Purpose?

What’s our purpose?

Move With GR exists to offer Survivors of Domestic Violence (DV), Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), Sexual Assault (SA) and those in Recovery related to Addiction, yoga and mindfulness groups that are trauma informed, accessible, and affordable. We partner with local agencies to offer groups. 

Please contact us for inquiries! 

If you are an agency or hold space for community and you are interested in a group or class for your participants or would like more information please reach out. 

If you are interested in offering programming with us as a teacher, workshop facilitator, or volunteer also contact us! 

We offer free and donation based groups and one on one sessions. Donations go directly to purchasing yoga prop kits for survivors, and to providing MWGR programs.

Why yoga props?

Trauma survivors face many financial burdens as they navigate their safety, healing, and recovery. Many survivors experience body pain and/or a disconnection to their body related to their experiences. These factors can make physical and emotional safety complex when attempting to engage with an intentional yoga and mindfulness practice. To offer support in this area we have found that the use of props (bolsters, blocks, straps, chairs, blankets, for example) is appreciated by survivors, and is also a need for their practice…a need that is financially inaccessible.

A yoga prop kit can cost anywhere from $40-100 or more. May survivors feel (and understandably so!) that the money could instead be used for formula, diapers, transportation, medication, therapy, a meeting with an attorney, groceries, any other bill payment…yoga props to support themselves as they deepen practice is low on the list of financial priorities, but it’s high in their personal healing needs list. We often hear, “Maybe after [insert financial priority] I can save for a bolster!” and that just doesn’t sit well with us. Not after witnessing all that survivors “do” to heal and support those around them. 

We know that it can sometimes feel “selfish” for a survivor to spend money on themselves, or for something like yoga classes, or yoga props. We also know that we can alleviate some of that pressure by offering groups and yoga prop kits ourselves (with your help!).  

There are so many needs. We know that yoga, mindfulness, props alone will not solve everything, but we also know that when survivors engage in the practice as a group, and as a community community, and that when they develop a practice on their own terms, they begin reclaim their bodies, their stories, and their lives. We just want to support them one group and one yoga prop kit at a time.

Yoga history and many of yoga’s profound teachers educate us, and offer to us, that yoga is liberation in both the individual and social realms, and we hope to do our part. (See our Resource page for more information on yoga history).

Move With GR also exists to offer free and donation based community yoga and mindfulness to folks in Michigan. We feel we learn, grow, and teach best in community, and we hope to lessen barriers where we can.

We’ve only just begun!

We thank you for your interest, your support, your engagement. Please contact us with any inquiries!