Yoga for Peace

Yoga for Peace by Klara Srbova

UNIVERSITY OF KENT

A Dissertation Submitted to the Brussels School of International Studies of the Department of Politics and International Relations in the Faculty of

Social Science

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts in International Conflict and Security

Brussels, Monday 16 March 2015

(15 081 words)

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Abstract

In the realm of the theoretical framework of conflict transformation, the present thesis

examines the shifts that yoga practice brings to violent conflict survivors in their

thinking as well as lives. The thesis argues that in order to transform conflict away

from its destructive potential towards its positive and constructive potential, a mind

shift away from underlying dualist mindset towards a more holist one must occur. The

present findings support the argument. It is shown that yoga practice brings about this

necessary shift, which translates in yoga practitioners’ lives as non-violent, as well ass

constructive and problem-solving attitude in conflict. The thesis thus concludes that

yoga is and effective and valuable tool in comprehensive peace-building initiatives,

while suggesting further research in this direction.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank to Dr. Élise Féron, the supervisor of this thesis, for her

continuous and patient support as well as her invaluable advice.

I would also like to thank all the participants of the present research for their time,

energy, and insights that they shared with me.

Endless thanks go to my close ones who supported me unconditionally in many ways

throughout the process.

Table of Contents ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................. 4

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................. 11

DUALISM ......................................................................................................................................................... 11 CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION .................................................................................................................. 13 QUANTUM PHYSICS & OBSERVER’S EFFECT ....................................................................................... 15 BOTTOM-UP & INSIDE-OUT ....................................................................................................................... 16 ARTS-BASED & SPORTS-BASED INITIATIVES ...................................................................................... 17 YOGA INITIATIVES ....................................................................................................................................... 18 YOGA ............................................................................................................................................................... 18

METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................ 20 HYPOTHESIS & RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................................. 20 INTERVIEWS & INTERVIEWEES ................................................................................................................ 21 CONTENT ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................................... 22 CONSIDERATIONS ON LIMITATIONS ....................................................................................................... 23

ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................... 25 RELIEF - FROM PHYSICAL TO MENTAL & EMOTIONAL ..................................................................... 26 UNDERSTANDING, CALMNESS & INNER PEACE .................................................................................. 29 SLEEP & MEMORY PROCESSING .............................................................................................................. 30 FORGETTING & LETTING GO ..................................................................................................................... 31 TIME TO THINK .............................................................................................................................................. 32 EMOTIONAL BALANCE & BREATH .......................................................................................................... 34 EMPOWERMENT & AGENCY ..................................................................................................................... 36 NON-VIOLENCE & APPROACH TO CONFLICT ....................................................................................... 37 HUMAN CONNECTION, COMMUNICATION & SOCIALIZATION ........................................................ 40 FORGIVENESS ................................................................................................................................................ 43 YOGA ON AND OFF THE MAT - LIFE CHANGES .................................................................................... 44

DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................. 47 YOGA AS A TOOL .......................................................................................................................................... 47 YOGA AS A PART OF A LARGER AND COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH ............................................. 47 TRAUMA SURVIVORS AND MEDITATION .............................................................................................. 48 POLITICAL, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................ 49 COMMUNITY BUILDING TOOL .................................................................................................................. 50 CONFLICT PREVENTION TOOL .................................................................................................................. 51 SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION ....................................................................................................................... 51

CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................ 52 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................... 55

ARTICLES ........................................................................................................................................................ 55 INTERNET SOURCES ..................................................................................................................................... 56 INTERVIEWS ................................................................................................................................................... 57 OTHER .............................................................................................................................................................. 58

APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................ 59 ANNEX I – INTERVIEW GRID ..................................................................................................................... 59 ANNEX II – LIST OF INTERVIEWEES ....................................................................................................... 62

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Introduction

The discipline of conflict and peace studies has been undergoing an important shift.

Current violent conflicts are not traditional inter-state wars, but rather take the form of

various intra-state violence (Rombotham, Woodhouse & Miall, 2005). Some scholars

conceptualize it as so-called ‘new wars’ (Kaldor, 2007). The traditional systemic, top-

down dualist understanding of violent conflict has reached its limits while our

understanding has grown. There has been a increasing acknowledgement among

academics that conflicts are extremely complex; involving a multitude of actors active

at several levels, and as encompassing multiple dimensions (Rombotham, Woodhouse

& Miall, 2005). Conflicts bring about hybrid socio-political and economic changes.

They impact on the dynamics of international relations dynamics, the state,

communities, and individuals – all at once (Boege, 2006).

However, the majority of current conflict research so far has been reflecting a

predominant dichotomous thinking, which does not take into account the complex

interplay of all the levels and dimensions of conflict and its implications (Reiman

2004). In the field of conflict, underlying dualist thinking envisions conflict alongside

a one-dimensional spectrum, placing conflicting parties at the opposite ends,

seemingly irreconcilable. Such a starting point itself encourages escalation. In

addition, this either/or logic limits the options for solutions: There seems to be only

one out of two. Furthermore, dualism induces hierarchy, as one option always is

superior to the other alongside the either/or spectrum turned from horizontal to

vertical direction (Del Collins, 2005). As a result, conflict becomes framed as

either/or, a win-or-lose zero-sum game, with no reasonably satisfactory solution in

sight. Consequently, the framework itself leads to escalation. Considering this

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seeming inevitability of escalation and violence, it follows that a dualistic approach to

conflict automatically assumes conflict as a destructive and negative phenomenon that

we strive to prevent, suppress, resolve, or eventually ignore (Del Collins 2005).

Our language reveals the underlying dualist mindset: Parties either win or lose, there

are perpetrators and victims, ‘we’ fight against ‘them’, just war led in defense can be

justified while deliberate invasion not, etc. Dualism, in general, seems to prevail in

our thinking in our daily lives: We live and we die, we see issues as black or white,

situations are good or bad, I am right while you are wrong, etc (Del Collins, 2005;

Goswami, 2001). Anything that falls out of our clear-cut mental categories makes

most of us feel uneasy, as the mind struggles to grasp such ambiguity (Del Collins,

2005). Although the reality of our lives, as well as the reality of conflict appears dual,

it does not mean that it necessarily is (Goswami, 2001). With the increasing

recognition in the field of study that conflict is a complex and multidimensional

interplay, we are in need of transcending dualism and taking a more inclusive,

comprehensive and holistic approaches, integrating knowledge also from other

debates and fields (Boege, 2006; Del Collins, 2005; Reiman, 2004).

Since framing determines the outcome, dualism that assumes conflict as negative

perpetuates the destructive features of conflict. However, conflict as such is not

always negative. For example, social theory views conflict as one of many social

interactions, which offers an opportunity to learn (Simmel, 1972). Senge’s (2006)

management theory of learning organizations acknowledges the learning potential of

conflict, and argues that conflicts escalate when learning is absent. In the field of

conflict studies specifically, the school of conflict transformation, views conflict as a

constructive element in our relationships that, aside from its destructive potential,

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carries also the ability to create which can lead to a positive outcome (Lederach,

2003).

This thesis takes the constructive and positive approach to conflict of conflict

transformation. In order to tap into the creative potential of conflict, it is argued that a

mind shift is needed. To induce the necessary mental shift, conflict transformative

approaches use various techniques including arts- and sports-based workshops.

Taking the bottom-up approach, transformative approaches address the individual

level and subsequently build ‘up’ to the community level from there (Galtung, 2000).

These arts- and sports-based workshops range from music, theater, through dance, to

yoga. Despite surprisingly good results, the area has remained under-researched

(Lance 2010). Moreover, as the majority of peace-building research focuses on

collective rebuilding and reconciliation, the individual psycho-social healing

processes, and how they can contribute to the societal level, remain unexplored

(Datzberger, 2014).

This thesis thus aims to contribute to mapping this academic territory. It focuses on

the individual psycho-social healing processes that use yoga as healing technique. It

examines specifically if and how yoga brings about a mental shift, providing for

conflict transformation. When an individual mental shift occurs, the analysis explores

its specificities and how it plays out at the collective social level, in the context of

conflict and violence. The thesis places its research in a post-violent conflict setting. It

attempts to extrapolate its findings to suggest if and how yoga could be an effective

reconciliation, community building, or conflict prevention tool.

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The text is organized as follows: Presentation of the concept of dualism and the

school of conflict transformation, and an argument for the need of a paradigm shift

within the discipline, having extrapolated from the field of modern physics. The thesis

next presents a brief introduction into arts- and sports- based techniques of conflict

transformation, with a particular focus on various yoga initiatives. We continue with

the methodological explanation of the data collection and the process of analysis

before presenting the analysis itself, organizing the findings according to the

following: the immediate effects of yoga, the specific internal (intra-individual)

sensations, shifts, changes, and processes, how these internal changes translate into

external attitudes and behavior in the context of conflict and violence. The thesis then

discusses some ambiguities revealed by the research, as well as potential avenues for

further research before concluding with a summarization of the main findings.

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Theoretical framework

This theoretical section illustrates the implications of dualist and non-dualist (i.e.

holistic) approaches to conflict. It examines their use within the school of conflict

transformation to provide the frame and scope of the research. In contrast to the

traditional theories, relying on assumed dualism and top-down approach, the present

theoretical framework takes the bottom-up view emphasizing the individual and

psycho-social dimensions of conflict and peace-building. Arts- and sports-based

initiatives, particularly yoga initiatives, are then introduced in such frame.

Dualism

Our reality seems dualist by nature: there is day and night, sunrise and sunset, light

and dark, life and death, etc. Although such binaries that appear in nature seem fixed,

they do so only from a specific perspective. The example of sunrise and sunset

provides a clear idea: it is an illustration of the view from the Earth, while a view

from the space (e.g. the Moon) offers a different picture where any dichotomy of

sunrise or sunset does not make much sense. Similarly, in the social realities of our

socially constructed lives, dualism provides a perspective. It becomes problematic,

however, when dualism is taken as given, fixed, as the perspective (Del Collins,

2005).

