All posts tagged: yoga for refugees

Community Yoga Teacher Training, Liverpool, 2023-24

Published by Minna

The aim of this training is to transmit, over a one year period, principles and practices of traditional yoga in order to become an effective community yoga teacher. Participants will develop their own yoga practice and learn how to safely share this experiential knowledge with friends, family and the communities they serve. Participants will acquire a solid foundation of the ancient yoga tradition and yoga philosophy. Changes will be observed on the physical, mental, emotional and energetic levels. Breathing techniques, meditation, chanting and relaxation practices will be developed throughout the training as vital for creating peace and wellbeing. Topics covered: Classical yoga postures, breathing techniques, cleansing techniques, relaxation practices (shavasana, yoga nidra) and meditation techniques Trauma-informed yoga Yogic lifestyle Yoga teaching practice Who is it for? Refugees and asylum seekers wishing to share yoga and its mental health benefits with friends, family and the broader community Yoga practitioners wishing to work with refugees or other vulnerable communities that would benefit from acquiring yoga skills for wellbeing Anyone passionate about taking yoga to refugees or other

What the Research Says: a study of our Yoga for Peace project

Published by Minna

Mind, body and community: The potential for yoga as mental health and psychosocial support in emergency contexts Jessica Stone Lebanon is home to approximately 1.5 million refugees, numbering roughly a quarter of the entire population—the highest proportion in the world. Many Syrian refugees in Lebanon have witnessed or experienced physical, psychological or sexual violence, and continue to experience food insecurity, discrimination and social isolation. Reports of traumatic flashbacks, uncontrollable emotions, hopelessness, despair, and unusual physical and mental exhaustion are also common, as are high rates of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (1).  Women in particular are increasingly exposed to sexual assault, interpersonal violence and survival sex work in the settlements (2),  yet there are few mental health services available for Syrians in Lebanon (3), and even fewer that cater to women’s needs. To address these challenges, the organisation Tools for Inner Peace has been implementing a yoga program for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in informal tented settlements and community centres in the Beqaa Valley region since 2017. This program supports women to