Ourmala

Ourmala We provide space to breathe and heal through yoga for people seeking international protection in the

OURMALA HAS CLOSED 💚As we entered the 2021/22 financial year, the aftershock of the COVID-19 pandemic was still ever pre...
07/02/2024

OURMALA HAS CLOSED 💚

As we entered the 2021/22 financial year, the aftershock of the COVID-19 pandemic was still ever present and our ability to deliver services to our beneficiaries continued to be challenging.

To minimise costs OURMALA continued to operate as a primarily volunteer run charity and, with the support of (Community Interest Company), was still able to deliver beneficiary yoga.

In the last two years, OURMALA has revised its strategy to reduce spending in line with its projected income, rethinking and streamlining its delivery model.

Following the pandemic, the outlook for achieving sustainable income for OURMALA remains highly uncertain. Given this situation, the Board of Trustees have taken the difficult decision to close OURMALA.

For 12 years, OURMALA has sought to preserve and protect the physical and mental health of, and relieve the needs of, refugees and asylum seekers, through the provision of access to yoga, activities for social integration and other services. At this time, this kindness is needed more than ever in the world we all live in and we are sorry that we will no longer be able to do this directly.

The decision to close OURMALA has not been taken lightly. The Board of Trustees would like to express its deep feelings of thanks to all our supporters & everyone involved in OURMALA’s work since it was founded in 2011 by Emily Brett.

Introduction to Teaching Trauma Informed Yoga to Diverse Communities • 21 /22 May OnlineLink to Book in Bio 👆BIPOC / Mar...
09/05/2023

Introduction to Teaching Trauma Informed Yoga to Diverse Communities • 21 /22 May Online

Link to Book in Bio 👆
BIPOC / Marginalised / Refugee community SCHOLARSHIPS available 💚

Fierce Calm manages the refugee & asylum seeker yoga program, & we have co-created this yoga teacher training for anyone interested in teaching evidence-based yoga that is sensitive to trauma, gender & cultural difference to their community. SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE 💚

With OURMALA we have over 12 years experience in working with the UK asylum system & refugee community, and all of what you will learn on this training is transferable to help you teach and serve other community yoga projects & marginalised & vulnerable populations

This training is in line with the latest international best practice for working with people who have experienced trauma, & is suitable for teachers seeking to serve a more diverse population. This training is led by Claire Collison, with significant knowledge & international experience working with diverse & vulnerable groups. It also includes lectures delivered by the Dr Stephanie Minchin from on the science of yoga, therapy & trauma, and on The Ethics of Teaching.

Topics Covered:

• An overview of trauma informed, inclusive, accessible yoga & how to adapt your teaching to diverse &/or vulnerable populations

•Ethical considerations teaching yoga to vulnerable groups

•Boundaries, empathy & sensitivity

•The science behind yoga in relation to working with vulnerable populations

•Yoga philosophy & cultural sensitivity

•Exploration of case studies for challenging situations in the yoga studio

SCHOLARSHIPS
We are offering a number of full scholarship places to teachers of a minority ethnic or marginalised identity background. Email me lee@fierce-calm.com to apply

The loss of life in the Channel today is a humanitarian disaster that should never have happened.Reposted from It’s inco...
25/11/2021

The loss of life in the Channel today is a humanitarian disaster that should never have happened.

Reposted from

It’s incomprehensible that so many lives have been lost by people on a desperate and harrowing journey to Britain who were just trying to find safety. Surely a tragedy of this magnitude is the wakeup call our Government needs to change its approach and finally commit to an expansion of safe routes for those men, women and children in desperate need of protection.

How many more lives must be lost before we finally end the cruel and dangerous tactic of seeking to punish or push away those who try and find safety in our country?

‘In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks’- John Muir We hope you enjoy some time spent with nature...
31/05/2020

‘In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks’- John Muir

We hope you enjoy some time spent with nature today

‘We may be in the same storm, but we are not all in the same boat’You may have seen this quote flying around the interne...
30/05/2020

‘We may be in the same storm, but we are not all in the same boat’

You may have seen this quote flying around the internet lately in reference to the coronavirus pandemic. It really does hit the nail on the head.

COVID-19 is not the ‘great equaliser’. Everyone is suffering. However those who were already vulnerable are suffering through this pandemic even more than before. Existing inequalities are being exacerbated.

Our beneficiaries, who are all either refugees or seeking asylum in the UK, are some of the most underserved in our society. Poor living conditions, poverty, isolation, and mental and physical illness are just some of the issues they live with. OURMALA’s proven approach helps to alleviate some of these immediate issues and provides beneficiaries with a sense of community, hope and empowerment through a regular practice of healing yoga.

If you would like to support us to ensure a fairer, more compassionate society for our beneficiaries, please consider making a donation to OURMALA via ourmala.com, so that we can continue our services through this trying time.

Thank you so much!

OURMALA is so lucky to be a part of such a rich and diverse yoga community in London and so much further afield too (we ...
27/05/2020

OURMALA is so lucky to be a part of such a rich and diverse yoga community in London and so much further afield too (we have active supporters in Texas and Ibiza and if you’re based someone else and follow us, do let us know as we’d love to give you a shout out!). We are endlessly amazed by the sheer generosity of the teachers, practitioners and volunteers that we meet, and their desire to get involved in what we do. We’d be nothing without our long-standing relationships.

Today we’d like to thank Hamish Hendry, a dear friend of OURMALA who has been championing our work for a number of years. Hamish runs a studio called Ashtanga Yoga London, and over the years has been giving us his shala space for free to host a weekly class for our beneficiaries. For a number of years, he also gave us the space for free so we could run our OURMALA teacher trainings in the beautiful shala. His sincere dedication to the practice of yoga shines through in all that he does, not least of all his steadfast support of our work. Sending Hamish and the AYL community a huge dose of love and gratitude.