Dualist logic of either/or thinking offers very limited choices (i.e. only one of two), it

categorizes and creates separation between the categories, while it draws the

boundaries as fixed and seemingly permanent, unchangeable. Moreover, the either/or

logic offers only a one-dimensional spectrum, creating sharp opposition as only one

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or the other can be chosen and nothing in between. Turning the either/or spectrum in

vertical direction, dualism also organizes everything in hierarchical order, placing the

separated categories superior and inferior to each other alongside the spectrum (Del

Collins, 2005).

Such dualist view locks us in a very limited, separated, and hierarchical, apparently

constant unchanging world with seemingly no way out. Particularly in the field of

conflict studies, dualist perspective pictures conflict as undesirable, while it incites the

conflict to escalation, to violence, and to self-perpetuation. Moreover, it presents

conflict as unresolvable without compromise or sacrifice at high costs (Del Collins,

2005). Nevertheless, the majority of current conflict research as well as peace-

building measures reveal an underlying dichotomous mindset, which ultimately

perpetuates violent conflict (Del Collins, 2005; Reiman, 2004). At the same time,

conflict scholars have increasingly urged for a new approach that would study the

reality of conflict as a whole in its complex dynamics (Boege, 2006; Del Collins,

2005; Reiman, 2004).

Reminding ourselves that dualism is a socially constructed belief system, we open up

the way out to transcend it (Del Collins, 2005). In the field of conflict, there is not an

established holistic school. However, as dualism is not necessarily a conflict-specific

worldview, it is thus possible to draw inspiration from holistic schools of thought and

systems, although not directly linked with the field of conflict studies. These include

for example chaos theory, field theory, or quantum physics (Del Collins, 2005).

Seeking for a holistic framework in the context of conflict, the present thesis uses the

conflict transformation approach as the main theoretical framework, as it seems the

most adequate to embrace conflict in its ambiguity and complexity.

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Conflict transformation

Conflict transformation refuses simplistic dualism, and advocates for an inclusive and

comprehensive approach. It recognizes the complexity and multidimensionality of

violent conflict, as well as the interdependence of the actors (Miall, 2004). It seeks to

involve all actors at all levels, and acknowledges their interplay in given political,

social, cultural, and structural contexts (Galtung, 2000; Lederach, 2003, 2011).

Conflict transformation takes a constructive and positive approach to conflict, and,

unlike the dualist perspective, it views it as an opportunity for and as a generator of

change (Lederach, 2003).

As a result, the study distinguishes between conflict, which has both a destructive and

constructive potential, and the act(s) of violence, which is naturally a destructive

phenomenon (Galtung, 2000). It should be noted that violence does not exist only as

direct physical violence, but that there are also other kinds, such as structural and

cultural violence, that translate in political, institutional, and social structures, rules,

habits or attitude. Conflict transformation then aims to overcome all kinds of

violence, i.e. direct, as well as cultural and structural violence (Reiman, 2004).

By viewing conflict as an opportunity to learn, grow and ultimately change, conflict

transformation deliberately taps into the creative potential offered by the situation.

This choice allows for the attempt to move the conflict away from violence and

destruction, and towards constructive positive outcomes (Galtung, 2000; Lederach,

2003, 2011).

In addition, because conflict transformation views conflicts as organic processes that

involves different stages, the discipline conceptualizes the timeline of conflicts into

pre-violent, violent, and post-violent phases. These phases are then shown to link in a

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cyclical fashion to create an unending cycle of violence. Conflict transformation

therefore aims to transform the conflicts away from violence at every stage and to

ultimately break the vicious cycle (Galtung, 2000; Lederach, 2011; Mitchell, 2002).

In a post-violent conflict setting, most efforts tend to focus on the material

reconstruction, while the psycho-social dimension of the conflict, i.e. reconciliation

and resolution are left aside. Consequently, the relational, cultural and structural

conflicts are left unaddressed and unattended, which can eventually become potential

sources of relapse, resulting in direct physical violence, and leading to the vicious

cycle of violence and protracted conflicts (Galtung, 2000). Addressing the so-called

root-causes of violent conflict that often lie within structural and cultural violence,

conflict transformation aims to prevent this relapse (or escalation, depending on the

phase of the cycle) into direct physical violence and eventually break the vicious

circle (Galtung, 2000; Rombotham, Woodhouse & Miall, 2005).

Conflict transformation changes a conflict by redefining its context, including shifting

the narratives and views of actors involved in the situation. In Galtung’s (2000)

words, such redefinition introduces a new reality into which the conflict is then

transplanted. A new reality, a new context, a new frame then allows for new outcomes

and solutions (Del Collins, 2005). For such redefinition, and thus transformation, to

occur however, creativity and a paradigm shift are required (Galtung, 2000). This

necessary paradigm shift is the transcendence of the dualist paradigm, which has been

so far prevalent in the field of conflict (Del Collins 2005; Reiman 2004).

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Quantum physics & observer’s effect

Regarding paradigm shifts in the field of conflict research, an appropriate parallel can

be drawn from the field of physics. A century ago, the field of physics experienced a

major paradigm shift that revealed the creative potential, and thus the utmost

importance of human mind. On the verge of the 20th century, Newtonian physics,

predominantly dualist, particularistic, and emphasizing hierarchic structures, gave its

primacy to the quantum paradigm, which builds upon complexity, holism, and self-

organization (Druhl, Langstaff & Monson, 2001; Fris & Lazaridou, 2006).

Additionally, the discipline of quantum physics has described a phenomenon called

observer’s effect, which puts our reality into a radically different context. Although

there is an ongoing debate in the field about how this phenomenon occurs exactly, the

outcome has been clearly established: an object of observation does not exist unless

the observer focuses his mind on it. It is the focus of the human mind that materializes

the world around us by collapsing the waves of potentiality from the quantum field of

potential into actuality, i.e. into our reality that we can perceive with our human

senses (Goswami, 2001). This phenomenon shows the two-way relationship, the

interdependence of the observed and the observer. The reality we observe seems

objective to us, while at the same time it is the focus of our mind subjectively creating

it.

Although quantum physics seem far away from conflict studies, it reveals the

importance of the underlying mindset as well as of paradigm shifts. As the above

argument postulated: a dualist view of conflict perpetuates its destructive effects. In

addition, when we take into account the creative power of the human mind the

equation forces us to the conclusion that the dualist view actually creates conflict into

a destructive reality. A paradigm shift, such as that which occurred in quantum

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physics, offers us the opportunity of transcending the categorical and hierarchical

approach, moving beyond dualism, and ultimately unlocking the creative potential of

conflict (Del Collins, 2005; Galtung, 2000; Goswami, 2001). In line with the logic of

observer’s effect, such a shifting of the mind will create a new reality: New reality

that transformative approaches seek to transplant the conflict into in order to

transform it (Galtung, 2000). This worldview is therefore needed to create a new

context in which to put the idea of conflict. These views are most important if we

want to gain access to conflict and its creative potential to move towards peace

(Galtung, 2000; Goswami, 2001).

Bottom-up & inside-out

Characteristic of the transformational approach that corresponds with the approach of

this thesis is its emphasis on a bottom-up logic, in other words working towards peace

from the grass-roots by unlocking the peace-building potential at the individual and/or

local community levels (Reiman, 2004). Previous research has established that in

order to make peace with others, one must first make peace within (Groff & Smoker,

1996; Staub, 2003). It has also been shown that the peace of the mind creates peace in

the reality as it appears to our human senses (Orme-Johnson, 1992). This connection

and interdependence of our inner and outer world is further supported and explained

by the phenomenon of observer’s effect, as described above. The present research

takes this bottom-up and inside-out approach to peace and peace-building.

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Arts-based & sports-based initiatives

In order to unlock the peace-building potential of individuals, conflict transformation

approaches use various techniques, including arts and sports. As survivors of violent

conflict often find words limited when attempting to share their experiences, arts or

sports become an alternative outlet, using the elements of action, play, creation, and

letting go (Datzberger, 2014; Meijer-Degen, 2006). Arts-based methods use visual art,

music, dance or theater, and have become increasingly popular as well as effective.

Sports-based initiatives use, among others, various body & mind activities, including

yoga (Lance, 2010).

Dealing with complex implications in post-violent conflict settings, effectively

requires complex and holistic methods. Exposure to violence brings deeply

traumatizing experiences to affected individuals that they have to deal with in

addition to other detrimental impacts of violent conflict on their lives (Emmerson &

Hopper, 2011). As trauma impacts both body and mind, it is desirable to treat both.

Yoga is thus a welcome body & mind activity that works on both fronts. Research has

shown that yoga alters the neural connections in the human brain, and that it has the

potential to heal anxieties, as well as, post-traumatic stress disorder (Datzberger,

2014; Joshi & De Sousa, 2012; Streeter et al., 2012; Telles, Naveen & Dash, 2007).

Through the body work, yoga has a ripple effect on emotional and mental health, on

relationships with others, and ultimately on one’s living in the world. Therefore, it is a

useful complement to traditional psychological and psychotherapeutic post-conflict

support (Emmerson & Hopper, 2011).1

1 For more information on trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), its impact on human body, and on the healing methods and processes involving yoga, see Emmerson & Hopper, 2011.

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Yoga initiatives

Recently, a variety of yoga initiatives in post-violent conflict settings have been set up

in different parts of the world (Datzberger, 2014). One of the first of such yoga

initiatives was the UN endorsed ProjectAir, launched in 2007 to provide

complementary yoga sessions to HIV positive rape and genocide survivors in Rwanda

(Project Air, n.d.; WE-ACTx, n.d.). Mandala House opened a yoga center for war

survivors in Gulu in northern Uganda, and it cooperates with organizations providing

psychotherapeutic support (Mandala House, n.d.). Africa Yoga Project (AYP) was

launched in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2007, as a social entrepreneurship project aiming to

empower the most vulnerable in the society with a particular focus on youth. Besides

providing training, coaching, and economic empowerment through employment

opportunities, AYP has been running projects such as bringing yoga to prisons or the

slums of Nairobi, offering yoga’s potential for physical, psychological, and emotional

healing to the most disadvantaged in society (Africa Yoga Project, n.d. a, b). In 2013,

Anahata International launched a yoga initiative in Ramallah, Palestine (Anahata

International, n.d.). The center Bodhi Alathur, located in Kerala, south India, has been

using yoga in its workshops teaching non-violence. This wide, while by no means

exhaustive, array of yoga-based projects suggests the applicability of yoga across

countries, regions and cultures to cherish the physical, mental, and emotional benefits

that yoga offers for yoga practitioners (Telles, Naveen & Dash, 2007).

