Scholarship Program Prana Prenatal Yoga

Maura's Story:

I recently moved back to live with my folks in Port Chester after finding out I was pregnant. My situation is a hard one. I was in relationship with the baby's father, who was abusive towards me. I knew my pregnancy was not safe so I left. This is my first baby and I did not know anything about pregnancy. When I looked at the classes I didn't think I would ever be able to do them. I saw on Prana's web site that no one is turned away so I called them. Dee told me that just a couple of weeks before one of her students made a donation for the scholarship fund and that I could take yoga and she could teach me Yoga for Labor in my home with my mother since I did not have a parter. I delivered naturally, my baby is perfect, and I am so grateful for Prana's help."


Elsa's Story:

"As a health care provider I understand the importance of prenatal and postnatal care. I always preach to my patients that there is no excuse to neglect your own wellbeing. For that reason I joined the Prana Yoga community. It was the best decision I ever made! In the fall of 2018, I found myself 7 months pregnant with my first child. My husband was recently let go from his job of 10 years. We were stressing out about making ends meet and preparing for our baby that was due to be born in early January 2019. In the mist of all the chaos, I decided to discontinue my Prana Yoga membership to save money. I spoke to Dee after my last prepaid prenatal yoga class, just to tell her that I wasn’t going to be able to return. I felt like I had to tell her why I couldn’t come back. Without any hesitation Dee offered me the opportunity to continue attending prenatal yoga classes. In addition to that, Dee also offered the opportunity to attend any of the offered Prana Yoga workshops like the breastfeeding workshop and yoga for labor, all using a Prana Yoga scholarship. I accepted the scholarship despite of my pride. I always thought of myself as someone that helps others, not being the one to gets the help. I put my pride aside because I felt like I needed this for myself and for my unborn child. To this day, I don’t think Dee understands how grateful I am for that opportunity. Prana Yoga provides a sense of peace and positive energy that helped me get through the rest of my pregnancy, the birth of my child, and even the postnatal phase." ---- Elsa P.


A Note From Dee, Founder and Owner Prana Prenatal Yoga:

Dear Friends,

Women need kind and nurturing support through all stages of their lives, but the reproductive years can be a particularly vulnerable time. Having access to evidence-based information, having guided classes to keep the body and mind healthy, and the ability to form strong bonds with other women in the community are all key factors in helping women to be strong, happy and healthy mamas.

Our studio has so much to offer women! But I have always been conscious of the fact that not every woman can afford our  offerings. Every woman deserves to have access to the resources and tools that Prana provides. Over the years, I have often asked myself how can we expand our reach to include women who are in financial need or in difficult life situations. With our home studio in Port Chester, I have also asked myself how can I train bilingual teachers so that we can offer classes taught in Spanish  to the big Latin American community right outside our doors. 
We need a bigger scholarship program to achieve our goals and to help women in need!

Many time in our history we have had students leave expired classes behind,  buy an extra class card, or make a generous cash donation to provide scholarship funds women in need.  This has been so helpful to us, as our policy since our inception has been that no one is turned away for lack of funds to pay for our classes. We have made good on our word, and since we opened in 2016 we have given thousands  in free classes and workshops to the community. Anyone who lets us know that they would like support, receives it at Prana. Many times when our scholarship fund has been depleted, my team and I cover the expenses. Our scholarship fund is now very low and we would like to be able to GIVE EVEN MORE!

The Plan:

With the money raised in this campaign we plan to offer

-- Offering partial scholarships for  Perinatal Yoga Teacher Training to teachers who intend to work with a community of underserved populations including bilingual teachers and teachers of color

- Offering local women who are in economic need full scholarships to prenatal yoga, birth preparation, postnatal classes and workshops 

- Offering partial scholarship options for our classes and workshops for families who require support

- Creating free community class offerings both at our studio and on-site with community center partners on an ongoing basis. We would like for at least one of these community classes to be in the Spanish language

- Translating workshop curricula to Spanish so that certain workshops can be offered in the Spanish language and handouts created

This is an amazing way to support women! Many times we look around at our world and feel helpless. Supporting women in this way is something you can DO to make a difference.

Thank you so much in advance for your kindness and generosity! The more we raise the more we can offer.  Our dream is to be able to expand our outreach as much as we can and eventually offer classes in community centers in needy areas.

Please share widely. We really appreciate your help.

Love,

Dee


About Prana Prenatal Yoga 
Prana Prenatal Yoga is a unique studio space offering yoga, fitness and educational support for women open to conception, pregnant, postnatal and beyond. During pregnancy, birth and the weeks immediately following women require support for their bodies and minds, access to evidence-based information as well as a warm, welcoming community. Prana prides itself on providing all three. We are also affiliated with a wide network of talented birth, wellness, and mental health practitioners who share their gifts with student body.  Since we began the program in January 2016 we have served and supported over 3000 families in the Westchester and Fairfield county area.