To be very clear, OURMALA works with yoga teachers from all yoga backgrounds and our yoga programme comprises universal elements of yoga that cross most of the yoga traditions.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the Yoga Challenge Quiz with . We are so grateful to have been chosen a...
26/05/2020

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the Yoga Challenge Quiz with . We are so grateful to have been chosen as the recipients of the proceeds, along with , a charity doing incredible work in Kolkata.

To the team at , THANK YOU for organising such a fantastic event - we had so much fun! We’re deeply grateful for your support of our work through these challenging times.

The wonderful folks at are awarding 500 charities with £1,000 in their draw and the more nominations we receive the bi...
24/05/2020

The wonderful folks at are awarding 500 charities with £1,000 in their draw and the more nominations we receive the bigger the chance of success!⁠
⁠
We only spotted this at the start of the weekend and entries close tonight, Sunday 24th May, at midnight! We have no doubt that you, our incredible and loyal community, will rally round and galvanise your support - and the best bit is it only takes a minute.⁠
⁠
Simply click on the link below, type in OURMALA's charity number which is 1161394, then click 'search' and it will find us. Then just complete the very brief form:⁠
⁠
https://movementforgood.com/ ⁠
⁠
If you're then able to, please spread the word amongst your friends and family to help us receive more votes. Every single one counts! And remember, the deadline is tonight at midnight. ⁠
⁠
From all of our hearts at OURMALA, to yours, thank you! ⁠
🙏🏻🙏🏼🙏🏽🙏🏾🙏🏿

"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kin...
24/05/2020

"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind." - Henry James

‘After we terrorize ourselves with self-doubt, our only relief is to get moving again’ - Twyla Tharp, an American dancer...
24/05/2020

‘After we terrorize ourselves with self-doubt, our only relief is to get moving again’ - Twyla Tharp, an American dancer and choreographer, who clearly understood the importance of movement for mental health. May you experience the pleasures of joyful movement this Sunday

SATTVA Sattva is the purest of the 3 gunas, or ‘qualities, attributes, or tendencies’ that are described in the ancient ...
23/05/2020

SATTVA

Sattva is the purest of the 3 gunas, or ‘qualities, attributes, or tendencies’ that are described in the ancient yogic texts. Sattva denotes the qualities of stillness, harmony, peace, balance, light, purity and love. It is the guna we are encouraged as yogis to cultivate if we want to move further along the spiritual path.

Sometimes, after a long and busy day, we crave stillness, rest, and passivity. But we often choose ‘white noise’ over silence, numbing over calming, and distraction over true presence. When we consciously choose sattvic activities, they nourish us deeply and restore true balance, rather than swing us from one extreme of frenetic activity or rajas, to another of lethargy and numbness, which is tamas.

A sattvic mind is able to focus with ease, is equanimous, not easily disturbed, and thinks kind and loving thoughts. The quality of sattva lies beyond the emotions, so its loving quality is a state of being rather than an emotion, and it has no particular object. That kind of love is our true nature.

Spiritual practices like yoga are designed to increase sattva, so that we may live more healthy and happy lives. It can be as simple as cleaning your home, getting fresh air, meditating, waking up and going to sleep earlier.. All of these small things increase sattva.

If you feel called to share, let us know what practices you use to cultivate sattva in your home, your relationships and your yoga practice.

As we come to the end of Mental Health Awareness week, we’d like to offer our reflections on this year’s theme of Kindne...
22/05/2020

As we come to the end of Mental Health Awareness week, we’d like to offer our reflections on this year’s theme of Kindness.

Kindness is such an underrated quality. So often in our society, we reward displays of charisma, heroism, wealth and external beauty, and ignore the humble, quiet kindness of the every-day. Thankfully that seems to have changed somewhat due to coronavirus, which has initiated a mass reappraisal of our value systems. It has become increasingly obvious that kindness matters a huge amount, especially when the going gets tough. Being kind creates immediate, positive and lasting differences to our wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. It feels good to be kind!

In yoga, the word Ahimsa encapsulates the attitude of loving-kindness, and is quite possibly the single most important tenet. The place to start is… you guessed it, your own mind! With greater awareness of our thoughts, we can slowly begin to move away from critical, harsh thoughts towards kinder internal narratives. Moreover, a kind mind naturally results in kind words and deeds. Healthy minds create healthy societies, and kindness lies at the core of both...

If you are struggling right now, please reach out. You can call the Samaritans helpline, which is open 24/7 on 116123.

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Our Story

OURMALA was founded in 2011 by a Yoga teacher called Emily Brett at Hackney City Farm in East London.

Emily had been teaching Yoga to vulnerable refugee and asylum-seeking women at the British Red Cross’ Destitution Centre in Dalston, all of whom had experienced gender based violence, were at risk of destitution and were either pregnant or had children. With small funding from Big Lottery, Emily offered the often malnourished women Yoga and a hot lunch. The British Wheel of Yoga seed-funded a 12 month pilot called Hackney Yoga Project, covering the costs of travel refunds, without which the women would not have been able to get to class. By the end of the pilot, women were coming to class, referred by organisations including the British Red Cross, Freedom from Torture and Refugee Council. An English class was also added after lunch to help the women with their language skills.

Since then, OURMALA has helped over 200 women, has won funding from Big Lottery, lululemon athletica, NHS, the British Wheel of Yoga, Inchrye Trust and Vodafone World of Difference and Oak Foundation. We have relationships with over 20 organisations that refer service users to our classes and we have waiting lists.

We are proud to now serve refugee children, young people and men also.