Yoga

Yoga itself is an ancient practice with its roots in India, but it is not a Hindu practice

nor a religion. The word ‘yoga’ could be translated into English as ‘union’. It unifies,

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connects the body, mind, and breath. Among others, through yoga the practitioner

becomes aware and in control of the mental processes in the mind. It also allows to

detach from one’s thoughts, memories, as well as emotions (Prabhavananda &

Isherwood, 2007).

Yoga is most commonly known as physical exercise that involves breathing exercises,

too. However, according to the most ancient yogic text, Patanjali’s aphorisms, these

are only two of total eight elements of yoga. The others include for example non-

violence, concentration, or meditation (Prabhavananda & Isherwood, 2007).

Considering the above-laid theoretical frame and currently available scholarly

literature as well as scarce information from the field, the present thesis explores the

relationship of inner and outer peace, the creative and peace-building power of human

mind, through investigating shifts in individual mindsets that might occur as a result

of yoga practice in post-violent conflict settings. It particularly focuses on mental

shifts transcending the dualist worldview, seeking to argue that yoga practice

transforms practitioners’ perspective and thus ultimately their reality of life towards

holism, acceptance, and peace.

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Methodology

Hypothesis & research questions

Placed in the realms of the theoretical framework of conflict transformation, the

present thesis hypothesizes the following: The main hypothesis postulates that the

mind shift required to unlock the creative potential of conflict can occur through the

practice of yoga, eventually altering a yoga practitioner’s attitude and behavior in the

context of conflict and violence. More specifically, it is hypothesized that yoga brings

about the mind shift away from dualism towards a more holistic worldview, accepting

ambiguity, pluralism, and interconnectedness, which leads to transforming conflict

from destruction to positive and constructive outcomes.

To study the above hypotheses, the research explores the mindsets of individual yoga

practitioners and teachers in post-violent conflict settings. It seeks to answer the

following questions.

Main research question

• What are the effects of yoga practice on yoga practitioner’s mindset in relation to

conflict?

Sub-questions

• How does a yoga practitioner view conflict?

• Does s/he observe any shift in their perception of conflict since the practice of

yoga?

o If yes, what kind of shift?

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• Can and does yoga practice shift a yoga practitioner’s mindset from dualist to

non-dualist worldview?

o If yes, how does yoga practice influence/shift the mindset of those affected

by violent conflict from dualist to non-dualist thinking/worldview?

Interviews & interviewees

In order to collect data for the analysis, the present thesis relies purely on interviews.

As the field of yoga in post-conflict setting is under-researched, and due to a lack of

relevant scholarly literature, it was necessary to conduct primary research.

In total, eighteen interviews were carried out. The interviewees can be clustered into

two groups. The first group comprises yoga teachers mostly of western origin, who

have taught yoga to survivors of violent conflict either as volunteers or founders of

their own yoga-based projects. This group includes four women and one man, all

above the age of 25, from four initiatives, Project Air (Rwanda), Mandala House

(Uganda), Yoga Fusion (worldwide), and Bodhi Alathur (India). As they have not

requested anonymity, they are cited with their full names. The second group consists

of yoga students and teachers in Kenya and Uganda, who themselves have been

affected by violent conflict, and who have used yoga to deal with their experiences.

Some of them share their experiences and teach yoga further in their communities,

including to other survivors, too. This second group includes thirteen interviewees,

five women, eight men, from two projects, Mandala House (Uganda) and Africa Yoga

Project (Kenya). The majority (nine out of thirteen) was younger than 25 years. For

anonymity reasons, their names were changed and are typed in italic in the analytical

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section. The sample of interviewees is thus gender-wise and age-wise equally

balanced.2

The interviews conducted were semi-structured, consisting of approximately 10

questions.3 The interviews took place over phone, skype, and facebook chat. For the

purposes of analysis, the interviews conducted over phone and skype were recorded

and subsequently transcribed into written dialogues.

Content analysis

Given the exploratory nature of the research, investigating into individual mental

processes through language, qualitative method seemed the most appropriate choice.

Due to the lack of previous studies on the use of yoga in post-violent conflict setting

and as the knowledge about it is rather fragmented, I opted for a conventional and

inductive qualitative content analysis of the interviews. As such method is not linear

and rather complex, it is well suited to analyze complex and multifaceted phenomena

(Elo & Kyngas, 2008). This resonates with the complexities of a post-violent conflict

environment. The method is also very relevant to analyze text data obtained from

narratives or interviews, and thus appropriate for the present research. Furthermore, it

respects and thus distorts the least the participant’s unique perspective (Hsich &

Shannon, 2005). As this research explores participants’ mindsets and possible shifts,

maintaining the uniqueness and genuineness of the data is key.

As our language reflects our thinking (Del Collins 2005; Meijer-Degen, 2006), this

content analysis seeks in the language of the interviews for signs of underlying dualist

and non-dualist thinking as well as for shifts between the two, in relation to violent

2 For more information see the List of Interviewees in Annex II. 3 See Annex I

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conflict. Therefore, the data is interpreted. The analysis goes beyond the literal

wording and delves deeper to reveal the bottom-line thinking patterns. The coding

procedure was not linear and there were no pre-coded concepts or keywords. Only

through numerous and thorough reviews of the interviews, specific keywords

emerged and a number of topics and issues crystalized. The structure of the analytical

part is therefore organized around them.

Considerations on limitations

There are however obvious limitations to the research that deserve attention,

particularly in terms of trustworthiness. In order to establish trustworthiness, four

elements must be considered: applicability (i.e. transferability or generalization),

credibility, consistency and neutrality (Krefting, 1991).

As an in-depth case study, it might be difficult to generalize its findings. However,

generalizability depends rather on the choice of case study. Strategic choice of case

study increases its generalizability and transferability (Flyvbjerg, 2006; Krefting,

1991). This research design made a critical case selection, picking the strategic tool of

yoga to address general problem of peace-building. Such a critical atypical case

supposedly provides more information than an average random or representative

sample (Flyvbjerg, 2006).

Also, the issue of credibility deserves a brief consideration. In qualitative research,

such as the present thesis, the truth value stems from the experiences lived by the

participants and therefore is rather subject-oriented than established by the author.

The thesis ensured the consistency of the research by choosing the sample across

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different countries, and the participants who have lived different experiences in their

own specific cultural and political contexts (Krefting, 1991).

In terms of neutrality of the research, as author of this research, I had to ensure that

my bias did not affect the data analysis, or at least to keep it at minimum. My

academic education at western universities certainly sets my understanding in a

particular mindset. As a researcher, instead of striving for objectivity and impartiality,

I rather accepted my bias and took an omnipartial stance. I addressed this potential

bias through my awareness of the particularity of my understanding, and left the space

open for other perspectives and frames to come in as equally relevant. Furthermore, I

put aside my knowledge about yoga when conducting the interviews, in order to avoid

any ‘yogic’ assumptions. Sometimes it meant asking blunt questions, pretending that I

did not know what the interviewee was referring to, in order to gain his/her genuine

wording and perspective.

Having laid out the methodological technicalities of the research, the thesis now

proceeds to the analytical part and the main findings. To avoid any confusion, as the

above section on interviews suggested, the names of interviewees in anonymity were

changed and their pseudonyms are typed in the text in italic. However, those who

have not requested anonymity are cited with their full names typed in regular font.

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Analysis

The present analysis organizes the main findings according to the following logic.

First, the physical effects are illustrated, linking the physical relief with immediate

mental and emotional relief. Second, other mental shifts are explored, such as a more

open and understanding mind, or sensation of inner peace. These subtle shifts then

resonate with further changes, such as better sleep, which allows for better memory

processing (key in post-violent setting and trauma healing), and all creating space for

deeper mental and emotional shifts and processes. Besides, yoga facilitates the

experience of confidence and sense of empowerment for the students. Last, the shifts

in attitudes towards conflict and violence are dealt with.

Riccardo: Some said they felt relaxed, strong, complete, happy, kind and forgiving, free and so on... Some say it helped them forget their problems, meet new friends,..

(Facebook chat interview with author, 18 January 2015)

Riccardo, former yoga student of Mandala House and current teacher in Gulu,

northern Uganda, very roughly summarized feedback from his yoga students – in

large portion survivors of the civil war in Uganda. The effects of yoga classes on his

students ranged from physical to mental, emotional, as well as social aspects. The

following analysis covers these aspects, while at the same time it maps their complex

interplay, for example how yoga and its physical or breathing exercises affect social

life.

Ben: But it is not only through [yoga practice] on the mat but also off the mat. […] Yes. Like I practice yoga on the mat and off the mat. […] So off the mat I put things into action. Like I spreading positive energy by being friendly to people, spreading love and kindness, yeah. Not just talking about them. But being the cause of the matter. […] I mean to put yoga as a way of living. Yes. As a way of life.

(Skype interview with author, 12 January 2015)

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Ben’s quote illustrates an important feature of yoga classes - they offer a safe learning

space. Lessons learned on the mat can then inspire approaches and attitudes in real

life situations. As yoga practitioners integrate their lessons learned in yoga class into

their lives, letting the learnings guide their behavior, attitude, and choices, yoga

becomes their ‘way of life’. This logic of yoga on and off the mat is reflected

throughout the analysis as many of the effects of yoga shared by the interviewees

were observed in their lives outside yoga rooms.

