AUGUST 2014
“Doing Good in the Neighborhood”
Moving Towards Recovery is a program of yoga and theater for clients and their children from the Durham Crisis Response Center who are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault. This program expands upon a successful 3-year collaboration between Y.O.G.A. for Youth and DCRC’s Latina support group by opening up the opportunity to participate to all DCRC clients, staff and volunteers. This non-threatening, holistic approach to coping and recovering includes techniques of breathwork, movement, postures, relaxation and meditation. Shared through bi-weekly classes, these techniques strengthen and regulate all systems of the body, slow down and focus the mind, and create a stronger relationship to self. In addition, 2 Theatre of the Oppressed workshops and an interactive theatre performance open a safe, participatory space where movement, gesture, sound, and language help develop participants’ sensory awareness, ability to dwell in the present moment, and “rehearse for” real-life situations.
What participants have to say:
On theater of the oppressed: “It is good that in a setting like this we can kind of peel some of the layers away and surprise ourselves with what’s underneath.”
On bi-weekly yoga: “When I started, my body was really, really tight. I couldn’t move. All my muscles were in pain. Now, I feel that I can move, I don’t have any more pain, my body is very relaxed. It’s something that helps me to exercise. My body is much more flexible.”
