Ruchira Roy

Youssef Majed has seen war from close quarters, enough to know its cost. He lost his limbs to a bomb blast in Lebanon. Today he teaches Art of Living’s yoga and meditation programs, on his wheelchair, with a smile that is hard to be unimpressed with.

“Many wonder how it is to teach oriental spirituality to the Arab world,” says Youssef Majed, a specially-abled Art of Living instructor who has been teaching yoga and meditation in war torn regions of the world including Lebanon, Jordan and Syria for nine years now and has been a yoga practitioner for the last 21 years, “My experience is, people are really willing to learn these practices across the Arab countries. Even if I tell a very simple, not very highly educated person, like a vegetable seller, he asks me, is it going to help me? Will I feel relaxed and relieved after doing this? So people are very receptive and curious about Yoga and meditation. Then there are highly educated individuals and Arab intellectuals who are also looking to explore Yoga and the workings of the mind now.”

Youssef Majjed at a session of Yoga

Much like pizza with its Italian origins or Tai Chi with its Chinese origins has found global acceptance, today yoga, with its oriental roots, is a universal mind-body discipline that is practiced by one third of the global population. It is popular for a simple reason-yoga is helping people from across races, regions and religions find better physical and mental health, especially in times when people have seen enough conflict, violence and loss of lives, and more recently the global pandemic. There is enough growing scientific evidence that support the benefits of yoga for the body and mind, particularly in dealing with modern day-lifestyle disorders like diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, inflammations or mood disorders such as depression, and anxiety.

The Art of Living, for example, has thousands of practitioners of Islamic faith from across the globe who regularly practice yoga, meditation and special rhythmic breathing techniques (Sudarshan Kriya yoga) taught in the programs.

“I have been practicing yoga and breathing techniques for the last 20 years,” says senior Pune-based The Art of Living faculty, Hasan Tafti, who has taught yoga and meditation in India, Iraq and the Middle East, “Physically I am fitter and my energy levels are wonderful. Whenever I do yoga and breathing, I feel very light throughout the day. Before learning yoga, I was a hot headed person. Doing these programs I find I have so much better control over my emotions.”

Mawahib Al Shaibani at a refugee camp in Syria

Yoga also nurtures basic human values that connect people with each other, according to Majjed. “They ask me, what is Yoga? I say, doing prayers 5 times a day is also a form of Yoga. The Prophet himself was a meditator. I tell people that with breathing and meditation practices, you would go deeper in your prayers, you will connect with God more closely, and you will become more open.’

This is an experience that Tafti strongly agrees with. “After doing these mind-body practices, I notice now when I say my Salah, my entire being is focused on my prayers. So it has helped in my spiritual practices too. It is an extraordinary gift.”

Not just in India, but The Art of Living has been actively teaching trauma relief workshops that include yoga, breath and meditation in countries like Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Kosovo, Middle-east, Egypt, and even Syria among others, and innumerable people from all walks of life have benefitted from them.

According to Mawahib Al Shaibani, who is a senior UAE-based Art of Living trainer working in Iraq, an ex-banker and war survivor, the appeal of these techniques lie in how universal they are. There is a need for techniques that can enable people to handle the stress and fear emanating from their violence prone surrounding, she feels. “I have never needed to convince anybody about these practices because the techniques we teach are universal techniques which use the breath and breath doesn’t belong to any one religion.”

Majed shares that sometimes in the middle of the programs, one could hear bombings around. “The building we’re in starts shaking. People are very frightened. I ask them to take their attention to their breath, and that calms them down. Many people fall in love with yoga after these workshops. They’re able to feel happiness and love despite being in such a situation. Many of them are now more accepting of the situation they are in.”

Tarique Khan at a Yoga session

Tarique Khan, a choreographer and Art of Living teacher has been teaching yoga and breathwork in Iraq, Morocco, Egypt, Philippines, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. But his most life-transforming experiences come from teaching these valuable techniques to war survivors in refugee camps.

A couple years ago, Tarique Khan led about 3300 Iraqis from various IDP (internally displaced people) camps, refugee camps in Baghdad and Sulemaniyah through yoga and breathing techniques that have been taught to over 370 million people all over the world.

“People there have lost homes, have been displaced and so many killings have happened,” said Khan, “The governments and other organizations provided them with food, water, and shelter. But what about their inner peace and what will help them relieve their trauma? What about rebuilding their confidence?” Khan says these practices were simple yet powerful enough to make them resilient in the face of conflict.

According to Khan, some like it so much “that many of them end up applying for instructorship.” In August 2018, Khan trained about 33 youth leaders or ‘Peace builders’ in Iraq in teaching stress relief workshops which included breathing techniques, Yoga, interactive games, and meditations. These 33 youth leaders further taught the trauma relief workshops called Breath Water Sound workshops to about 2100 people in Iraq.  

“The economic problems are grave and in many places people have lost hope,” Khan said, “They are worried about jobs, and the safety of life. Through meditation and Yoga, we are empowering people and trying to tell them that all is not lost.”

The Art of Living teachers are also helping children, the most vulnerable group affected by the Syrian conflict, living in refugee camps release their trauma and suicidal tendencies through yoga. “I learned exercises that relaxed my body and emptied my heart of all problems and burdens. It made us be free of tension and anger. I wish that all people come to this happy place,” recounts Malik, a 12-year-old at Bab al-Tabbaneh, Tripoli.