Prison Yoga Chicago Presents: A Celebration of Women
The community event before the panel started, the attendees connecting and enjoying complimentary snacks and drinks. Photo by: Angel Sanders
CHICAGO - Prison Yoga Chicago (PYC) held their first International Women’s Day event on Sunday, March 8th. The event featured a panel conversation with influential women who work to create change within their communities in a discussion on voting rights, advocating for yourself, and being the change you want to see in the future.
PYC launched in 2016 with the belief that yoga should be accessible to everybody. Their mission is to provide trauma informed yoga, meditation, intention setting, and breath work as a form of social activism to help rehabilitate the criminal justice system. Their ultimate goal is to improve public safety by cultivating positive and healing energy for all beings.
PYC president Sasha Papazafeiropoulos said the motivation behind this event came from working closely with women in prison yoga programs and wanting to honor inspirational women in the community who are working on similar programs and acts. She also wanted to raise money to start more yoga programs.
The panelists engaged in the discussion. Photo by: Angel Sanders
“We're so excited to have had the opportunity to speak with influential women in our community,” said Papazafeiropoulos. “The panel was a great way to continue the conversation of women overcoming challenges and hearing their stories.”
Throughout the panel the theme of women being their authentic selves was consistently addressed by each panelist sharing their personal experiences and stories.
“Women feel like they need to compromise themselves to fit jobs, but you need to be your most authentic self,” Yena Paek, a panelist who is the operations manager of Brave Initiatives, said. “Because there is no other you in this world so you need to reflect that. If you don’t represent yourself at the table, there are others at the table who won’t be represented alongside you,” said Paek.
One question directed towards Niki Moylan, a panelist and co-founder of Prison Yoga Chicago was, “what are some critical changes we must make in order to face the future effectively?”
“Change starts with small things,” Moylan replied. “In order for change to happen, we need to stop judging each other, live in a place of kindness, and have grace for other people. You might not agree with their choices, not everyone is perfect. Everyone is generally doing the best they can to survive life. I think if everyone had that compassion, the world would be a better place. ”
Moylan added, “People think you need to create an organization or there needs to be this grand gesture to make change, instead of realizing what talents I have, what is the volunteer or service work I can give and just start there; you are making a change by just doing these things.”
Anicea Franklin enjoyed the complimentary snack bar. Photo by: Angel Sanders
One event participant, Anicea Franklin, an entrepreneur and founder of Subtle Fashions, described the event as impactful and shared she learned a lot. Franklin said she initially thought the event was a yoga class until she read an article explaining it was a panel discussion.
Although Franklin said she was familiar with a lot of the topics said throughout the event, she said she needed a reminder and an extra push to include some of the discussion pieces in her everyday life.
“Hearing these women talk about what I already advocate for from all different perspectives was truly empowering and enlightening,” Franklin said.
“To always just be my authentic self. I promote that on a regular basis and to hear that from successful women doing all different types of work was like confirmation for me that I was on the right track,” Franklin said. “Self love, self nourishment, trusting my judgement and standing in my own truth is what I advocate for and also what my brand is about.”
A photo of one of the programs Prison Yoga Chicago held portrayed at the event. Photo by: Angel Sanders
You can stay up to date with all Prison Yoga Chicago events by following them on social media - @prisonyogachicago