Classes are free and designed for people with traumatic brain injury and their caregivers
Sarasota, Florida— Pineapple Yoga Studio is launching LOVE YOUR BRAIN™ Yoga for TBI/Concussions in partnership with a Vermont-based non-profit, the LoveYourBrain Foundation(LYB).
Pineapple Yoga Studio joins a network of 26 studios across 15 US states and 2 Canadian provinces trained by LYB to offer this unprecedented program in an effort to make yoga accessible to the traumatic brain injury (TBI) community.
TBIs are caused by an external blow to the head, resulting in disrupted brain function that can range from mild (concussion) to severe. Every year, 2.5 million occur in the US alone. Pineapple Yoga Studio is excited to add LYB Yoga to serve the TBI/Concussion community in SWFL. The studio aligns with LYB’s belief in the holistic and dynamic nature of yoga to meet the individual needs of each person with TBI, from wanting to rebuild strength and balance, to manage stress, and to find comfort in a community of people with shared experiences.
“Pineapple Yoga Studio is firmly committed to serve the unmet needs in the community in partnerships with other successful non-profits that have expertise in yoga for special populations. The Love Your Brain™ Foundation is an organization that has that knowledge for the TBI/Concussion community and we are truly honored to partner with them. We join two other studios in Florida which were selected by the LYB Foundation to offer this healing practice. As we expand the studio’s community yoga offerings, this program aligns with our mission and DHARMA( purpose) to enhance the lives and wellness of under-served communities in SWFL and our local Sarasota community. By showing compassion and service at a business level, we all become more loving and compassionate together as a community.” Claudia Baeza
Since researchers have not extensively explored the benefits of yoga for TBI, LYB partnered with Dartmouth College to conduct a study evaluating a yoga pilot program for this population, recently published in Brain Injury. LYB used the positive results to inform its current program, a 6-week gentle yoga series offered for free for people with TBI and their caregivers. Each class integrates breathing exercises, gentle yoga, guided meditation, and facilitated group discussion designed to foster resilience. The classes also adapt yoga poses to prevent dizziness and headaches, use soft lighting and soothing sound, incorporate strategies to focus attention, and uses empowering TBI-related themes to guide the group discussion.
“I’ve improved massively in nearly every way since beginning LYB yoga — increased cognitive ability, increased attention, increased stamina, better memory, better and faster word-retrieval, ability to read longer before my brain shuts off, beginning to recover my analytical abilities, more patience, more positive thinking, less frequent and less severe symptoms (ringing in the ears, auditory sensitivity, problems with balance, inability to sleep, headaches, brain-fog (that strange feeling of being separated from the world that occurs after a TBI), depression, etc.” – LYB Yoga program participant in Denver, CO
“We are incredibly excited to offer LoveYourBrain Yoga to the brain injury community in Ottawa. It is all about creating a positive environment that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and others in similar situations.” —Adam Pearce, Co-Founder and Executive Director of LoveYourBrain
Pineapple Yoga Studio will be hosting its first FUNdamentals series starting on Saturday April 27th from 1 pm to 2:30 pm for 6 consecutive weeks, ending on June 5th. This program is free and open to anyone with TBI/Concussion and their caregivers.
To learn more about the LYB FUNdamentals series and to register to attend the series, visit http://loveyourbrain.com/yoga/fl
or contact the studio at info@pineappleyogastudio.net
About LoveYourBrain
The mission of the LoveYourBrain is to improve the quality of life of people affected by traumatic brain injury and raises awareness about the importance of brain health. We envision a world where everyone affected by traumatic brain injury is connected to a compassionate community and empowered by resources to live a brain healthy lifestyle. LYB was started by brothers, Kevin and Adam Pearce, after Kevin sustained a TBI just shy of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Motivated by their experiences—Kevin as a TBI survivor and Adam as his caregiver—the two set out to inspire others affected by TBI to unite and support one another.Kevin’s remarkable resilience inspired millions through the HBO documentary, The Crash Reel, which was produced in January 2013 by Oscar nominated Director, Lucy Walker. Through the making of the film, the Pearce family’s experience brought to light the significance and prevalence of TBI and the lack of options and resources for the TBI community. One of the organization’s primary areas of focus—yoga—is based on the growing science that regular yoga and meditation practice can transform wellbeing, including for people affected by TBI. LYB has three core programs: Yoga, Retreats, and Educational Curriculum.
