The Yoga Connection<\/a>“, offers an 8-week session of classes each Spring and each Fall.<\/p>\nYoga benefits for refugee women<\/h4>\n
Starting February 1st through March 22nd 2022, The Yoga Connection, a community service program in Greensboro, North Carolina will be providing free accessible yoga classes for immigrant and refugee women, at the New Arrivals Institute (NAI), a training centre that teaches English to refugees and immigrants, as well as other useful skills such as: job readiness, health education, cultural and community orientation, Citizenship classes, and is a resource bank that serves the community at large concerning refugee and immigrant issues.<\/p>\n
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Mona started reaching out to Syrian refugees, helping with translations and immediate relief, working along with different local resettlement agencies. But over the years, she understood the deep-rooted socio-economic and psychological weight that the community carries, and started working on using the healing powers of yoga to address the unique refugee issues.<\/p>\n
The classes with refugees at the NAI started in 2019, on the premises of the Peace United Church of Christ, that gave NAI and The Yoga Connection the space to conduct the classes. This year, the classes will be held every Tuesday from 12:24pm to 1:45 pm, to align the program after NAI English as a Second Language, Citizenship and other classes, so that the women would save time, energy and transportation to avoid having to come in on a separate day. Additionally, there is free childcare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe benefits of yoga are many and if you ask any yogi, you will get a unique answer,\u201d says Mona. \u201cIt is beautiful to listen to how each person will articulate the yoking of awareness that comes from a more traditional practice which involves respect for incorporating asana<\/em> (the physical postures), pranayama<\/em> (breath control), mantra<\/em> (the power of sound, intentions, words\/phrases), mudra<\/em> (tapping into the energy body), and more,\u201d she says.<\/p>\nAimed mainly at women, The Yoga Connection program has designed classes especially keeping the immigrants and local women in mind. Mona shares how it is not uncommon to see women put their self-care last, always working on behalf of their families. \u201cThough that may be stereotypical of parents in general, women immigrants and refugees often have a language barrier which also hampers self-advocacy and agency in health needs,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She feels that attending a group yoga class, just for women, allows the movement of yoga asana to be strengthening and the amazing integrative benefits of yoga which go well beyond the physical aspects to become interwoven with the socializing and community building. \u201cThough we all must prioritize staying healthy in a preventative way, for this population, exercise, mental and social health are often not as well accessed, and a community yoga class provides all of these advantages.\u201d In a recent article, Mona wrote about the positive impact and benefit that immigrants can have if they practice yoga.<\/p>\n
Immigrant women are vulnerable to unequal power relations, and their adjustments to society\u2019s expectations are filled with specific considerations to be aware of, even to the possible inability to freely perform physical activity and make time for self-care.<\/p>\n
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that affects approximately 10% of women in the United States. PTSD prevalence is likely much higher for those who are refugees and asylum-seekers.<\/p>\n
Yoga may down regulate the stress response and positively affect PTSD as well as co-morbid depression and anxiety symptoms. Findings of the effectiveness of yoga for PTSD underscore the need for future research investigating the mechanisms by which yoga may impact mental health symptoms, gender comparisons, and the long-term effects of yoga practice.<\/p>\n
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The problems can be from many angles: physicians lacking knowledge of the asylum seekers\u2019 specific healthcare problems, language and intercultural communication problems, and access to and integration of asylum seekers into the healthcare system. Awareness of these conditions is necessary to help facilitate change toward successful resettlement with good quality of life, including participating in community.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/globalindianstories.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/TYC-May-2021.jpg\")
\u201cHear their voice, sharing where they might have hurdles. Offer to come practice with them. Teach them how to access zoom and how to check their email for their weekly class reminder.<\/p>\n