Meet Richard: Volunteer Yoga Teacher
Richard Jenkins isn’t your typical yogi. When we meet to discuss his involvement with DCJ as a Recreation Volunteer, Richard is dressed comfortably in a t-shirt and sweats, his arm etched with a large tattoo. He carefully tucks a rolled mat under his arm. He’s just finished an 8:30 AM class with the young men in the Measure 11 Unit at Juvenile Custody, where he has been volunteering for the past two years. Richard reports that the class went well today:the youth had a quiet, relaxing savasana (a restorative posture that provides deep rest and relaxation while lying flat on your back.) But, it doesn’t always go that smoothly. Occasionally tempers can flare. The boys may be feeling anxious, depressed, or amped up. Richard tries to meet them where they are at and hopes that he can provide them “a few moments of peace and quiet in a place that may not afford them a lot of calmness.”
Despite Richard’s relaxed demeanor, life hasn’t always offered him a lot of those peaceful and calm moments. Richard went to his first drug and alcohol treatment center in 2005. His journey with addiction started with alcohol and quickly progressed to prescription drugs and eventually methamphetamines. “I was a hard nut to crack...when it became apparent that I needed to find sobriety, I thought that life was going to end, or that it certainly wasn’t going to be any fun.” But, despite Richard’s ups and downs with the change process, he’s now found sobriety and has been able to travel to India, volunteer with his son's nonprofit in Haiti, and be present for his grandkids.
Richard first learned about the practice of yoga while in treatment. Later, a friend encouraged Richard to attend a recovery yoga class, provided by Living Yoga. Soon after, Richard started taking additional classes at Portland Community College. Eventually one of the Living Yoga volunteers encouraged him to become an instructor. Richard remarks, “I saw it as my chance to pay it forward.”
Richard started by volunteering to teach classes at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. “At first I really focused on yoga that I thought would help them work off a lot of energy. The classes I took at PCC were more focused on strength and endurance. I thought they would need that, being stuck in a facility...but, that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned through Living Yoga - we need to let our minds rest and our body rest. I try to pass that along to the guys.”
I ask Richard if he notices any differences in the youth when they attend the class regularly. “At first, the guys that come in have a hard time paying attention and being present. That could be because of the environment, or peer pressure...I explain that yoga can have some positive impacts for them on their strength or peace of mind and eventually they start to attend more regularly and even start requesting certain postures.”
When Richard talks about his volunteer work, he asks his friends and family to have a little empathy for justice involved youth. “I think we all come in with preconceived ideas.” Richard has also learned about teaching trauma informed yoga, focusing on making sure that he doesn’t make anyone feel less than, or embarrassed. “I don’t know exactly where they have come from or what their family life has been.” There’s also the additional hurdle of getting over misconceptions about yoga itself. “A lot of people think it’s too easy. Or too hard. Athletes do it, retired people do it. Yoga can meet you wherever you are at. If you’re breathing, you can do yoga.”
I close out our chat by asking Richard if he has a personal motto or mantra: He says, “Just breathe and show up.”