Geoff O’Meara lives in Leicester, England, where he splits most of his time between the roles of director and facilitator for two non-profits: Prison Yoga Project UK and The Space To Breathe Collective. He also teaches primary and secondary school students through the Yoga outreach organization, Mindful Warriors. Back when Geoff was an Austin resident, he was the Prison Yoga director for the local non-profit, Community Yoga. Geoff’s original training was with Charles and Ellen (the Living Yoga Program), with additional study through Sundara Yoga Therapy and Prison Yoga
Project. His Yoga practice was initially inspired and is continually informed by his study of Tibetan and Zen Buddhism. Geoff is also an artist, freelance designer (architecture and graphic design), and Bob Marley scholar, and designed our iconic Texas Yoga Retreat Poster.
Friday 4:00-5:45pm
Prison Yoga: A Typical Session, plus Q+A
Yoga programming is becoming more and more accepted within prisons – sometimes for the administration to just tick a box and add some shine to their PR campaign, sometimes to actually support the people in their care. Some in the tax-paying public think Yoga programming is an undeserved luxury given to prisoners and a waste of their tax money; others can’t even picture what Yoga inside a prison might look like. Come along and see for yourself as we experience a typical Prison Yoga session. The pieces might feel fairly familiar, but the Trauma-Informed methodology at its core might bring a very fresh – and impactful – shift to your practice. We’ll have plenty of time for Q+A in which we can address questions relating to Trauma-Informed Yoga/Mindfulness, Yoga facilitation in
prisons of the US and the UK, and how Prison Yoga can help to solve the crises that have crippled the Criminal Justice Systems of both countries.
Audience Level: All
Intensity of Practice: 5
75% Asana, 10% Pranayama, 15% Relaxation
Sunday 7:00-8:30am
Using Transitions to Explore Emptiness, Karma Yoga, and the difference between points and Space
Does my pursuit of a pose – or enlightenment, for that matter – reinforce the very grasping that Yoga promises to alleviate? If so, then why do I bother? Maybe some simple practice can help untangle some complicated knots…
Audience Level: All
Intensity of Practice: 5
65% Asana, 15% Pranayama, 10% Meditation, 5% Relaxation, 5% Philosophy