Social Impact

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YYOGA studios are located on the unceded ancestral territory of the Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm), Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw) and Tsleil-Waututh (səl̓ilwətaɁɬ) Nations. We would like to personally acknowledge that we are fortunate to live and work on these lands.

We Move Together is our social impact program and way of taking active steps towards making the world a better place through supporting our local communities. We know that when we move together, both on and off the mat, we’re stronger.

We have chosen to activate this program in a number of ways (detailed below) and are continually learning, evolving and refining.


Who We Work With

We gain inspiration and momentum by connecting with individuals and organizations already doing the work to create real change.

We work with the passionately curious, the change-makers, the challengers, the activists, the seekers, the guides, the enthusiastic and the genuine. It doesn’t matter to us if you’re powered by an organization (big or small) or the sweat of a single human working to do better.

What matters to us is that we work together to inspire conversationspractice listening, ignite passiondrive education and awareness and invite change around things that matter to our communities.


Causes

Our approach to supporting access to yoga is by partnering with individuals as well as grass roots and hyper local organizations and the change-makers that power them. Support varies depending on the needs of the partner.

In the past, we’ve donated studio space, funded teacher wages for classes both inside and outside our studios, coordinated and funded teachers for outdoor events, donated yoga mats, gathered goods donations, facilitated group fundraising, offered by donation classes, donated a % of sales, funded event tickets, and shared cause messages with our community in the spirit of active listening and awareness.

Current causes:

  • Inclusivity and access to yoga
  • Health — especially for women and those who have less access to services and support 
  • Mental health — including supporting vulnerable populations
  • At-risk, marginalized and/or under-resourced youth
  • The environment and protecting our planet


Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Our goal is to create opportunities for all people to practice yoga, together. We know there is power in community so we work with those within ours to extend our reach beyond our studios and create opportunities for those facing barriers to practice.

The steps we’ve taken are outlined below.

  • October 6, 2022 – 42 guests attended our by donation class benefitting Covenant House for Mental Health Awareness Day raising $530.
  • September 30th, 2022 – As we do every year, we provided our team with Orange Shirts to wear on September 30th in recognition of Orange Shirt Day and encouraged our community to join us.
  • Fall 2022 – 2 bursary students attending our Fall Teacher Training.
  • June 21 2022 – Hosted a by donation class benefitting the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) and the Indigenous Women’s Project, which provides emotional support to women surrounding residential school trauma, cultural isolation, racism and violence.
  • June 2022 – Sponsored a yoga teacher for an outdoor class with the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre to support their annual Vancouver Half Marathon Charity Challenge as a training partner
  • March 2022 – 3 bursary students attending our Spring Teacher Training.
  • January 2022 – To support the mental health of our communities, we hosted a free class for Blue Monday which 89 people attended.
  • January 2022 – 2 bursary students attended our Winter Teacher Training.
  • October 2021 – 1 bursary student attended our Fall Teacher Training.
  • June 2021 – Rolled out a secondary resource centre to provide our teams with the tools to unlearn and understand Canada’s history from an Indigenous perspective. We’ve also included local businesses to support in the Greater Vancouver Area. See; Honouring and Learning About Indigenous Peoples
  • June 2021 – During Indigenous People’s Month it felt important to us to acknowledge the lands that our studios are on, we did a formal land acknowledgment on Instagram and invited our teachers to do the same before their classes. We also held a by-donation class with Joss Frank where all the proceeds ($215) went to the Orange Shirt Day Society. W also wanted to raise voices and bring attention to amazing Indigenous Artists and businesses in our community. We held a live poetry reading by Dolly Reno and shared about some of our favourite Indigenous art and local Indigenous businesses.
  • April 2021 – Some of our team members attended and supported the launch of Deyen. Deyen is a one-of-a-kind, unique, online learning hub shares the traditional knowledge, wisdom, worldviews, and lived experiences of Indigenous women on the lands often referred to as Canada.
  • September 2020 – Participated in a team workshop (with our consultant) on the history of residential schools in Canada and announced our support of Orange Shirt Day (created by the Orange Shirt Society)
  • September 2020 to Present – Provided all of our team members with Orange Shirts so they could wear them in solidarity with Residential School Survivors.
  • Ongoing – Prioritized efforts to represent our diverse community in our photoshoots
  • June 2020 to Present – Launched a virtual by-donation class series focused on fundraising and education with 100% of proceeds benefitting our non-profit partners (teacher wages are covered by YYOGA as part of this donation)
  • November 2020 -2 bursary students attended our Winter Teacher Training.
  • October 2020 – Launched a weekly, free yoga and wellness class for BIPOC (in-studio) in partnership with Joss Frank. We also recorded a version of this class that is free, accessible and on-demand on YYOGA at Home.
  • October 2020 – 4 bursary students attended our Fall Teacher Training.
  • October 2020 – Launched a bursary program to make it more financially possible for those facing oppression and/or other financial barriers to become yoga teachers.
  • March 2020 – Rolled out a resource centre to provide our team with the tools to begin their own personal learning journeys in the BIPOC communities. See; Honouring and Learning About Indigenous Peoples (June 2021) and Racial Equity Resources.
  • With the support of our community, we continue to fund people, projects, organizations, help with cause awareness, and offer use of our physical space for people to come together for important conversations and in the spirit of inspiring real change. In 2019, this included our Mindful Conversation series that hosted panelists for conversations on important topics like mental health, body positivity, women’s health and living with purpose and we expect to be able to kick this series off again soon.


