WEEK 9 - Flux Story Ideas: STREET YOGA

I have been researching story ideas for Flux for the past two weeks, but this morning, instead of finding an idea -- well, the idea sort of found me! While eating breakfast, I looked up from my delicious bowl of fresh strawberries, plain yogurt, and Raspberry Ginger cereal only to notice a little girl staring back at me. No worries, it wasn't a ghost -- It was actually a picture of a little girl on the back of my cereal box. The girl's pose caught my attention: She looked like a spider ready to crawl down the street! I was confused by the picture, so I had no choice but to read the text that accompanied it.

It turns out that the little girl was practicing "street yoga" -- Nope, it's not another sport concocted by urban hipsters seeking new adventures on busy city streets but rather a social movement devoted to a worthy cause. According to the organization's website, which goes by the same name as latest sport, Street Yoga is "working to end homelessness by teaching yoga, mindful breathing and compassionate communication to young people at risk and their families, so that they can grow stronger, heal from past traumas, and create for themselves a life that is inspired, safe and joyful."

As I continued reading about Street Yoga, a thought crossed my mind -- "How cool would it be if this organization had ties to Portland? Then we could do a Flux story about it." Well, whoever said wishful thinking doesn't work? As I kept reading, the next paragraph informed me that one of the organization's yoga trainers works with homeless you in -- Can you guess? -- Portland, Oregon! I finished breakfast and went straight upstairs to grab my laptop and check out street yoga.

Here's what I found out:
~ Street Yoga doesn't simply have ties in Portland, OR -- That's the organization's actual home!
~ The website has a video featuring homeless Portland youth discussing their experiences with street yoga. The video is a great way to get a visual overview of the organization and its work.



Why would this be a good Flux story:
~ This story could be turned into a complete package for Flux -- Print story, photographs, video, and other multimedia. [Particularly in terms of video production, you have so many options and could get really creative without having to be a top-notch videographer or editor -- You don't even have to use your imagination all that much :) For example, you could do a sort of "testimonial video" -- It would involve cutting together a string of bites from homeless youth about their experiences on the street or with street yoga. You could have a black/white/solid color background for the kids and shoot the interviews from different angles -- I have seen this done over and over in videos, and it looks great every time, especially when a fresh approach is taken with the editing process. This is only one of about a half a dozen ideas that are running through my mind right now -- So, in my opinion, this story has great potential in terms of video production.]
~ Street Yoga might also make a great topic for the Flux Documentary class. I will be sure to send Jon Palfreman a link to the website.
~ AUDIENCE -- Does this story cater to the Flux audience we have discussed in class this term? In my opinion -- YES! I do have a good argument (Well, at least that's what I think!) to defend my point and will post it here later (Right now, I actually have to run off. Check back later, and I will post something here.).