National Geographic features Jacksonville-based Yoga 4 Change

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Kathryn Thomas founded Yoga 4 Change in 2014 and has implemented it into jails and for veterans, youth and those trying to beat drugs.

National Geographic is featuring Yoga 4 Change in this month’s special health issue.

Now that yoga is an $80 billion industry, the article looked at why yoga has become so popular and examined how it reduces stress, promotes well-being and improves sleep. Part of the article focuses extensively on Yoga 4 Change.

Founded in 2014 in Jacksonville, the nonprofit targets four particular segments of people — veterans, youth, individuals who are incarcerated and those recovering from substance use. The organization has been teaching yoga in all three Duval County correctional facilities since 2016.

Yoga 4 Change also recently expanded to South Florida, Tampa Bay and Central Florida, specifically to study the impact yoga has on the opioid crisis. This crisis is the main subject of the January 2020 National Geographic magazine.

The National Geographic followed Executive Director Kathryn Thomas around for a couple of days attending yoga classes in correctional facilities and interviewing participants, local judges and Yoga 4 Change staff.

“It is a real honor that National Geographic expressed curiosity on our mission and our research, and made the effort to include us in the article” Thomas said. “Everyone involved in the Duval County carceral yoga programming was excited to participate and proud to show the program to the world and equally proud that our community has come together through the practice of yoga.”

The nonprofit said Duval County is the only county in the nation that sentences individuals to yoga programming while incarcerated.