May 14 2017

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The Refugee Yoga Project improving the lives of Sydney's newest arrivals

Rachel Browne
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Danielle Begg initially started practising yoga for her own peace of mind but soon realised how it could help others with an even greater need for inner calm.

"I came to yoga at a time when I was working and studying and I found that it helped me calm my mind and strengthen my body," she said. "It had a really beneficial impact on my own life."

How yoga is helping refugee communities

Yoga instructor Danielle Begg has set out to improve the lives of Sydney's refugee community by providing yoga classes.

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How yoga is helping refugee communities

Yoga instructor Danielle Begg has set out to improve the lives of Sydney's refugee community by providing yoga classes.

While working at Oxford University, she saw how yoga was being used in refugee communities in Britain to manage the fallout from the trauma they had suffered in their homelands.

"When I came back to Australia I thought it would be wonderful to be part of something similar here but I couldn't find anything – classes for refugees simply didn't exist," she said.

So Ms Begg, together with philanthropic group the Vasudhara Foundation, established the Refugee Yoga Project which started as a pilot program in Sydney's south-west but has expanded to almost 200 classes over the past two years.

"I wasn't sure what to expect but it's just grown and grown," she said. "The need is enormous."

At least half of Australia's special intake of 12,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees will settle in western Sydney this year, with strong demand for support services.

A qualified yoga instructor, Ms Begg runs classes for people who have recently re-settled from countries such as Iraq, Syria, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. The project, which has the backing of the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS), has recently expanded to included classes for children.

Settling into a new school is hard for any child but even more so when you have moved to the other side of the world from a conflict zone, she said.

Many of the children in the yoga class at Liverpool West Public School have been in Australia for less than six months, with most coming from Iraq and Syria.

"We help with with self-regulation skills and also teach them how to relax their bodies and calm their minds," said Ms Begg, who runs the class with an Arabic interpreter and a child psychologist.

An evaluation of the Refugee Yoga Project by STARTTS found the classes have had a positive impact on the participants, including reduced symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder and depression, and improved sleep and mood.

The results were released in Australia in March but will be presented at the North American Refugee Health Conference in Toronto in June. The study joins a growing body of research into the mental health impact of yoga.

"It's significant to have research showing it's feasible and culturally appropriate to use this treatment," Ms Begg said.

"Some of the main impacts we found were reduction in the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder and depression. It is very encouraging."