, offering beginner yoga, chair yoga, and intermediate yoga sessions. Additionally, specialized meditation classes are provided for women in recovery. Upon parole, Peer Instructors have the opportunity to pursue full yoga teacher certification.

In 2024 alone, nearly 400 inmates at Springer Correctional Facility participated in peer-led yoga, meditation, and mindfulness classes. In January 2025, the Yoga In Prison Project expanded to the Central Correctional Facility in Las Lunas, New Mexico, where it now offers weekly guided meditation sessions for male inmates housed in the Geriatric and Convalescent ward.

call to action

Due to recent budget cuts, the Yoga In Prison Project is slated to close in June 2025.

It is not too late to SUPPORT the continuation of this transformative program.

https://givebutter.com/yogainprisons

inmate testamonials

“I have a sense of accomplishment every time my peers come to my class. To pass on the tools that can give anyone, especially in our situation, peace is a positive and worthwhile endeavor.”

“This program has helped me avoid confrontations multiple times, by either thinking about a meditation or being mindful of how I should approach a situation.”

“I sleep better, cut back on unhealthy behaviors, I treat myself kinder…the yoga program has invited me to see the world in a unique way and it’s been a very beautiful and lifechanging experience.”

“Meditation helps combat the waves of worry. And yoga helps our bodies heal from our past, enabling strength in our steps as we continue forward.”

media coverage

See our press page for media coverage about the Yoga in Prison Project.

contact

Project Manager

Phoenix Savage

phoenix@santafecommunityyoga.org

Yoga for our Unhoused Neighbors

Support a New Outreach Initiative: Yoga for Our Unhoused Neighbors

Santa Fe Community Yoga is expanding our mission of accessible wellness with a new outreach branch: Yoga for Our Unhoused Neighbors. This initiative is designed to bring connection, grounding, and trauma-informed movement to community members who often have the fewest opportunities for healing support.

With your generosity, we are launching pilot programs that meet people exactly where they are:

• Gentle, Mobility Yoga offering accessible movement and support for those with limited mobility at Consuelo’s Place

• Stretching & Breathwork at The Life Link’s Micro Community, part of Santa Fe’s Safe Outdoor Spaces off Arroyo Chamiso

Your contribution directly fuels this work—helping us provide skilled instructors, safe equipment, and consistent programming for individuals navigating housing instability.

By supporting this new initiative, you are helping create moments of calm, dignity, and empowerment for those who need it most. Together, we can expand access to wellness, foster community care, and make Santa Fe a more compassionate place for all.

You can support this initiative through our Give Butter page!