Donations:

2024

  • March 8, 2024 in celebration of International Women’s Day, we raised $1,684.77 through drop-in class purchases for the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC)
  • Donated an Annual Membership to Athletics4Kids for their 21st Anniversary Gala silent auction in support of giving B.C. kids the opportunity to participate in amateur sports by removing financial barriers.
  • Donated thirty 3-Month YYOGA at Home Subscriptions to Community Builders front-of-line staff.
  • Donated a 10 Class Pack to BC Children’s Hospital Foundation for their 26th For Children We Care Gala silent auction in support of children’s health in BC through funding of the Clinical Trials Super Hub at BC Children’s. 
  • Donated $490 for Rainbow Refugee through our monthly 2SLGBTQIA+ Pride Flow by-donation class series with Connor Roff.
  • Donated a 10 Class Pack to UBC Cancer Association for their 6th Annual School Relay For Life silent auction in support of the fight against cancer.

2023

  • Donated $590 for Rainbow Refugee through our monthly 2SLGBTQIA+ Pride Flow by-donation class series with Connor Roff.
  • September 30, 2023 in recognition of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation our community raised $1,367.10 through drop-in class purchases in support of the Aboriginal Mother Centre Society (AMCS).
  • Donated yoga mats to the Vancouver SPCA who utilize these within the animal shelters so they have extra comfort while they await their forever homes.
  • June 24, 2023 in of celebration of PRIDE our community raised $644.49 through drop-in class purchases for QMUNITY.
  • Donated an Annual Membership to Butterfly Run Vancouver supporting those who have experienced pregnancy loss, infertility, and infant loss.
  • On May 14, 2023 in celebration of Mother’s Day we raised $310 through a by-donation class for Dress for Success Vancouver.
  • Donated 15 yoga mats to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) who will be hosting monthly cedar brushing and meditation as well as pipe ceremonies for Indigenous women of the DEWC.
  • Donated an Annual Membership to Athletics4Kids for their 20th Anniversary Gala silent auction in support of giving B.C. kids the opportunity to participate in amateur sports by removing financial barriers.
  • On April 22, 2023 in celebration of Earth Day and in partnership with Better Basics we raised $400 through a by-donation class benefitting SPEC which is a non-profit organization that provides practical solutions for urban sustainability.
  • Donated eight 3-month YYOGA at Home subscriptions to Dress for Success Vancouver for their Mother’s Day giveback event benefitting caregivers within the community.
  • Donated a 5 Class Pack to First United for their annual silent auction.
  • March 8, 2023 in celebration of International Women’s Day we raised $470 through a by-donation class for the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) plus an additional $878.85 through drop-in class purchases for a total donation of $1,348.85.
  • Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC): Donated 10 Class Pack to their International Women’s Day Herstory Auction.
  • Donated a 5 Class Pack to WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre virtual silent auction to benefit survivors.
  • Donated two 5 Class Packs to Dress for Success Vancouver for their Galentine’s Day prize package.

2022

  • October 2022: $530 raised for Covenant House from our Mental Health Awareness by donation class
  • Make-A-Wish Foundation Vancouver: 5 Class Pack donation to their yoga event
  • Donated an Annual Membership to Butterfly Run Vancouver: Supporting those who have experienced pregnancy loss, infertility, and infant loss.
  • June 27, 2022: $690 raised through a by donation class for PRIDE benefitting qmunity.
  • June 21, 2022: $360 raised through a by donation class benefitting the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) and the Indigenous Women’s Project, which provides emotional support to women surrounding residential school trauma, cultural isolation, racism and violence.
  • May 2022: Gifted a 10 Class Pack for Dress for Success’s The Success Luncheon silent auction taking place in November.
  • April 2022: $370 donated to Earthwise Society BC through an Earth Day donation class.
  • On March 8th in celebration of International Women’s Day, we raised $955.50 for Dress for Success Vancouver through Drop-in class purchases.
  • Donated a 5 Class Pack to Darren’s Fabulous Fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis: Hyper-local initiative for community member raising funds for Cystic Fibrosis.
  • Looking Glass Foundation: 10 Class Pack donated to Reflections Looking Glass Gala
  • YWCA: 39th Annual YWCA Women of Distinction Awards: Donated 5 Class Pack to their silent auction.

