The Hackney Yoga
Project (HYP)
When: Sat 22 Feb,
from h 9.30
The Hackney Project
Where: Hackney City Farm, E2
Where: Hackney City Farm, E2
All of us whose
life has been touched by yoga knows how transformational this journey can be,
once the channel is open there is no way back. After all, we all know how yoga
can result in people feeling happier in their own skins. But not all of us may
have realised, for this exact reason, how important making yoga accessible can
be.
The Hackney Yoga Project is bringing to London and its
yoga community something incredibly noble, brave and valuable. The HYP 's goal
is to make the lives of refugee and asylum-seeking women a little brighter
through yoga. They work mainly with survivors of human rights abuse, teaching
them yoga and English, providing a hot lunch, travel refund, moral support and
signposting to other activities. And they provide all this for free, helping
these women increase their confidence, bring a little light and lightness in
their lives, and make friends. There are many ways to support the HYP, starting
from simple donation which are always welcome. When I asked Emily, the HYP
founder, how one can concretely help, she pointed me to their Mala programme,
which all of us should consider. In fact, with this programme yoga teachers and
studios, and everyone else really, are enabled to help directly, holding a class
or any other event and donate any money raised to fund the project.
This Saturday though I went to the Hackney City farm -
their main site, currently - for the Bead not Bullets initiative, run by a team
of graduates from the YogaLondon school. The day started with a morning practice
guided by a YogaLondon graduate (quite a curious sequencing, indeed) and
followed with a joyful and heart-warming mala making session. Thanks to the
donation a beautiful collection of vintage beads by a local yogi artist, about
twenty volunteers gathered together and spent the day making the prettiest
meditation malas ever - the idea being that the malas would be soon available
for purchase in selected locations and on the HYP website. The proceeds will
fund travel expenses for the refugees. I have never been into beading at all,
but the cause was worth the challenge and the atmosphere so lovely that the day
flew. And before you ask, yes, I dreamt of beads…loads of beads...
Help us spread the word and support the HYP - it is worth it.
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