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A local program is bringing yoga to kids in juvenile hall, and they say it's reducing violence among teens and getting them to communicate more.
In a short video released by Supervisor Don Knabe's office today, an organization called UpRising Yoga is profiled for the work that they do in Los Angeles County Central Juvenile Hall. Instructor Jill Weiss notes that as a former resident of juvenile hall, she herself learned how to find inner peace and quiet through yoga.
"There's that peace, where you don't hear the chatter in your brain, you don't hear someone telling you something," she says. "You enter into place that I believe is your spirit."
An official at the facility adds that since UpRising began teaching classes there about eight months ago, there have been fewer incidents of violence, and that communication has improved.
"To connect with something other than the regular stimulis that we have that sometimes causes us to make bad decisions," he said, "it's allowing them to see themselves, see the world as a more positive place."