Relief - from physical to mental & emotional

Gregory: Well, before I started practicing yoga, I used to have back pain. So every morning I could feel the pain… So this is now normal, ok? After doing yoga, I think it was during the workshop, I think it was the first or second last day. When I woke up the next morning, there was a big difference. Then I was wondering, the pain today is not happening. I sat there for one or seven minutes wondering.. Then I recalled ‘Oh wow, every day I used to wake up with pain [in my] back. Today it is gone! Wow!’ So yoga can be like a healing. Yoga really helped me.

(Phone interview with author, 8 January 2015)

Sam: I think the very important thing that made me practicing was […] I had an accident and I was feeling problems, for 16 years my back ached. Then when my friend introduced me to the practice I started to do the practice and I noticed that if I practice, […] my spine feels good. […] So after three months, the pain, which I was feeling on my back, disappeared! So, yoga practice healed my body.


Both excerpts above show that yoga practice affects physical well-being. It brings

about relief from physical pain, even long-lasting or chronic pain. As the analysis

explores further below, physical relief opens up the way for relief at mental and

emotional levels, too.

Deirdre Summerbell: The physical body.. I was actually referring to mental wounds. By using the body to host alternate physical perceptions and sensations, it helps to heal the mind. So, if your body feels better, you feel mentally better, which is part of being a bottom up, rather than a top down, system.

(Skype interview with author, 22 February 2015)

Deidre Summerbell, founder of Project Air in Rwanda, describes the link between the

physical and mental dimensions. The physical relief in the body allows for further

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reliefs and changes at the mental level. The physical body is thus the gateway to

mental shifts. This seems to be the key moment in explaining how yoga affects a

practitioner’s mind. Through the physical body relief, yoga opens up the way and the

space for shifts in the mind, which are at the core of the hypotheses of this study.

Linda Germanis, founder of Yoga Fusion, explains further in detail how these

physical, mental, and emotional reliefs interact. Through addressing the body memory

it is possible to address the mental and emotional dimensions of the memory.

Linda Germanis: Like what I was trying to say in the beginning of the article on the embodied knowledge: the second that you give a new memory to our body, so it is not a memory of trauma, intention, and everything, it is a different type of memory, eventually you can influence the mind – automatically. It doesn’t lose the memory, it loses the emotional reaction to the memory, over time, in a different way.


Therefore, yoga works as a tool to address the physical body memory, which opens

up the way to mental and emotional changes.

The process is further developed in the following quote by Lenny Williams, founder

of Mandala House in Gulu, northern Uganda, based on her experience with survivors

of the civil war.

Lenny Williams: Initially, it was just a sense of play. That’s what it was. That’s what they perceived it as. It was a little awkward, strange, ‘What are we doing?’, ‘This is strange’. But then as the giggles sort of die down and people start to feel safer and more comfortable in the space, they start to feel more comfortable in their bodies. And then people are really able to start doing the work. Usually at some point around day three, people start to notice the physical changes: that they feel better, they sleep better, their appetite is different. And they have a different type of clarity. And they start to deal with the mental part of it. And then most of the other stuff started to settle and they started to process some of the emotional things. And they can make space for it in a way that is different that they were not able to do before. So, but, initially, it’s the giggles, right? They are uncomfortable, they are not really sure, and then, as they start feeling safer, it starts getting all calmer.


In her statement, Lenny Williams is also referring to some aspects of trauma-sensitive

yoga, particularly regaining the sense of safety in one’s body, in one’s own skin. This

effect of befriending one’s body again, which yoga brings about, has also been

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observed by Deirdre Summerbell on her yoga students in Rwanda, described by

David Emmerson (& Hopper, 2011) from his experience with the clients of Trauma

Center in Boston, and is very often referred to in various research studies and

initiatives, as Linda Germanis suggested in her interview, too (skype interview with

author, 6 January 2015).

Ben: OK. Emotionally I have experienced this inner peace, after the practice, happiness, I feel stress-free and I feel more openness, yeah? I find myself I am holding on to stuff and my chest is clopped up, I feel after practicing yoga I feel this experience of freedom and, and peace. And physically I have gained strength and also flexibility. And even my mind is now open. Yep.


Ben, yoga student with Africa Yoga Project in Nairobi, summarizes the broad range

of effects that yoga has brought to him, and he connects his physical sensations with

his emotional state. What is remarkable is that his description relates primarily to his

first yoga class experience. As much as the physical strength and flexibility builds up

over time, the sense of calmness and peace, mental and emotional reliefs, occurred

immediately after first class. Ben refers also to a mental shift as a result of his yoga

practice, perceived as openness of his mind.

The self-observation resonates well with Lenny William’s experience described in her

quote above, namely that the effects of yoga practice on the physical body and the

subsequent move to the mental and emotional levels occur relatively soon, around the

third yoga class, if not immediately. Therefore, yoga practice opens up the space for

mental and emotional shifts in quite a short time delay.

Vicky: My first yoga class was in December 2009 and since the first yoga class I have done yoga ever since then. After […] I felt, like a very big burden has been removed from my body and, you know, kept down after doing the first yoga class. […] It’s the feeling that I felt. And it’s like I became someone else. I was away of my mind, I got away of my body, I got away of my environment. […] Yeah, I felt like I was carrying some weight, you know, in my mind, in my body, but after the class, it’s like it’s taken off and put aside, and I was looking at myself and the life that I live, you know. And I knew I need to make a change in these things […] The teacher was talking more about “who are you and what do you want in your life” and I started, I kept

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asking myself those questions. I was like “wow this yoga is going to help me to get answers for myself”. It was the best feeling I have ever felt.


Vicky has been practicing yoga with Africa Yoga Project in Nairobi. Her quote

documents that the physical, mental and emotional relief can occur all at once

immediately after the first yoga class, opening up the path as well as inciting the

desire for further and deeper mental shifts and ultimately important changes in life.

Understanding, calmness & inner peace

Sadie: I just loved the whole environment and what I felt when I did it [yoga] for the first time. I felt so calm and relaxed, I just wanted to do it again and again. So I kept on going, […] A lots of calm, I feel so calm and peaceful. Yeah.

(Phone interview with author, 13 January, 2014)

Joe: Mentally, I’d say I feel calm after yoga. And also yoga… let’s say I use yoga to center myself, […] So I use yoga as a point of calming myself down, as a point of bringing all sources of calmness and also of self-centeredness to me, yes.


Both quotes above describe a mental change that happens during or after a yoga class,

even after the first session: one calms down and gets mentally centered, or in Vicky’s

words, ‘grounded’ (skype interview with author, 12 January 2015). Moreover, the

sense of calmness is often referred to in connection with the experience of peace, or

of ‘inner peace’, as Ben puts it below. The analysis further below shows how this

calmness and centeredness alters one’s attitude and behavior towards others, as well

as towards conflict or violence. As if the experienced inner peace translates into an

external peace in one’s relationships and social interactions.

Ben: OK. Coz yoga was new to me. So I had to try it and get into it. So the feeling after the practice was so nice. It was so nice and relaxing and my body felt relaxed, my mind felt relaxed, like this I experienced a sense of peace, inner peace that I have never experienced from other practices. Yeah.


Annee: When I do yoga, I understand myself very well.


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Vicky: Yeah. I am also very understanding nowadays. I was not understanding things. […] In terms of, If frustrations came I would take things personally and then take it out on someone else. You know? But now I understand if it’s a situation I just have a look at it into: is it something I can control? If it is, I go ahead and control it in a way that it will not hurt anyone. And if it’s nothing that I cannot control I just let it be.


Both Annee and Vicky (from Africa Yoga Project in Nairobi, Kenya) illustrate how

their mental shifts towards calmness and peace open up the mind towards more

understanding, be it self-understanding or understanding of others. Both seem to have

a subsequent effect on how a yoga student relates himself to others, with a noticeable

shift towards non-violence.

Sleep & memory processing

Junior: I realize that after yoga, because we did the training in the evening, after yoga I was able to sleep better.


Junior, former yoga student and current teacher with Mandala House in Gulu

(Uganda), observes that yoga practice helped him to sleep better. A phenomenon also

reported by Sadie’s students-survivors in northern Uganda (see the following

excerpt), who through yoga could let go of the incessant thoughts regarding the war

and violence, and they could sleep the night. Deirdre Summerbell (skype interview

with author, 22 February 2015) shared the same observation from her yoga students-

survivors in Rwanda, some of whom slept for the first time since the genocide (which

had happened fourteen years ago at that time). She has further explained that sleep

was crucial for memory processing, and thus for dealing with and mitigating trauma.

Ultimately, as sleep and memory processing allow to let go, they are key elements for

reconciliation and forgiveness, which is addressed in the analysis further below.

Sadie: Yeah I always asked them after every class. And most of them told me that they sleep better. […]. Actually [as] I began teaching they told me they could hardly sleep at night because they kept thinking about the war, everything that happened. So

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it became hard for them to sleep or even to concentrate on one thing. So, as I kept doing yoga, months as months passed by they kept telling me ‘I can sleep’ you know ‘I can concentrate more’. Yeah. It helps.


Forgetting & letting go

Iris: When you see the violence going on, and your mind … you have just on your mind “what was going on?” … And you want peace, you feel sad. And the moment you step on your mat and you start breathing and being in your life and calling it your practice, you start feeling easy, on your body, you start relaxing and you… everything changes, your body changes, your mind changes. And you let go. And you become free.


Iris, yoga practitioner in Nairobi (Kenya), shares how yoga helps her to deal with

violence, which seems omnipresent in her community that she grew up in. Yoga

classes offer her a safe space where she allows herself to let go of violence-related

thoughts as well as of the emotions (e.g. sadness) that it triggers, and forgets – at least

for the time of the yoga class. Iris links forgetting with the sensation of freedom,

which reflects a certain degree of taking distance from violent events. This facilitates

processing of the experiences (see the analysis above), of her thoughts and emotions

(see the analysis below), which ultimately facilitates mental shifts, letting go and

moving on in life.

Deirdre Summerbell describes a similar effect of yoga below. For the time of the yoga

class, the student’s mind becomes focused on the present moment, the physical body,

the breath, and thus the negative violence-related thoughts and memories stop. The

capacity of a yoga class to stop the flow of dark thoughts in one’s mind was also

reported by students-survivors to their teacher in Gulu, in northern Uganda.

