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The Yoga Alliance Foundation (YAF) leverages yoga for social impact and fosters an expansive, accessible, and equitable yoga community.

The Foundation supports work in the following areas:

Broadening access to yoga’s healing potential
Fostering greater equity and more diverse representation within the yoga community
Expanding educational, service, and economic opportunities for yoga teachers

In response to the onset of COVID-19, YAF worked in partnership with Ivy Child International to establish an Emergency Relief Fund that could provide swift financial support to yoga professionals worldwide experiencing financial hardship due to the pandemic. Here, just a few of the 430+ fund recipients hailing from 31 countries describe how the pandemic has affected their teaching and lives, and how their gift of sharing yoga brings a critical service to their students and communities during this difficult time.

Featuring: Annu Gaidhu, M.A., RAP., E-RYT 200; Ava Taylor; Carey Sims, E-RYT 500 and NASM CPT; Diane Butera; g Mechelle Davis, C-IAYT, E-RYT 200, RCYT, YACEP, Yoga Nidra II, Awak{end} Sleep™; Kevin Omollo; Tiare Kahana Bourget, RYT 500; Tori Wolfe-Sisson

Featured Work and Support

Emergency Relief Fund

In May 2020, YAF partnered with the global non-profit Ivy Child International to introduce an Emergency Relief Fund for yoga professionals worldwide experiencing financial hardship due to the impacts of COVID-19. This program was open to yoga professionals across the globe, including YA members and non-members, and closed to new applications in June 2020.

Eka Recovery Fund

As a phase two of assistance—the Eka Recovery Fund supports yoga professionals in returning to and/or sustaining their work, and sponsors activities that facilitate economic recovery and align with YAF’s mission of leveraging yoga for social impact. This Fund work begins by focusing on the intersection of economic recovery, yoga service, and community outreach.

Teaching for Equity

Serving as the Eka Recovery Fund’s first activity, this pilot program financially supports yoga teachers who offer free yoga classes in historically marginalized communities and extends yoga access to those who may have encountered barriers or exclusion in the practice. This global initiative supports our organizational goal of greater equity (diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility) in yoga.