2021

  • In December 2021 all proceeds from our Gratitude Workshop ($890) on November 30th were donated to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Center.
  • Our Mental Health Awareness Day donation class with Hillary Keegan raised $215 for The Bloom Group thanks to our amazing community.
  • In October 2021 we donated a 10 Class Pack and 1 month subscription to YYOGA at Home to the Vancouver Humane Society for an auction.
  • To our friends at Vancouver Pride Society we donated $700 in August of 2021, an amount we collected from the Granville Island Brewing event.
  • On July 14th we donated $60 to the Vancouver Pride Society from our by-donation class that was led by Connor Roff.
  • July 2021 – Donated 8 yoga mats, 2 first aid kits, a large box of tampons / maxi pads and stationary supplies to covenant house.
  • On June 21st, 2021 we held a donation class, led by Joss Frank, in support of the Orange Shirt Day Society We helped raise $215, which will be going to to this organization.
  • Our By-Donation Class to support Give India raised $530. All of these proceeds went directly to the Fundraiser to help provide medical care to critical COVID patients.
  • In May 2021 we donated an Annual Subscription to YYOGA at Home ($119) to a charity auction for West Point Grey Academy.
  • From our By Donation Class on April 13th, 2021 $750 was raised and donated to a GoFundMe started by the North Van Community to support the Victims of the tragedy from March 27th, 2021. A personal donation on behalf of the YYOGA team was also made for an additional $1500.
  • Proceeds to the amount of $238.75 were donated to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre from our December 2020 We Move Together Virtual Donation Class.
  • A 10 Class Pack to P.E.A.C.E Canada’s silent auction happening on March 20th, 2021. P.E.A.C.E. is a vegan charity that unites and works with Canadian Farm Sanctuaries through resources, rescues, and education. They help home, transport, and pay medical bills for farmed animals. They also run online webinars for free for both the public as well as farm sanctuaries.

2020

As well as supported the following Charitable Organizations through raffles, silent auctions, door prizes, donation classes, gift cards and in some cases free space and equipment rentals, sponsored classes, and mat donations:

  • Covenant House, PLEA Community Services, Pink Pearl Canada, Pink Shirt Day, Trauma-Informed Yoga for First Nations, CHIMO Community Services, WildResearch Society, BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, Make A Wish Foundation, One Girl Can, YWCA Metro Vancouver, BC Women’s Health Foundation, The Nature Trust of BC, North Shore Crisis Services Society, Pathways Serious Mental Illness Society, Spirit North

2019

As well as supported the following Charitable Organizations through raffles, silent auctions, door prizes, donation classes, gift cards and in some cases free space and equipment rentals, sponsored classes, and mat donations:

  • Rainbow Refugee, Spirit North via Urban Foundation, PLEA Community Services Society of BC, Project Innovate, One Girl Can, Covenant House, The Gatehouse: Healing the Voice Within Fundraiser, North Shore Restorative Justice Society, Children of the Street Society: Celebration of Success Event, BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition: First Call Fundraising Gala, Richmond Hospital Foundation, Backpack Buddies, Family Services of Greater Vancouver, FemDem 2019, Canucks for Kids, Aboriginal Front Door Society, Pink Shirt Day , Power of Movement: Arthritis Research Foundation and Bridgepoint Foundation, InspireHealth Rain Walk 2019 & 2018, Make a Wish Foundation, AWARE: 30th Anniversary Event, Pink Pearl Canada, Richmond Addiction Services, Children’s Organ Transplant Annual Fundraiser, Women Against MS, KidSport, Diabetes Canada, BC Children’s Hospital, Adoption Counsel Ontario, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s Family Navigation Project, Whole Way House: Family Picnic Fundraiser, Vancouver Vegan Fest, Forever Young 8k, Ride to Conquer Cancer, Beyond Boys & Girls Club, Children’s Wish Foundation

We appreciate you coming on this journey with us, and for all of your support.