Deirdre Summerbell: And so what we want to do is to provide the opportunity for the women to forget – which is what they say happens when they come, that all their black thoughts, their dark thoughts stop. Because they are so busy dealing with [their bodies] for 50 minutes, they can forget. And forgetting is a huge gift..


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Time to think

Sadie: I get time to actually think a little better after doing yoga. When I constantly do yoga, I am very calm.


In addition to stopping the seemingly never ending flow of thoughts dealt with above,

Sadie feels that yoga creates time and space for her to think. She seems more

confident and at ease to handle her own thoughts.

Joe’s quote below shows that managing one’s thoughts and creating space to process

one’s thoughts has important implications in relation to others. It allows breaking out

of the automatic or instinctive action-reaction pattern by creating this space to think

before reacting and when interacting with others.

Joe: The change is.. Let me say, the first change, when dealing with other people, I can relax first. Before I react to anything I take time to think about what the reaction to it and the causes. I think first and I react. I just don’t react out of the blue. [..] [And] my relation with other people, it’s improving.


Joe, yoga teacher with Africa Yoga Project in Nairobi, observes that his ability to

think first, gained through his yoga practice, has improved his relationships. Also, this

skill to ‘think first’ seems to be intimately interlinked with the sense of calmness and

centeredness that yoga brings about at first. Feeling calm, centered, and at peace, as

observed in the excerpts above, provides for a certain degree of confidence. Together

with the ability to think better, to create the space for oneself to think at all, it shifts

one’s approach to others and one’s worldview. The following excerpt offers an

example of such shift.

Leo: After the first time taking yoga I start seeing things in a different way, making decisions in a different way than before. […] I see things in three dimensions, everything. […] First is, how, what is the positive outcome of a situation. Secondly, the negative outcome. And thirdly being neutral and no change. That’s how I look at everything. Yeah. Positive, negative and just being there, doing nothing and what’s the outcome. […] I came out of my box of thinking just about myself. And got into

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space where I care about others now. Coz I used to think that problems just existed in my life only but after some time that it’s common to everybody. And I started to seeing life in another way. Not pitying myself so much.


Leo, who joined Africa Yoga Project in Nairobi, describes how he shifted his thinking

since he started practicing yoga. He has developed his own and quite complex process

of making his decisions. The important considerations he described require certain

time to be made. It thus requires one’s strong ability to stay centered, to create or take

the time for the considerations necessary, and it certainly requires the ability to master

one’s thoughts.

Ultimately, such mental shift allowed Leo to change his attitude to others. He seems

to have stopped seeing himself separated from others. Rather, he relates himself to

others, in a positive and caring way. In short, his relationships have improved,

similarly as Joe’s have. This shift from separation to relation reflects to a certain

extent the shift from dualism of ‘you’ and ‘me’, towards holism, as he recognizes the

interconnectedness and interdependence with others in positive terms.

Jack: Yeah. When it comes to argument. Because it gives you the leverage of thinking and just accepting sometimes. Because you don’t have to win all the time. And you don’t have to be right all the time. So, it’s good to like accept even if you’re right, you just move on to avoid the argument to continue or to prolong.


Jack, yoga practitioner with Africa Yoga Project in Nairobi, observes that the ability

to ‘think first’ gained through his yoga practice has changed his attitude and behavior

to others. As if his inner peace has a ripple effect on the external environment. The

strength of his inner mental process and his self-mastery, allowed him to shift towards

acceptance of situations and people as they are, even if they are not right. His

willingness and comfort to accept things that fall out of the usual ‘right and wrong’ or

‘win and lose’ thinking reflect quite clearly a shift away from the dualist mindset.

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Emotional balance & breath

Krishna Alathur: Emotional imbalance is a big issue, it is a global issue. […] And yoga is the very best way viable we can find the balance of the emotions. […] So were just giving them some techniques, breathing observation techniques, sound techniques, thoughts operation techniques. Looking together at our own anger, their own fear factors.

(Skype interview with author, 31 December 2014)

Jack: So one way or another it [yoga] has helped me to regulate my emotions – if I can put it that way.

(Skype interview with author, 12 January, 2015)

Besides mastering one’s thoughts, yoga offers various techniques to process one’s

emotions, too. Jack speaks for most of the participants when he points to his yoga

practice as facilitator of his emotional balance.

The following excerpts refer to anger, fear, and violence explicitly. The vast majority

of interviewees pointed to breathing exercises or simple breath awareness as the most

useful and important tool to get over their fear or anger, and to calm down or keep

calm – mentally as well as emotionally.

Vicky: And let me say, the thing that helped me reduce my anger and to control my anger, is taking deep breaths.


Riccardo: I do breathing exercises when [I] am frustrated, tired, or annoyed. […] Thus, yoga helped me to conquer my fears, helped me build more confidence where I felt less confident.


Besides dealing with his fears, Riccardo observes that he has become more confident

through yoga practice. The issue of confidence was briefly touched upon in the

analysis of yoga effects on the mind and thoughts, and seems to be playing its role

also in the management of emotions. Again, yoga practitioners seem to use their yoga

practice to stay calm and centered, by mastering their thoughts, as well as emotions.

As a result, they shift their approach to others.

Gregory: When it comes to violence, coz we are being taught that if you are having the anger in you, before you do anything, please, try a breathing exercise. So, before I

35

react I make sure that I really breath, […] I remember when I was smaller, a friend told me about a fight and I really got hatred. [At] that time she was just telling her story. Then I called [things] her and I just wanted to beat her. I beat her seriously. But yeah there is a big change. Now, before I react, I make sure that I first breathe. Some breaths to cool myself. Sometimes maybe you cry or and someone is coming hit you? Breathe, a lot of breath in and out. […] And so you relax, so you calm. When it comes to anger, make sure you first breath and make sure you calm yourself down so that the situation that you can solve it in a good way.


Gregory, former yoga student and current teacher with Mandala House in Uganda,

describes in detail how he shifted from inclination to direct violence towards a

positive, constructive, non-violent, and problem-solving attitude. He underlines breath

as the most important tool or technique to keep calm, to manage the emotion

(particularly anger), to create the space to ‘think first’, i.e. to get hold of and master

the thoughts, the arising emotions, and only then engage in interaction, with a clear

emphasis on non-violence (which will be addressed in detail further below).

Similarly, as in the above section dedicated to thoughts, the inner peace (that yoga

practitioners reach through mastering their emotions and/or thoughts) seems to ripple

into the ‘external’, that is the relations with others.

Lenny Williams: Especially breathing exercises – this may be the very first time that they haven’t been breathing in their chest, like hyperventilating, doing that chest breathing, rapid breathing – giving them the chance to really breath slowly, through their bellies, just allow the breath to move through them, it might be that is tis the first time that they have relaxed in years really. And you know, they start crying and so you help them to work though it with the breath.


In her classes, Lenny Williams observed how breath can also facilitate dealing with

old and stored emotions, often connected with traumatic experience with violence.

Therefore, yoga and its inherent work with breath helps to master not only currently

ongoing mental and emotional processes, but also old and longtime stored emotional

charges – an effect playing its role in memory processing, forgiveness and

reconciliation.

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Empowerment & agency

Leo: OK, there is this issue of confidence. I have learned to be confident. Because my teachers always remind us to be confident in everything we do. So if you are confident doing the pose on your mat, it will likely appear in your real life, in your real life situation maybe you found yourself in a situation you didn’t maybe think of, then you find yourself approaching the situation with more confidence. Yeah.


As briefly touched upon above, yoga facilitates self-confidence through the feeling of

centeredness. Once centered and self-confident, fear or anger or other emotions or

thoughts do not take over that easily. As shown above, yoga provides space, insights,

and techniques to master thoughts and emotions instead. Leo shares how yoga taught

him confidence not only in class, but also how he transferred it to the situations of his

real life. It seems that yoga practice facilitates empowerment, and thus individual

agency.

Junior: And there was a boy. This boy when he came back [from the bush] and before he was doing yoga, what he told me that he would get provoked so fast when he was talking to people, when someone tried to challenge him. He doesn’t know to be patient, he can’t hold on. He just had to fight immediately. Because that’s how they were trained, to be wild from the bush, they had to be wild. They don’t like people like their friends their relatives I mean, you look at them as your enemies. So he told me that when he did yoga and he saw a lot of change in him. He learned to be patient. […] He told me after that he can meet other people. Yeah, there they were only taught to kill, how to kill how to murder people. And to him he felt that he is really a nobody, is really, he is really a killer someone that does not deserve to be among the community. So I was giving him this advice, I know he went through difficult time and it is hard for him to let all those things go from his mind. But I told him that with time it will go off. He need to hold on, that it will take some time […] When we did yoga, he realized that he was able to calm down, he was able to understand his friends. Yeah that’s what he told me.


The above excerpt summarizes the effects and mental and emotional shifts that yoga

facilitates, and how they link with altered social interactions as well as with gradually

building up self-confidence. Junior retells a story of a former child soldier in northern

Uganda who through yoga learned to take his time to ‘think first’ without recurring to

violence immediately when challenged. His interactions with others improved as he

followed yoga classes. He also seems to have gained a certain degree of confidence.

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As Junior, his yoga teacher, noted ‘he felt that he is really a nobody’. Gradually

however, practicing yoga, his interaction with others has changed, and the way he

sees others and himself in the community has changed for the better, too. Ability to

meet people, to interact positively instead of fighting or separating himself in solitude,

to understand others, shows a tremendous mental and emotional shift towards non-

violence and towards more acceptance.

Non-violence & approach to conflict

Sam: I have [seen a] great change since I started practicing. Because I have taken myself to be confident and always to know how to tackle with these people who sometimes try to abuse you. I feel myself to let those things to let them go because I am really connected and I know how to respect with the people with their emotion. […] I noticed the shift. I don’t follow some of the things, which I am being attacked on. I don’t like following what other people say. I just stay humble because I feel myself to have a good respect, to be honest, to anybody who is within where I am. […] Yes, I connect it with yoga. When we practice, we are supposed to have sympathy, we are supposed to have respect, to handle things in good manner, our communication, we should be communicating with people to have a good relationship.


