Yoga for reconciliation

GEORGE OKURUT is a yoga teacher in vulnerable communities. He works with poor children in Kampala, Uganda. These projects have created yoga awareness, and mental health awareness, improving the livelihoods of people. George is a certified yoga teacher from S-VYASA Yoga University in India, and Satyananda Children’s Yoga at Yoga Pura Vida in Tanzania.

My journey with yoga started in 2016 when I came to Kampala. I went to one of the dance communities and was introduced to yoga practice; I felt so attracted by it. The trainer, Bobby, told me that I would learn much more if I went to the National Theatre. There I met a lady called Bibotag, who explained the mentorship of yoga. In 2017, one of the teachers gave me a scholarship to be qualified as a yoga teacher for children at Yoga Pura Vida.

When I came back to Uganda from Tanzania in 2018, I developed my inner understanding and study of yoga to share with my community. I come from a background of domestic violence, trauma, stress, and depression; and I was also a victim of the war in northern Uganda for almost two decades. So yoga offered me a lot. When I blend yoga with dance, it gives me calmness and a deeper understanding of myself, so that I can be someone who is more transformative with my community.

What transformation happens with yoga?

I found a lot of transformation and help through yoga. I had an accident as a child, while pushing a vehicle that was stuck. I slipped, my legs went under a tire and the car rolled over my back. Afterward, I couldn’t bend my back much. But I started to practice yoga regularly, and now I can flex my back, I can do everything with my back. I’ve benefited from yoga in other ways too, like now I can control my emotions, I know what I need, and it has built self-confidence, because before I had so much anger, even with my family, that I couldn’t so much as talk.

Now I can stand in front of my community, share with my community, and through yoga I have helped some from my community to develop inner peace. We have that need for inner peace to understand more of ourselves, to believe more in ourselves.

So I’ve achieved a lot of things through yoga, including new friendships, and meeting people I could never have expected to approach.

Yoga in Africa

In the middle of Africa, which is really quite wild and remote, yoga is still very new. I’m trying to create awareness by taking yoga into different communities, and there are many challenges. Uganda is a Christian country, and people feel that we are trying to bring an Indian belief system or religion into Uganda. But with a smile and with my energy, I tell people my story – where I come from, what I’ve gone through, and how it has changed my life. When they hear how it has helped me transform, and how it will help them, they begin to listen.
My generation has gone through domestic violence, and because of peer pressure they are smoking, drinking, and they forget their life generally. That is what I’m working on now. I collaborate with different organizations to give them scholastic material, so that they can even go back to school. The more we motivate young people, the more they will believe in something. I have tried to work with people in education; if they keep practicing yoga, with time they will understand the health benefits.

Being a yoga artist in the community

Being a yoga artist is like being a dance artist, and it means a lot to me. But the business side is difficult because it’s hard to find clients who subscribe to the teaching. It will be hard to sustain unless a big organization sponsors me to reach out to communities.

I come from a community with high crime rates, where peer pressure drives young boys to smoking, young girls to early marriage, pregnancy, and prostitution, and there’s a lot of domestic violence. I use yoga as a tool to transform my community positively, giving them hope. We have a lot of young mothers and children with little money, who cannot easily get medical help. When they practice yoga, they grow healthier so that the small amount they earn from their work can buy other things.
I use yoga to teach my community to be healthier in body and mind; not to be traumatized by the alarming situations going on in the country and the economy. I’m so happy to be sharing yoga in Uganda, even if it’s still a challenge.

The people here really need this, but they find it very hard to find time, and they cannot pay. I call many organizations around the world to sponsor these projects, and really appreciate those who support us to reach out to more communities, including schools. Yoga is how I earn a living, and I need sustainable work, perhaps as a certified teacher for children and adults in Uganda, where people can come to practice and feel at home with other people.
 

To watch the whole talk, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x02ojzfR7OY

Illustrations by JASMEE MUDGAL