Upward Inertia is a Treasure Valley non-profit whose mission is to provide marginalized communities with mind-body based education and intervention that can empower them to better care for their mental, physical, and social-emotional health. They currently provide courses within 6 Idaho prisons, with a secondary goal of reducing recidivism and aiding in the maintenance of sobriety for this population.
Upward Inertia’s executive director Kaelyn Rogers recently presented to Boise Sunrise and we were so impressed with their efforts that we chose them for our October Center of the Table (CoT) donation. These funds will be used to support the cost of running a 7-week session (Upward Inertia’s entry-level curriculum) at one of the facilities they serve. This will support 15-25 students’ introduction to mind-body-based education, including introductory knowledge about nervous system regulation, emotional intelligence and emotional processing, development of healthy habits and intentional decision-making, and nonviolent communication. Additionally, these classes will include facilitation of gentle (yoga) movement, to improve balance, strength, and mobility, as well as breathwork, and meditation practices.
Students have reported a myriad of improvements, ranging from decreased anxiety and depression to better sleep, less pain, and improved relationships with their spouses and children. Students have reported a change in their mindset, improved management of PTSD symptoms, increased empathy and compassion, and increased self-care and self-love.
Below are a few student testimonials:
“Using breathwork and mindfulness to understand what is going on internally helped me to be a lot more intentional in my daily life. Learning how to accept my weaknesses as things I am working on or growing in has increased my self- worth and loosened the grip of negative self talk.”
“I wish everyone in prison would take this class. This class helped me in so many ways.”
“In court today (rider reviews) I was extremely anxious until I remembered about the inner resource/safe place and went there in my mind. I focused on my breathing and was able to actually feel my heartbeat slowing and myself calming down.” Anonymous, SBWCC
“I liked learning about how our thoughts play a big role in our life. I like that it was not about how anyone else was doing but about how well we did on our own. The class helped me to be more thoughtful in my actions and words. It has helped me to see my strengths and weaknesses and how to use them wisely.”
At Boise Sunrise, our motto is that we seek to leave it better than we found it. We support the work of Upward Inertia and trust that this goal will be met with the sessions they are going to conduct in the future. Bravo! to Kaelyn and U/I for this compassionate and impactful work!