This excerpt explains how confidence and centeredness gained through yoga allows

for an altered approach to others. Sam, yoga teacher with Africa Yoga Project in

Nairobi, has changed his attitude towards more respect and sympathy to others as he

sees himself connected to others. He also emphasizes communication between people

as a basis for their relationships. He refers to his yoga practice as a source of learning

about this interconnectedness, as well as regarding handling situations and

relationships positively, in a constructive manner. Such a rather holistic and complex

understanding of interpersonal relations and communication requires a mental shift,

which is in line with the hypothesis that yoga brings about a mental shift towards a

more holistic worldview.

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The shift of mind and attitude also allowed Sam to let go some negative elements in

human interaction (and/or communication), while focusing and acknowledging the

human connection as such. In a real life situation, he is thus able to handle potentially

violent situations in a non-violent manner, with respect and dignity to himself and the

others.

Iris: It is the sharing from the yoga practice. I would share the communication you create in your yoga practice. When you go to your life experience, when you are with your friends, with your family, with people, you are connected, the communication that you create with people, is more effective. Like sharing what you feel inside and let people know how you feel. And not even sharing the negative things, but also the positive things. Just […] saying ‘thank you’ and small effective things in life, like being acknowledged. You feel so good when you are acknowledged and being cherished for what you did and being helped just by giving a hand of support. And also by giving a smile to someone! The best thing in the world!


Building upon Sam’s stress on communication, Iris observes that yoga practice

transforms her communication with others and makes it ‘more effective’. She seems

to have broadened the scope of her communication with others to include also non-

verbal communication and other messages conveyed, although not outspokenly.

Joe: I‘d say when all the elections and the violence was going on, I always take my time, yoga has brought me from not hitting people, yoga brought me to a point where everybody is equal, […] I don’t blame anybody at any point. Like, I take anyone for whom they are, where they come from.

Question: And this kind of approach, this kind of behavior, you didn’t have before you started practicing yoga?

Joe: Yes, I’d say that. It’s how our community has been brought up, it’s how our society is being bred by the leaders here. So it’s cultivating a certain social class of tribalistic, based on tribalistic basis yeah.

(Skype interview with author 14 January 2015)

The positive and constructive approach to conflict, even in violent situations, is

reflected also in the above excerpt. Joe observes that yoga taught him non-violence

and acceptance, and he sticks to it even in situations of large-scale violent conflict,

such as the referred 2007 election violence in Kenya. His non-violent attitude extends

to cultural and structural non-violence, as he clearly criticizes the divisions in Kenyan

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society according to one’s origin and/or tribe. He himself declares to be accepting

everyone equally, as individual unique human beings, regardless of their origin. Joe’s

shift reflects his comfort to accept without categorizing or separating, which resonates

with the hypothesized mental shift from dualist thinking towards a more accepting

and holistic worldview.

Iris: I think it affected my life positively. When you see those [violent] things happen, you want to go another way. If you still live in the same place, but you don’t want to do the things happening at the same place. Like people fighting, you want to be their peace-maker. Yes. And to be catalyst in the area, and others joining and including yourself from the riots, you want to be a peace-maker, even if it’s hard, you find a solution to do it. […] Yoga changed how your facing things in your life. Like it gives you the right direction, not to confront people and not to saw a conflict. And you understand and you way out. So instead of blaming, you come to a solution. You don’t start blaming the party but... All I can say you live better like a leader. You lead things in a good way. So when people want to come to a solution. If there is no solution, you find your way forward, what’s happened, so creating something new – what’s next, from the conflict.


Iris’ quote shows a yoga practitioner’s attitude towards violence and conflict. When

faced with violence, a yoga practitioner seeks to bring in peace. When faced with

conflict, a yoga practitioner seeks for a constructive solution. Despite the complexity

of both situations, when bringing peace or coming up with a solution which seems not

immediately clear, still, the above excerpt shows clear determination and dedication

to find a way. Therefore, Iris’ wish to bring or make peace confirms the hypothesis

that yoga alters one’s attitude to conflict and violence. More particularly, the inner

peace that yoga practitioners gain ultimately links with the creation of a more

peaceful reality of their lives.

The following excerpts reflect the change in yoga practitioners’ attitudes in more

detail. It shows a shift towards acceptance and positivity in Jack’s and Sadie’s

attitude, not only in relationships to others, but also in their attitude towards life. They

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both have clearly learned to approach conflict positively with a constructive attitude

aiming to come out of the situation in peace.

Jack: Sometimes I used to get very argumentative, and I’d get a bit tempered when things don’t go my way. But I think with yoga I have accepted to take things in a positive way. It’s a good way of dealing with some arguments sometimes. So I think it’s really helping.


Sadie: A lot of times I handle situations in ways I used not to. Most time when someone is trying to pick a fight with me, I will just ignore it. […] Which is something that was a bit hard for me before. I feel more relaxed. I feel there is no need for me to have a fight with someone. It is always better to talk. Yeah, which is something I have learned […] when I started doing yoga. I feel a difference within me!


Human connection, communication & socialization

Jack: I think it also brings people together. So I think the community has really incorporated me into - like being social. […] I say I hardly interacted with people unless there was a reason to do that. So with yoga, because you’re practicing, you’re laughing, you’re jumping, it gives you the opportunity to interact while you’re doing the exercise. And at the same time after the exercise you also share. Yeah. I also think it has also improved my social way of interacting with people.


The above analysis showed how yoga improved practitioners’ relationships with

others through their inner centeredness and confidence. Jack touches upon another

social effect of yoga practice: a yoga class is a social opportunity itself. It brings

together different people from various backgrounds (depending on the context of the

class itself, of course), and thus it offers the opportunity to meet people, while being

in a very safe space of an overall non-violent, accepting, and peaceful atmosphere. As

a result, in a class, yoga practitioners may build different kinds of relations and

friendships with people s/they might not have interacted peacefully or positively with

otherwise. As much as yoga practice clearly brings about mental shifts leading

towards more acceptance and non-violence, the experience of a non-violent and

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accepting environment and attitude itself during yoga class can catalyze a mind shift,

too.

Joe: I can connect to people easily. That is one thing, I can connect to people easily. I can talk to anyone. Regardless which place they’re coming from or tribe they are coming from.


Joe even states that yoga taught him to connect to people regardless of their

background, their origin, their tribe, although these are important social markers in

Kenyan society that are a current source of discrimination and structural violence. He

has clearly moved beyond the usual frame of thinking in strictly separate categories,

inherent to dualism, and he connects with people coming from a different mindset

with ultimate acceptance.

Vicky: I would say there is change in how I see the world, because nowadays I know every person has a different way of living and culture. And I respect that. Even religion. Before I believed only in Christianity, if you are not a Christian I don’t have any business with you, you know. But right now I know that I need to respect, if I need people to respect my religion I need to respect other people’s religion and also be mindful when I am speaking about it, who is around me, am I offending anyone, you know. Like before I would think that rich people are mean and the poor people […] You know, there are people who are really poor and I would think you know that’s not my class, I am a middle class person and I would think ‘OK, this is my class’. But nowadays I do not classify myself. I can go anywhere and teach yoga or even to relate to anyone whether they are rich, poor or not. I started getting this from our Saturday class. You know, in Africa Yoga Project, we have this big community class where we have about 200 people who come to the class. And in this class, there are very rich people who come driving and these people who do not have even clothes. And when we start practicing you cannot know. Because we are breathing together and going to mountain pose as we fold together we are exhaling, we are all the same. And when its time to have a lunch we all eat together and from that I started picking things like you can relate to anyone no matter what, and everyone is useful. Yeah.


Vicky explains to what extent and what areas of life the yoga-induced acceptance and

respect can reach. Her quote shows that through yoga it is possible to bridge

individuals across social categories. Vicky describes her shift that brought her to stop

to categorize herself, as well as others, and rather accept herself and others in very

basic human and respectful terms. It seems that yoga practice taught her that any

42

social categories, be it economic, religious or cultural categories, are only socially

constructed layers underneath which there are ‘all the same’ human beings.

Not only does the quote confirm the hypothesis that yoga alters the practitioner’s

mindset. It also clearly shows that yoga teaches acceptance and non-violence to that

level, that yoga practitioners do not even think of conflict or violence in situations,

where anyone else might suspect conflict and/or its escalation to violence. The

hypothesized shift towards acceptance seems to have a deep effect and potential to

bridge also deeply rooted social categories. As such, yoga seems to address structural

and cultural violence through shifting the human mind.

Junior: One thing that I noticed is socializing with people. Because he told me when he was back form the bush he used to stay sole, he was always alone. He doesn’t want to meet with people. But when he started doing yoga… You know, sometimes we do this partner yoga, OK? So when we do partner yoga, we do some kind of fun exercise. So it make him feel giving within, with friend. Yeah. So we play around and he told me that... You know, I see him laughing, I see him laughing! You see? You see he is within, within the community. […] Because that’s what they need in their life, to socialize, they need to feel that they are within the community. So that when they forget what happened. So we practice partner yoga. We get people in groups, in pairs, we do something fun so that they enjoy the class. […]. So what I realized was that after some period, they were actually together. They were so cooperative, they were so organized! They do things willingly.

(Phone interview with author 14 January 2015)

As much as yoga practice works inside-out, in the sense that a practitioners shift their

mindset and thus their approach which leads to transformation of their relationships to

others, it also seems to work the other way round: outside-in. As yoga practitioners

connect with others in a more accepting way, others seem to accept them better, too.

The above excerpt refers again to the case of the Ugandan former child soldier, for

whom yoga practice seems to facilitate his re-integration into the community. The

acceptance that yoga brings about seems to work both ways. This could possibly be

further explored for the potential of re-integration and community building.

