Ericpaul Clark has been taking yoga classes for several months. He’s been in jail and a psychiatric facility after abusing drugs.Today, he says he’s clean and looking forward to a better life. Yoga helps keep him calm.“I have rather a bad temper, and I’m afraid that if I really get angry I might do something dumb that will cause me to go back to jail.When I do the stretches and poses it relaxes my muscles and just makes me feel more comfortable," said Clark.The free, weekly yoga classes are offered as a part of Green Door’s program to help people who are mentally ill cope with their problems and become more independent.Most are poor and many are homeless or in temporary housing.Social worker Miranda White says a lot of them don’t exercise, but yoga is a good way to get them moving, even if it’s from a chair.“Their patience for doing any type of exercise is minimal at first, but once they’ve gotten involved in yoga, I’ve seen this love for it," said White.This is Clarence Marble’s first yoga class and he’s finding it challenging.“I had to pull both my legs up with both my hands," said Marble.He hopes yoga will help him lose weight and alleviate his depression.“If it relieves me of some stress, I’ll really enjoy that, and if I can go do some yoga to get out of my depression that would be even better," he said.Studies have shown the positive effect of yoga on a range of mental illnesses.
