Yoga for the Mind, Body, and Spirit

Our achievement center believes in empowering our communities to be proactive and to take the steps necessary to build a healthy and well-rounded life. To get our community members moving and active, we asked the following question:

What can we do to help you achieve your goal of living a healthier life?

Their response? YOGA and ZUMBA classes! So we said, sure! This week, we had our first yoga and zumba class. Here’s what Phay Yim, a participant in our Healthy Changes and ESL class, had to say:

“I like [to] exercise. Sab-ay chet. Happy.”

Amina Sen-Matthews, Outreach Intervention Specialist at OCAPICA who is stationed at The Cambodian Family, leads the yoga and zumba classes on Wednesdays and Fridays. She says the classes are a means to help our community residents take their health into their own hands. After the first yoga class, she said it was so beautiful to see them so engaged and so excited to learn.

“I had to slow them down sometimes and instruct them not to rush. Yoga is not about competition. Take each move at a pace that’s comfortable for you. It’s great because our center doesn’t discriminate on skill or on ethnicity. We have Spanish speakers and Khmer speakers interacting and encouraging one another all the time! ”

Yoga is a great exercise that oftentimes is not available to our community members. Classes are usually offered for a monthly fee at a studio or gym somewhere that requires transportation. This is a luxury some of our community members do not have.

“What’s great is that yoga teaches us to get in touch with not just our bodies but also our minds. It’s especially great for the Cambodian community because of the trauma our elders face with the Killing Fields. Yoga and other forms of art can be the door to helping them address their trauma and to developing their mental wellness. The meditation in yoga teaches us to listen to our mind and body as whole,” says Linda Sok, Community Organizer at The Cambodian Family.

You can support us by making a donation or purchasing a yoga mat for us today! We are also in need of volunteer instructors on Wednesdays and Fridays from 11:15-12:00pm.

For more information, contact Amina Sen-Matthews at 714-499-4623 or at amatthews@ocapica.org.