43

Forgiveness

Riccardo: First off [all], the guys at the mental health [clinic]... If you hear their stories, most of them where drug addicts, former abductors, so any normal person wouldn’t really give a damn about them. But working with them helped me understand how much they deserved to be given second chances and how much they needed help. And I also realized how much yoga contributed to the healing process. So it helped change my attitude towards such patients...[…] Same applies to the prisoners.... Imagine murderers […] How could I possibly have a kind heart towards them if I didn’t have a chance to interact with them through yoga... […] I become filled with kindness towards enemies....


Riccardo describes how yoga practice and yoga experience transformed his approach

to people towards more acceptance, without any judgment, towards forgiveness and

reconciliation. He teaches yoga to individuals whom he, as well as most of the

society, would generally dismiss and marginalize, including those who might have

potentially harmed his family during the civil war in Uganda. Nevertheless, through

yoga, he found a way how to relate to them despite their past acts, to relate to them in

present, and to connect with them at the basic human level. The ‘kind heart’ that

Riccardo has developed reveals a mental shift, as hypothesized, towards acceptance

regardless of the past, as well as towards forgiveness, which is important in

reconciliation processes.

In his quote below, he observed a similar shift in his yoga students-survivors who

throughout the practice gradually develop ability to forgive.

Riccardo: They simply say it makes them develop the kind heart to forgive whoever has wronged them...


This observation was further confirmed by Deirdre Summerbell in her quote below,

according to the testimonies of her students-survivors. They made a distinction

between forgiving and forgetting, though. They specified the ability to forgive, which

they gained as their yoga practice progressed, as the ability to let go and not to hold

44

on to their memories, which, however, did not mean that they would lose their

memories or forget.

Deirdre Summerbell: In terms of reconciliation, women who have had – it is hard to even imagine what they have lived through, what they have been forced to live through. Some have had their children, their eight children, say, hacked to death in front of them and then been forced to walk over the bodies of their children and then they been raped. Crimes beyond imagination. At some point, little by little, they began to talk about being able – not that many, let me stress, it was not [thousands] by any means – but they would come up to me and they would begin to say, after few years, that for the first time - though they never thought that it would be possible - but that for the first time, they had come to the thought that they could forgive. And they said that it was, they pointed to yoga as the reason.[…] I did ask one women […] she said that she had begun to feel different and that she felt some peace, so she no longer needed to hang on. She said that she would not forget, but she could perhaps forgive.


Another teacher in Rwanda also noted this shift towards forgiveness and

reconciliation to the point when the survivor was able to have a beer with someone

who murdered their families. In her quote below, however, she points out an

important observation, that yoga only facilitates some mental and emotional processes

and shifts that subsequently may facilitate forgiveness further. There is not a direct

relationship. Nevertheless, yoga practice was subjectively identified as a key factor by

the students themselves.

Anneke Sips: I observed.. Like it is not this direct, it is not that you practice yoga and you will forgive. It’s not like this, it is very subtle. Yoga is a way to get some mechanism started in your head, that brings you to the next step which could be a calm mind or which could be a better rest, or forgiveness. These are results of what yoga does I think. But I did see these. Yeah.


Yoga on and off the mat - life changes

As it was suggested at the very beginning of the analytical part, yoga practice brings

about effects ‘on the mat’, i.e. during practice, as well as ‘off the mat’. ‘Off the mat’

means that yoga practitioners apply lessons learned in yoga class also in their daily

45

lives and observe changes in their lives. The following excerpts are listed to illustrate

the mental shifts linked with the subsequent changes in life.

Leo: Yeah! There was tremendous change in my life coz after starting yoga I became at ease with myself and then I started being patient and tolerant to every situation. And that has helped me so much. Yeah. […] I used to give back. I used to argue. But now at the moment I just wait, approach that situation in a more ease way. And adjust it in my way. Because I got used to overcoming challenges in yoga, so I apply that to my real life. So, I overcome challenges in life with ease. […].. I am able to just walk out of situations. Even tragic situations. I am just able to walk out. But before, when having a fight, or argument, or abusing each other, I will not feel relieved. But nowadays I just take things easily. Yeah.


Leo explains how he mentally shifted to a certain inner ease and peace, and linked it

directly with patience and tolerance in life to everyone and everything. Ease, patience,

and tolerance reflect deeper acceptance of what is, without judgment or

categorization, which hints a move beyond dualist thinking in categories. As Leo

notes, life somehow becomes easier. Life itself does not necessarily change and does

not become easier as such, however it does not feel as heavy as before. Yoga practice

allows the practitioners to transmit the lightness from the mat into their daily lives.

Vicky: Yeah, […] but after the class, […] I was looking at myself and the life that I live, you know. And I knew I need to make a change in these things, I need to stop fighting, I need .. You know.. Because I was really bad in fighting! […] The teacher was talking more about “who are you and what do you want in your life” and I started I kept asking myself those questions. I was like “wow this yoga is going to help me to get answers for myself”. It was the best feeling I have ever felt. […] Before I did yoga, I had so much anger. And the moment I got angry with you, I would make sure we fight. You know, like it does not matter who it is, whether you are man or a woman, I would fight you. And I would end up hurting people and being hurt. And also if I was frustrated with anything, I would bring the frustration to my daughter who was really young by that time. I would like scream at her, beat her up. But since I started doing yoga, it is not there. I actually fear fight. I don’t like it.


Vicky describes her personal transformation, which she traces back to her very first

yoga class. Through yoga practice she gained space to think about her life, and

eventually gained agency to change her life. Her awareness of her lifestyle, however,

was crucial for the change to occur in the first place. The moment of becoming

46

conscious of the current state-of-art is the moment where yoga practitioners gain their

agency: there is space for choice to either continue or change. And Vicky opted for

change, a change towards non-violence. Ultimately, her emotional state and relations

with others, including her family, improved significantly, which resonates with the

overall change of her lifestyle and life in general. Her observation confirms the

hypothesis that yoga brings about a mental shift, which ultimately links with a change

in attitude to violence. It seems that yoga naturally shifts practitioner’s mindset

towards non-violence.

47

Discussion

Yoga as a tool

Although the above analysis attempted to map not only the effects that yoga brings

about, but also how those effects occur, all the interviewed yoga teachers emphasized

that yoga is used as a tool. It is a technique, it facilitates, it breaks the routine, the

vicious cycle, and thus creates space for other elements to come in, and eventually

brings about changes, changes in many aspects and at many levels.

In her interview, Deirdre Summerbell (skype interview with author, 22 February

2015) has further specified that yoga classes create a special relaxed and safe

atmosphere, and a specific intimate connection between the practitioners as well as

the teacher. Therefore, the environment becomes suitable for tackling other issues,

maybe not directly related to yoga practice, but possible to address in the safe space

that yoga class offers. As a result, yoga can be introduced as a facilitation technique in

post-conflict settings as well as in violence and conflict related awareness raising

workshops.

Yoga as a part of a larger and comprehensive approach

The possibility to use yoga as a tool to address other issues makes yoga practice an

excellent complement in rather comprehensive strategies and projects. At the same

time, yoga itself is not a panacea and the comprehensive package needs to be well

thought in order to be effective.

For example, Project Air provides yoga classes to HIV positive rape and genocide

survivors in Rwanda. However, yoga classes are there to complement HIV treatment

48

provided by a medical clinic, and the patients/students also follow trauma counseling

sessions. Yoga alone does not heal HIV or trauma, however it facilitates and supports

the healing processes in the post-violent conflict setting (Summerbell, skype interview

with author, 22 February 2015). Similarly, Africa Yoga Project combines yoga

classes with coaching, using yoga practice as a tool and opportunity to share, as well

as to learn.

It could be thus questioned to what extent the above analyzed mental shifts were

results of yoga practice or of other elements, such as coaching or counseling, that

came into play alongside the interviewee’s yoga practice. However, given that the

interviewees come from several different countries, have a different background, and

their yoga practice was associated with different complementing components, while

still their testimonies seem to be pointing in the same transformative and mind-

shifting directions, the link with yoga practice as such can be established.

Trauma survivors and meditation

As the theoretical part suggested, yoga practice involves also a meditative element. In

the context of post-violent conflict setting, however, the use of meditation needs a

specific consideration as the survivors are very likely to suffer from clinical trauma.

While some of the interviewed yoga teachers would use meditation and get positive

feedback, others suggested that for trauma survivors, meditation can have adverse

effects (Junior, phone interview with author, 16 January 2015; Summerbell, skype

interview with author, 22 February 2015). Further use of yoga and its techniques,

such as meditation, in post-violent conflict and trauma setting, would thus require

deeper research, bringing detailed knowledge from the disciplines of psychology,

psychotherapy, as well as yoga and meditation.

49

Political, cultural and religious considerations

Excluding meditation, for the sake of mental health of trauma survivors or not, then

also takes important spiritual dimensions of yoga out of discussion. It might make the

practice seem more accessible. Despite clear descriptions in the ancient yogic texts

emphasizing that yoga is not a religion, as yoga tends to be associated with a specific

country, its culture and a specific religion, often yoga itself gets mistaken for a

religion. It sometimes drives people away from yoga practice as they anticipate its

incompatibility with their own belief and/or religion. Sadie (phone interview with

author, 13 January 2015) however pointed out that this reluctance is due to a

misunderstanding and lack of knowledge. It is therefore crucial to include awareness

raising in any yoga initiative, in order to clarify its scope and aims.

At the same time, as Linda Germanis underlines below, a great degree of raising

cultural awareness needs to be done on behalf of the yoga initiative coordinators and

teachers who often come from different, mostly western, cultures. They bring in their

own cultural background, which also shapes their understanding of yoga, while at the

same time they need to understand the local culture that they introduce yoga into.

Linda Germanis: If you have a yoga teacher from a yoga studio, going somewhere, and delivering a certain practice without a certain awareness about what it means. It can go one way or the other one. It depends on the relationships between the two things. It is really important. Also, is it taught by local people or by some western volunteers who come there for a month and then they disappear.


