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For the past year, I’ve had the profound privilege of offering weekly yoga classes to psychiatry inpatients and outpatients at the Montreal General Hospital. I’ve witnessed firsthand how powerful mind-body practices can be as part of a person’s healing journey. Yoga and mindfulness not only support emotional regulation and somatic healing, but they also offer patients something just as vital: a sense of agency, self-compassion, and empowerment.

The Montreal General Hospital Foundation has generously funded these classes, but that support is coming to an end this June. Without additional funding, the program will be cut, despite the deep impact it continues to have. With your help, we can continue making these classes available to those who need them most. Thank you for supporting our mission to help bring healing, hope, and dignity to those navigating mental illness.

Listen to a song written by one of the patients about their experience with yoga at the hospital: https://suno.com/song/f647acdc-6103-4897-9171-f737c588fced?sh=n22YEjMnZQqfyFfU

Here are the lyrics written by Giovanni Palmiotto:

It’s not just a stretch or a moment to bend,

It’s where the chaos of the mind begins to end.

Inhale the pain, exhale the fear,

With every breath, the path gets clear.

The mat’s not a stage, there’s no one to please,

Just a body uncoiling and a soul finding peace.

With trembling hands and a heavy heart,

Yoga meets me right where I start.

This is more than a pose, it’s a lifeline, a prayer,

A sacred space when no one's there.

When the world’s too loud, I go within—

Yoga saves me again and again.

It’s not a luxury, it’s not just for show,

It’s where I heal, where I let go.

A silent teacher, a grounded friend,

The breath that begins where the pain might end.

Some say it’s soft, just a stretch on a floor,

But they don’t see what the stillness is for.

They’ve never felt breath calm the fight,

Or found their way back in the quiet of night.

For trauma, for grief, for minds that spin,

This sacred practice brings balance in.

It’s not a fad or a passing trend—

It’s where broken pieces start to mend.

In places where the healing’s slow,

Where silent wounds still overflow,

Yoga brings calm where chaos stays—

A breath of peace in tangled days.

It’s not a perk—it’s vital care,

Let’s nurture the light that leads us there.

This is more than a pose, it’s a lifeline, a prayer,

A sacred space when no one’s there.

When the world’s too loud, I go within—

Yoga saves me again and again.

It’s not a luxury, it’s not just for show,

It’s where I heal, where I let go.

A silent teacher, a grounded friend,

The breath that begins where the pain might end.

Support the spaces where mats unroll,

Where breath becomes balm for the wounded soul.

Not just fitness, not just a trend—

It’s therapy in motion that helps us mend.

Let’s honor the stillness, the sacred ground,

Where silence speaks and peace is found.

The ask is small, but the gains are deep,

It’s the stillness that helps us finally sleep.

It’s medicine ancient, modern and wise,

A mirror of truth beneath closed eyes.

We all deserve that sacred ground—

A chance to feel safe, to feel unbound.

So give us space, and give us grace,

To meet ourselves in this quiet place.

Yoga’s a path through quiet and care,

A way to be whole when life feels unfair.

This is more than a pose, it’s a right, it’s a call,

To rise, to rest, to feel at all.

It’s mental care wrapped up in grace,

A safe return to the inner place.

And when support feels stretched or thin,

There are still hearts holding within.

For every soul that’s lost or missed,

Let’s hold the space, and still persist.

With sincere gratitude,

Melanie Richards

Founder of HappyTree Yoga