PathFound groups are a safe space. Everyone creates this safe space by (1) Making an active effort to include the quiet ones. (2) Friendly not popular (3) Accepting not judging (4) Collaborating not competing (5) Admiring not envying. Safe spaces are healing because they allow us to finally rest in authenticity instead of being automatically hypervigilant in the outside world.
PathFound is a community for survivors of human trafficking. Community is the fundamental ingredient of both upstream and downstream healing. Connection is the #1 predictor of happiness, according to the longest happiness study in the world.
Path Found is developed and led by fellow survivor Misha Jan | misha@voicefound.ca
3 Ways To Connect With Your Community
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1. Group: Garden Yoga & Walk
Don’t ghost this group just because you think you’re not athletic. This isn’t gym class yoga. You don’t need to be flexible, strong, or “zen.” You just need the willingness to explore your deeper truth.
The Neuroscience Of Finding Your Voice: Quieting The Mind
According to neuroscience, when our brain waves slow down, so does our trauma’s wiring which gives rise to new neuronal connections. In simple terms, meditative states turn off our trauma based thinking and connect us to our true voice.The Psychology Of Your Wiser Voice: Connecting To Wisdom
Our survivor-led yoga is mostly psychological: yoga literally means "to unite" and in these yoga classes, the goal is to unite with your voice of wisdom. The wise voice within us all speaks the language of the highest virtues known as "character strengths" in positive psychology: wisdom is a character strength In Positive Psychology.
The Sacred Psychology Of Wisdom: Yin Yoga & Intuition From The Heart
Sacred traditions from around the world speak of intuition as the voice of our soul that speaks when our heart is open. Yin yoga aligns with this wisdom. It is not just a practice of stillness but a philosophy rooted in surrender. Yin is the Qi (soul/life force) that flows when we stop striving. It is the listening beneath the noise, the presence beneath the posture. As we soften into each shape, we create space for breath, for feeling, for the soul to speak.
Physical Health Benefits of Yin Yoga
By gently releasing tension in the fascia, Yin Yoga supports better lymphatic circulation, helping the body detoxify and heal more efficiently.
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2. Program: Path Discovery
An evidence-based 8 week program where you learn to build resources in a way that feels healthy, called “self-actualisation” and share it with the world, called “self-transcendence”.
Humanistic Psychology: Self-Actualization and Self-Transcendence
Self-actualisation is filling your own cup and self-transcendence is a choice to use your overflowing water to nurture others. This philosophy is grounded in Humanistic psychology.
Positive Psychology: Developing Value, Building Capital With Your Strengths
The program’s activities are based on Positive psychology principles: instead of focusing on what we lack, we focus on what advantages we can leverage to increase capital. Capital is what you value: connections, laughter, money, a career, etc.
This is achieved through:
• Meet living stories of hope: inspiring you to go from pain to power
• Positive psychology skill Building Workshops: develop your strengths and put them in action.
• Intentional art: communicate with your subconscious mind through symbolic meditative activities.
We Create The Container, You Are The Swirl
Our job is to facilitate inner exploration; your job is to make the plan and take charge. This program is for the motivated survivor ready to re build their life! Apply now and see if you qualify to participate for free.
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3. Drop In: Next Step Network
Do you need support with documents or logistical tasks? Come drop in to work with fellow peers with additional support from supervisors. Additionally, peer supporters can get you connected to resources.
Take a look further down the page to see which group may be best for you!
Our Core Values
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Connection is front and centre of the Path Found mission. Every group is build with the importance of connection in mind. Connection through healthy community bonds leads to happiness and resilience:
True Happiness
In the current tech revolution, loneliness is increasingly becoming a pandemic and connection is the solution. The longest study in the world on happiness found that the #1 predictor of happiness is the depth of our connections (Waldinger et a., 2023).
Resilience BuildingSurvivors need a “safe emotional base” from which to explore which re-builds secure attachment and has implications for future outcomes (reference). Groups act as the anchor for members, giving them a sense of community and stability while they transition into a healthier life.
