Red Willow Learning

Nourishing The Human Capacity for Resilience, Optimism, and Hope.

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The Journey of Fulfilling Potential

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One of the cornerstones of Red Willow Learning Center is belief in the resilience of the human spirit. At the center of this belief is the understanding that we can all get better at this thing we refer to as “bounce-back”.  Building this capacity requires that we come to understand and utilize our inner resources.  In short, it requires self-awareness.

This journey is a very personal one.  It is, of course, an inside job.  We believe that within each of us lies the desire to find our place in the world and to live a life of meaning.  This very human journey is usually not a straight path.  There are twists and turns and plenty of false starts.  Yet, given a nourishing and supportive environment, we see the strength of the human spirit triumph over and over again.

Dr. Stephen Porges, the psychiatrist and neuroscientist, who developed the Polyvagal Theory, does an excellent job of helping us understand the importance of feeling safe in this process.  When we do not, we just don’t do well.  Our biology takes us into states of being that can look like rigid thinking, anxiety, being defensive and even shut down.  We cannot be at our best under these circumstances.

How we go about developing the ability to feel safe in this world depends on many factors.  In our early years, were we able to learn safe emotional regulation with an adult?  Do we currently live and work in a safe environment?  These things are, of course, crucially important.

Let’s not forget the inside job part of this.  As individuals, we also need to understand ourselves well enough to know whether our environment is truly dangerous or toxic or whether it is the lens of past traumas that we are looking and experiencing the present though.  Learning to put the past in its place is our work and requires self-awareness.

What if everyone had the opportunity and the necessary support to take this journey to self-awareness?  What if each of us had the skill to persevere despite obstacles?  What if we all had a sense of self-worth and place?  What would it be like to be a community that supported and even celebrated the journey?  What if we all were living to our potential?  Now this sounds like a community I would like to be a part of!

Kathy Mangan

Changing Your Path with Mindfulness

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“Human freedom involves our capacity to pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight.”  – Rollo May

Yoga and meditation have been offered in the detention and prison settings since the mid-1970’s.  Although not considered a mainstream approach to health and well-being, these practices are gaining wider acceptance throughout Europe and North America.  Studies continue to show the benefits of both yoga and meditation for the incarcerated population.  A study reported in 1987 in the Journal of Criminal Justice reported a 35% drop in recidivism for yoga and meditation practitioners after one year as compared to the general population.  A more recent study published by the National Library of Medicine in 2017, reported “reduced criminal behavior and re-arrests and recidivism. In particular, 80% of the control group were rearrested by the three-year post-release point, while only 62% of the REVAMP group were rearrested.”  The study concluded that the practice of mindfulness may be a significant help to returning citizens as they leave incarceration.

This is all really intriguing.  My question always is, “what does this look like in real life?”  Since taking over program administration from its founder, Erin Giefer, Freedom on the Inside (FOTI for short) instructors have made well over 2200 participant contacts so I think we can weigh in on this.

Lower anxiety and stress levels.  For a full year prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, we collected pre-class and post-class anxiety questionnaires from adult participants participating in yoga and meditation in the Missoula County Detention Facility.  Admittedly, 209 complete data sets do not a robust study make; BUT what we found was a marked reduction in anxiety-related symptoms such as racing heart, feeling dizzy and fear of the worst happening.

Why this matters.  First off, correction officers report fewer behavior problems in the jail.  That in and of itself is probably enough.  In addition, we know that an increased ability to manage stress levels leads to more capacity to choose responses appropriate to the situation at hand.  This is nearly impossible to do when we have already shifted into the activation of fight/flight.  We just behave better when we are not stressed.

Restorative sleep.  When the body is tense and the mind is racing, good restorative sleep can be elusive.  Learning to stay in the present with what is and gaining clarity on what you do and do not have control over is a really effective way to start to quiet mind chatter and relax the body.  Learning to follow the breath and relax both the mind and body is a useful skill for all of us, not just for those who are criminally justice involved.

Why this matters.   It is well documented that sleep deprivation has detrimental effects on both the mind and body.  Our mental health is CLOSELY connected with sleep.  Add to this that sleep problems are very common for people diagnosed with anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder.  We know that the imprisoned population are disproportionately affected by mental health concerns, some of what landed them in jail to begin with.

Substance Use Disorder Recovery support.  Mindful practices are useful support strategies for drug and alcohol self-control.  They have become widely used in both the outpatient and residential setting.

Why this matters.  Mindfulness practices literally change the structure of the brain.  This means that the well-worn pathways associated with substance use begin to weaken with time and practice while the prefrontal cortex (planning, working memory and self-control) becomes more robust.  We feel less threatened and less activated and more able to think things through.

Mind/body Interventions such as yoga and mindfulness practices are relatively inexpensive to provide.  They also teach life-long skills and can be practiced by everyone.  More importantly, perhaps, is that these practices help foster compassion for ourselves.  That sounds like the community I want to live in!

 

Kathy Mangan

Celebrating Parkinson’s Month

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A consistent yoga practice offers strategies and tools to manage and help reduce the impact of Parkinson’s symptoms.  When you’re working with a neurological disorder, you’re not just working with the body…you’re working with the brain/mind/body connection.  Yoga has a direct neuroscience connection and excels at this.  Besides strengthening the mind-body relationship, it helps:

  • Improve balance
  • Create strength and stability
  • Loosen tight muscles
  • Reduce anxiety and depression
  • Create fluidity of movement

Practicing yoga can help you walk, turn, move and live with more ease and confidence.  It helps with daily activities, such as putting on a jacket, carrying and putting away groceries, reaching for an item, getting up from a chair, staying independent longer.

In my seven years of teaching of teaching Yoga for Parkinson’s, I have witnessed the immediate and cumulative impact of our group practice…better posture, easier movement, resilience, hope and raised spirits.

The camaraderie in our classes is uplifting, healing, and the group energy is powerful.  My sincere gratitude to our students living with Parkinson’s Disease who face each day’s challenges with courage, grace, and humor.  Thank you for coming to class with your stories and jokes and for your compassion and friendship to all who join us.

Please widely share this Yoga for Parkinson’s Class information.  We welcome all with Parkinson’s to become part of our community!

Jolyn Ortega
C-IAYT Yoga Therapist