PALESTINE, August 27, 2015 (The Guardian): A lack of yoga teachers, and a social stigma from the belief that the practice had something to do with a foreign religion, meant that until recently not many Palestinians had had exposure to yoga or meditation. But in 2010 Farashe opened a volunteer-based nonprofit community yoga centre in Ramallah that focuses on outreach.
In 2012 and 2013, Farashe was boosted when Washington DC-based nonprofit Anahata International ran teacher training for Palestinian women to take the self-care techniques into their communities on the West Bank. With training from Farashe and others, over the last three years, about 80 men and women have become yoga teachers.
Today, yoga-based practices are integrated into community centres and gyms, not only among the elite of cosmopolitan Ramallah, but also in the small villages. It’s used in health clinics in crowded refugee camps, and in classes at small private studios led by new teachers trained by international volunteers.
Much more at source.