About Claudia Baeza
Claudia Baeza is a Kripalu trained yoga instructor, owner of Pineapple Yoga Studio and Executive Director of The Dharma Footprint Project. Her passion for service is at the heart of her studio’s mission. It is a sense of responsibility to the community which inspires her to offer a wide range of yoga classes serving a diverse clientele, from the power Vinyasa yogi/yogini to the most fragile and at-risk in the community. The union of a strong physical body and a balanced emotional self lies at the heart of her practice, allowing for a compassionate healing space to arise for all. Claudia specializes in private yoga instruction and boutique wellness offerings in a private and semi-private group setting. In addition to running the studio, she is a consultant to several hotel/residential partners in SWFL as a Fitness Concierge and Experience Designer. In 2018, Claudia created The Dharma Footprint Project; a Florida non-profit dedicated to using yoga to serve at-risk or underserved communities in Sarasota, Florida and beyond. Her vision for free and donation based community yoga programs was realized when the studio opened in 2016 and she began offering free yoga to the community. Claudia is trained in Trauma Sensitive Yoga– a program established at the Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute in 2003 which has helped thousands of people dealing with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex, inter-relational trauma. She completed 40 hours of training, learning the Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) model and she plans to further this training with an additional 300 hours in 2019. In addition, Claudia is trained as a Y12SR Leader to help her hold a safe space for those impacted by addiction. She brings her university teaching background as well as her deep passion for learning to the fore in the PYS programs which exceed Yoga Alliance requirements. Claudia is dedicated to growing the community yoga programs at the studio which include: Juvenile Detention Yoga in Bradenton FL, Trauma Informed Yoga for Depression and Anxiety, Mindful Movement for Parkinson’s and Cycling for Parkinson’s in collaboration with Neuro Challenge Foundation, Pre and Post-natal Yoga in collaboration with Healthy Start Coalition of Sarasota, and Y12SR: Yoga for the Sustainable Recovery from Addictions (Y12SR). For more information on the community projects, please visit: PineappleYogaStudio.net/community/
Claudia is a Yoga Alliance certified instructor E-RYT® 200 (Experienced 200 Hour Registered Yoga Instructor), a YACEP® (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider) as well as a Certified Personal Trainer, Paddle Board Certified Instructor and a Spin Instructor. She is currently completing her RYT300 hour Yoga Training at the Kripalu Yoga Center in the Lenox, Massachusetts with a focus on Meditation, Advanced Asana, Pranayama and the Anatomy of the Subtle Body. She completed her advanced Meditation training with Sudhir Jonathan Foust, former president of Kripalu Center, and Pranayama and Advanced Asana, with Yoganand Michael Carroll, Dean of the Kripalu School of Yoga.
Before owning a yoga studio, she was a practicing attorney, professional interactive designer, and Adjunct Professor of Design at Boston University. She launched her studio’s teacher training program in 2017 to enhance the current training offerings in SWFL. Her program is steeped in yoga tradition and dedicated to the study of anatomy, physiology, asana and special populations. This program is dedicated to a deep personal transformation. The Pineapple Yoga Studio RYT200 hour yoga training program emphasizes special populations and the needs of the non-traditional yoga practitioner. Future instructors are trained to serve in a body-positive way and teach all yogis/yoginis regardless of age or ability.
“These programs mean the world to me for they manifest my deepest belief that yoga can positively change the world we live in. I use yoga to illuminate my deepest values by taking responsibility on a corporate level, and as a citizen, to do what I can to help those in need. I truly believe I am living my yoga practice every day with the choices I make.” Claudia Baeza