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If all someone has known is torture, poverty and crime… thats where they will land. Socioeconomically disadvantaged people need exposure to the lived realities of people who turned dust into gold.
For example, when looking at at-risk populations in Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Hemminger says, “people achieve what they see is possible.” Through building connection and community 65% of youth who were precariously surviving completed highschool and 46% got postsecondary education.
For our survivors, body commodification can become ingrained through conditioning by traffickers and the overall culture of peers in the game. This creates an unconscious narrow field of view where we might miss the countless other opportunities to align with our healthiest path and share our unique value with the world.
To broaden the horizons of what is possible, PathFound groups exposes members to (1) reconnecting with their truth through creative meditative workshop activities, (2) exploration of strengths workshops, and (3) meeting various self-made successful survivors.
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Creativity and slowing down are central to meaningful resource building and we bring these qualities into every group that is facilitated.
Creativity is the hallmark of our Closed Group: Path Discovery and slowing down is the hallmark of our Open Group: Garden Yoga & Walk.
Which Group Is Right For You?
Program: Path Discovery
○ You are a survivor of human trafficking
○ You are safe enough to rebuild your life
○ You want to meet ambitious peers
○ You are resilient enough to develop your own resources
○ You are driven to find your path
○ You are ready to find and use your strengths
○ You are curious to listen to guest speakers share their stories of going from hopelessness to becoming a success
○ You are open to learning how to use tech and research to accelerate your goals (optional)
Drop-In: Next Step Network
○ You need help with documents or applications
○ You need the motivation of working with peers
○ You need guidance on where to find something
Group: Garden Yoga & Walk
○ You want to make friends or simply be around safe people
○ You want to gently stretch your body in a safe garden
○ You want to journal thoughts that come up
○ You want a space where you can relax and be yourself without judgement
○ You want to develop healthy relationship and community building skills
○ You want to share and learn tips on improving well being
Group: Garden Yoga & Walk
Fill out this form: This form helps us assess your readiness, get to know you and consent to inviting you via email.
Watch your email: You will start receiving weekly emails with an invitation to group.
Reply to reserve: Be sure to RSVP by replying to the email invitation.
Show up: The only thing you need to bring is a safe space mindset!
Never miss an email: Add misha@voicefound.ca to your contacts list (or favourites list 💜) to always be notified.
Group schedule
Arrive 15 minutes early: Arrive early at location & wait for community members to arrive.
Walk in garden: Walk with the community members to a private space in the garden.
Pre-yoga reminder: An invitation to co-create a safe space.
Yin yoga begins: Have your journals ready as you are guided through a gentle and reflective practice.
Closing circle: Sit in a circle to share quotes that came to you and connect as a whole.
Socializing and walking: Gentle walking & socializing around the garden as a group.
How To Join
Program: Path Discovery
Fill out this form: This form helps us assess your readiness, get to know you and consent to inviting you via email.
What will happen next?
Interview: You will be invited to an interview with a facilitator to learn more about your goals.
Goal setting: Once accepted, you will meet again and go over some deeper getting to know you and goal setting questions that will be logged and sent to you via an excel spreadsheet so you can track your goals.
Welcome package: You will receive a special package on your first day of the program.
Show up ready: It’s not the program that changes your life, it’s you that changes your life. You can take advantage of this opportunity by asking guest speakers good questions, networking with peers and engaging in a way that feels true to you.
Give notice of absence: If you fail to show up without informing facilitator 2 weeks in a row, your spot will be given to another participant.
Exit assessment: Throughout the program, be prepared to compare your goal setting with the exit assessment, which will allow you to see the growth you’ve endured.
Add certificate to resume: Obtain your ‘Resourcefulness Training: Developing Value, Building Capital’ certificate.
Drop-In: Next Step Network
Fill out this form: This form helps us assess your readiness, get to know you and consent to inviting you via email.
Receive invite: You will be contacted by a VoiceFound member with information about time and location.
What can you bring?
Document’s that you need help filling out
Questions regarding housing, school or work opportunities
A list of your goals that you need support achieving