In 2011, Lynn Medow launched the Yoga By Design Foundation to offer yoga to under-served populations, including those with MS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cancer, along with residents of shelters, prisons and urban/disadvantaged communities.
This Foundation raises money to allow teachers to work with these populations – which benefit greatly from yoga but have neither funds nor infrastructures to provide it from within.
“Yoga is empowerment,” says Medow, who built a successful for-profit Yoga By Design company after a decades-long career in social services. “I feel driven to empower each student and guide them back to their strongest, balanced Self.”
The Yoga By Design Foundation unites yoga instructors around a common cause: helping those who need it most but cannot afford it.
“So many yoga teachers desire to reach populations who need to learn coping mechanisms to handle situations in their daily lives,” says Medow. “The biggest obstacle is lack of funding. The Yoga By Design Foundation will raise money to fund these programs so that yoga teachers can devote their time to doing what they do best: teach yoga – not search for funding.”
2011 Yoga-Thon
In September of 2011, 131 people attended an all-day yogathon, which raised $10,000 and offered nine consecutive classes to launch the Yoga By Design Foundation, providing yoga to people who need it.
The Yoga by Design Foundation, created this year by yoga teacher and yoga therapist Lynn Medow, started with an overwhelming show of support as supporters showed up for classes with donations in hand.
“The outpouring of support was overwhelming and wonderful,” says Medow, a 59-year-old yogi who ended a career in non-profit social services in her 40s to begin a second career in yoga. “Yoga is an elevating practice for every person who engages in it. It’s also a tool to face challenges and cope with a variety of situations. I am honored that so many people see the value in this.”
Recent publicity shows that the yoga world can be fractured by personality and ego; Medow showed with her foundation launch that many yogis are truly driven by a let’s-work-together perspective. Katherine Austin, the owner of Karma Yoga, where Medow teaches some classes, donated her studio for the kickoff. A dozen teachers volunteered their time and expertise for the event, and students from a seven-county radius made time to throw their support behind this endeavor.
The Yoga By Design Foundation provides funds for yoga classes that serve the following populations:
- Low income, rural and urban communities
- Schools & children
- People with Alzheimer’s, MS, Parkinson’s and cancer
- Individuals in shelters and prisons
“Yoga is empowerment,” says Medow. “I want to empower people and guide them to their strongest Self.”
Medow has long wanted to create a non-profit way to unite yoga instructors around a common cause: helping people in need, whether physically, emotionally or financially. She seeks to broaden relationships on behalf of the foundation with individuals who already know the benefits of yoga and yoga-based healing to help make it widely available.
“So many yoga teachers desire to help people learn to stay calm in the face of adversity and challenge,” says Medow. “The biggest obstacle is lack of funding. Many organizations are aware of the ways yoga can enhance constituents’ lives and help people negotiate challenges. The Yoga By Design Foundation raises money to fund programs so yoga teachers can spend their time teaching – not searching for funding.”