Yoga Activism for Social Change with Jill Ippolito
This week on the podcast, we have a conversation with Jill Weiss Ippolito, a leader in the field of yoga activism for social change. Jill is the Founder of UpRising Yoga, a non-profit known for its trauma-informed work with incarcerated youth.
Episode Details:
We talk about the beginnings and recent evolutions of Jill’s work through UpRising Yoga, and how she sees their programs as more than “just” yoga classes, but as part of a systemic social change effort. As Jill says, “why be a volunteer when you can be a pioneer!”
She also shares her own story of being in juvenile hall as a teenager, and how that experience informs her work.
Yoga Activism Topics We Discuss:
- how UpRising Yoga got started in LA County’s juvenile halls
- serving the CSEC (Commercially Sexually Exploited Children) population, as well as foster youth and unhoused youth
- growing the programs to include trainings for probation staff
- teaching mindfulness practices to federal judges
- training yoga teachers to offer service-oriented, trauma-informed classes
You might be surprised (and inspired) to hear how these yoga and mindfulness programs have helped inform policy change and the shift toward more trauma-informed care and community-building. We also talk about how the pandemic affected the direction of these programs, and how the work is now expanding to include more meditation and expressive arts.
In addition to teacher trainings, Jill also offers coaching for individuals in this field, so I took the opportunity to ask her for some practical tips for those starting service-oriented projects.
If you’ve ever wondered about using the skills and benefits of yoga and mindfulness practice in your community, don’t miss this episode!
Guest Bio:
Jill Weiss Ippolito has worked in recovery since the year 2000, embracing the practice of yoga, mindfulness, mindset coaching and meditation. Her work is devoted to discovering heart centered purpose through present moment experiences.
She is the founder of UpRising Yoga and has worked for over a decade with incarcerated people, as well as with at-risk youth in gang prevention and aftercare programs and with homeless youth at mental health clinics. Currently, she is teaching Meditation, Mindfulness and Mindset Coaching to young adults incarcerated in federal prison and federal judges. She has created and led trainings globally and is a passionate public speaker and published author.
Links & Resources from this episode:
- Jill was a contributor to this book, Best Practices for Yoga in the Criminal Justice System, edited by Carol Horton, PhD. Read an excerpt or purchase it.*
- And, if you liked this conversation, check out this earlier episode where I interviewed De Jur Jones: Making Yoga Therapy Accessible with De Jur Jones. De Jur is also an amazing force for yoga activism, and a frequent UpRising Yoga collaborator!
*The links to these books are to my Bookshop.org affiliate page. If you buy books through my link, I earn a small percentage (at no additional cost to you). And, every Bookshop.org purchase supports local independent bookstores!
You can connect further with Jill Ippolito through her organization at uprisingyoga.org, or find info on her Deep Shift Coaching services at yogaforhealingtrauma.com.
On Instagram, follow her at @uprisingyoga and @yoga_for_healing_trauma.
And, to connect with me (Addie, the podcast host) you can explore my therapeutic yoga and mindful movement classes in the Moved To Meditate Class Library! Your free “Library Card” gives you access to five different practices each month.