Another issue is then the matter of funding which pushes yoga initiatives to rely

heavily on volunteers who in the majority come for short periods of time only. Such

high turnover does not help the already complex cultural situation, let alone the

complexity of post-conflict setting and trauma work. Africa Yoga Project as well as

50

Mandala House have dealt with this issue by training local yoga teachers. Project Air

has taken this path since last year.

Anneke Sips: Like here, in our western world, we have the yoga magazines, and all this. It’s a very popular hype. And we all know or we all think to know, what yoga should bring. But they didn’t really know. They were just like, ‘Well a bunch of white people come here, they do something with us, and it feels good. I don’t know what it is but this stuff feels good.’ So it’s very pure I think. And very purely you see what happens after you practice yoga without having a bias.


Although these cultural and implicitly political considerations are of utmost

importance in the context of any post-violent conflict intervention, the excerpt above

shows that there is a dimension of yoga practice that somehow works regardless of

culture, religion, or politics. This quote describes a sense of well-being the

practitioners experienced. It might be at this level, at which yoga seems to connect

people as human beings despite their different backgrounds, origins, or religions (as

analyzed above). This aspect of yoga would certainly deserve closer investigation.

Community building tool

As the analysis above revealed, yoga seems to facilitate the processes of socialization

and re-/integration into a community. Yoga classes offer the potential for sharing and

connecting, for socializing, in a safe environment, connecting the students at a basic

human level. As a result, yoga practice could potentially be an interesting component

to broader and more comprehensive initiatives that aim for community building. Such

considerations, however, would require a community-building specific research

design.

51

Conflict prevention tool

Considering the mental shifts and personal transformations towards a more accepting

worldview, towards non-violence, and a constructive, positive, and problem-solving

attitude in conflict situations, yoga might play a role in conflict prevention strategies.

It may not fit in conflict prevention as conflict studies traditionally frame it, namely

monitoring and early warning systems. Nevertheless, offering populations to choose

non-violence through offering them yoga classes might result in overall non-violent

and more peaceful groups or even communities, who, thinking in non-violent terms,

would be less prone to recourse to or relapse into violence. This idea would require

deeper consideration and its implementation a comprehensive strategy involving other

elements and tools, where yoga would be again ‘only’ one piece of the puzzle.

Social transformation

In his interview, Krishna Alathur (2014) has pointed out an element of social

transformation. According to his experience and observations, social change across

society is not possible until individuals internalize it. In order to internalize social

change, individual minds need to shift their thinking. Here, yoga again can serve as a

tool, facilitating the desired mind shift, while included as a part of a larger

comprehensive transformative educational approach.

52

Conclusions

The present thesis aimed to contribute to the under-researched debate on

transformative sports-based peace-building initiatives, focusing particularly on the use

of yoga in post-violent conflict setting. It argued that a mind shift away from dualist

towards holistic worldview was necessary to transform conflict and to unlock the

individual peace-building potential (Del Colins, 2005; Galtung, 2000; Lederach 2003,

2011). The above analysis supports this argument, suggesting that the desired mind

shift and conflict transformation can be achieved through yoga.

The analysis confirmed the hypothesis that yoga brings about a mind shift. It revealed

that through the physical body, a space for individual mental and emotional healing

processes opens up. The changes were reported immediately after first, shortly later

around third yoga class. Yoga practitioners experienced various mind shifts.

Generally, their mind would open. They would start understanding themselves as well

as others. They would also feel confident, calm and at peace inside. These internal

sensations link with the mastery of thought and emotional processes, which ultimately

give yoga practitioners the advantage of the time to think before engaging with others.

This moment to think then leads to an altered attitude and behavior in the context of

conflict of violence, as hypothesized. The interviewees showed clear tendency to non-

violence and their attitude shifted towards a positive, constructive and problem-

solving approach to conflict. Some findings also suggested that yoga practice

facilitated the healing processes in terms of forgiveness, opening up the pathway to

reconciliation. Therefore, yoga facilitated mental shifts in post-violent conflict

context. It can also be argued, that the interplay of effects that yoga brings about,

results in mental shift that translate in real life as non-violent attitude and behavior.

53

The interviews also confirmed to an important extent the hypothesis that yoga

practitioners experience a mind shift away form dualist thinking with its inherent

features such as separation, categorization or hierarchy. The bottom line of the

interviews showed changed thinking patterns of refusing separation, transcending

categories (particularly social categories), as well as refusing judgment. Their

worldview shifted away from hierarchical categorization in terms of the dualist

inferior/superior scale, and moved towards more acceptance of everyone as equal

human beings. It can be thus concluded, that yoga practice brings about a mind shift

transcending dualist thinking opening up towards a rather holistic worldview.

Extrapolating further particularly from the finding on transcendence of social

categories, the analysis suggested that yoga practice allows for transformation of

structural violence.

The research has also shown how these inner mind shifts translated into external

behavior and attitude towards others. The inner peace that yoga practitioners

experience ripples into how they relate to people around them. Some would

deliberately strive for bringing peace in a violent situation or environment. Their

ability to take time to think, gained in yoga classes, improved their relationships. This

finding provides an answer to how inner individual peace-building impacts on the

collective and community level. It is the individual attitude and skills what transforms

the interactions with others in the society. More specifically, this research revealed

that yoga provides practitioners with skills set and attitude of non-violence.

Also, generally, the mental shifts facilitated by yoga, including the gained confidence

and sense of agency, translate into shifts in the realities of the lives of the interviewed

yoga practitioners. Therefore, it can be argued that mind shifts change not only

54

attitude, which in the context of violent conflict translates into non-violence or

forgiveness, but that mind shifts also alter the reality that we live into, that we create.

Besides providing answers to the research questions asked in this thesis, the research

raised further questions and pointed further directions for new research. Particularly,

next steps can explore the use of yoga techniques in comprehensive approaches to

reconciliation, community building, conflict prevention, as well as trauma healing.

Also, the limitations of the thesis invite further researchers to investigate and submit

the present findings to further falsification testing.

55

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Appendices

Annex I – Interview grid

Yoga for Peace:

Semi-structured interview grid

Topics

1. Yoga practice: when, how, why

2. Conflict and/or violence experience

3. Managing the effects of such experience

4. Views on conflict and/or violence

5. Self-assessment: comparison pre- & post- yoga practice

Questions for yoga students

1. How long have you been practicing yoga? / When did you start practicing

yoga?

2. Why did you start practicing yoga?

3. What did lead you to start with yoga? How did you get to yoga? Or how did

yoga get to you?

4. Why do you continue to practice yoga?

5. What do you feel that yoga brings to you?

6. It is my understanding that you were affected by violent conflict. Would you

mind sharing with me what happened to you?

7. How would you say that this experience affected your life, your daily life?

8. Do you think that your yoga practice has helped you to manage the

experience, to manage in daily life? If yes, how?

9. Would you say that you have changed or shifted your view on conflict, on

violence? / Would you say that you have changed or shifted your approach to

conflict, on violence? If yes, how?

10. Would you attribute any of the changes or shifts in your views and approaches

to your yoga practice? If yes, how?

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Questions for yoga teachers

1. When have you become a yoga teacher?

2. Can I ask what lead you to become a yoga teacher?

3. It is my understanding that you teach yoga also to survivors of violent conflict.

Would you please tell me when and where did you teach yoga for survivors of

violent conflict?

4. Could you maybe suggest what kind of experience have your students been

through?

5. What was your motivation to decide to teach yoga specifically to survivors of

violent conflict?

6. What do you think that yoga brings to them?

7. Do you think that your yoga practice has helped them to manage the

experience of violence, to manage in daily life? If yes, how?

8. Would you say that they have changed or shifted their view on conflict, on

violence? / Would you say that they have changed or shifted their approach to

conflict, to violence? If yes, how?

9. Would you attribute any of the changes or shifts in their views and approaches

to their yoga practice? If yes, how?

Questions for yoga researchers

1. I understand that you practice yoga yourself. How long have you been

practicing yoga? / When did you start practicing yoga?

2. Why did you start practicing yoga?

3. It is my understanding that you research on the use of yoga in the context of

violent conflict, violent crime, particularly on practice of yoga by those

affected by violent conflict, violent crime. Could you share with me what kind

of experiences have the subjects of your research been through?

4. How would you say that these experiences affected their life, daily life?

5. Could you please explain to me how do you use yoga in your research with

persons affected by violent conflict, violent crime?

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6. Do you think that yoga practice has helped them to manage the experience, to

manage in daily life? If yes, how?

7. Would you say that they have changed or shifted their view on conflict, on

crime, on violence? / Would you say that they have changed or shifted their

approach to on conflict, on crime, on violence? If yes, how?

8. Would you attribute any of the changes or shifts in their views and approach

to their yoga practice? If yes, how?

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Annex II – List of interviewees

1. Alathur, Krishna. Male, above 26years, India. Bodhi Alathur.

2. Germanis, Linda. Female, above 26years, Italy. Yoga Fusion.

3. Sips, Anneke. Female, above 26years, the Netherlands. Project Air.

4. Summerbell, Deirdre. Female, above 26years, US. Project Air.

5. Williams, Lenny. Female, above 26years, US. Mandala House.

Interviewees in anonymity (pseudonyms in italic):

6. Annee. Female, under 25years, Kenya. Africa Yoga Project.

7. Ben. Male, under 25years, Kenya. Africa Yoga Project.

8. Gregory. Male, under 25years, Uganda. Mandala House.

9. Iris. Female, above 26years, Kenya. Africa Yoga Project.

10. Jack. Male, under 25years, Kenya. Africa Yoga Project.

11. Joe. Male, above 26years, Kenya. Africa Yoga Project.

12. Junior. Male, under 25years, Uganda. Mandala House.

13. Leo. Male, under 25years, Kenya. Africa Yoga Project.

14. Riccardo. Male, under 25years, Uganda. Mandala House.

15. Sam. Male, above 26years, Kenya. Africa Yoga Project.

16. Sadie. Female, under 25years, Uganda. Mandala House.

17. Samantha. Female, under 25years, Kenya. Africa Yoga Project.

18. Vicky. Female, above 26years, Kenya. Africa Yoga Project.

Documents

Yoga for Peace