Gateway Healthcare Nurse Helps Women Recover through Yoga

Thursday, September 06, 2018

A Gateway Healthcare nurse recently started a unique program combining elements of exercise, mindfulness, and community to help women recover from trauma, addiction, and other issues.

Donna McDonald, RN, who works with the residents of Gateway's Eastman House, partnered with Alison Bologna, the founder of Shri Yoga, a yoga studio in Pawtucket, to create the "Yoga and Recovery" class. The initiative was developed with support from the June Rockwell Levy Foundation.

The private class meets every Friday morning at 8:30, as the women arrive together in a van from Eastman House. Instructor Charlene Breggia leads the class as together they begin with positive intentions, repeating phrases like, "I am open, I am here, I am grateful, I am empowered," before moving through breathing and stretching exercises, and ending with a relaxation period. After class, sometimes the women will borrow books from the Shri Yoga library before returning together to Eastman House.