The Ubuntu Yoga Project

Yoga is about not letting life throw a spanner in the works, or when it does; finding a way to just adapt, and make the most of the situation. Covid-19 in South Africa has changed life as we know it, it has changed peoples movement, and way of thinking, it has changed the children being allowed to come to Nourish daily, and changed the ability of groups to gather for Yoga. 

This is not something we can change, so we adapt... and in this time we try to support our children the best way we can, through supporting their families with food security parcels, and masks for hygiene, and a warm blanket for winter. After all the root of all yoga is to connect to the self; to elevate your spirit to a higher level and find our untapped capacity for ubuntu, for wisdom, compassion, and empathy. 

So have a look at our beautiful children keeping safe and warm at home, and know that the Ubuntu Yoga space will be there for them when this all goes back to normal.

And in the meantime, one of our beautiful Ubuntu Yoga mentors Jacquie Gautier shared online yoga with the world to raise funds to put towards food hampers. You can join her lovely light African flavoured yoga class for free ( or for a donation if you wish ) on our Youtube channel. 

In the meantime, stay safe, and take care. 

Namaste~ and Ubuntu

Links:

• Free Ubuntu Yoga Class

 What can we say that Iyangar hasn't summed up: 

Persistent practice alone is the key to Yoga. As you take pains to learn, continue with devotion what you have learnt. 

~ B.K.S Iyengar

Our Ubuntu African Yogis have been practicing, practicing and practicing, deepening their understanding of yoga, and its asanas, as well as the breathwork, and connectivity that you develop to yourself and the world as you spend more time on the mat. 

Thank you to Ena, Patricia and Jacquie ( three amazing experienced Yogis) for sharing their passion and time to guide our trainees! and to all our sponsors, please keep spreading the word - our Ubuntu yoga deck is in need of an eco friendly sustainable and long lasting floor, so any and all donations are welcome! 

Namaste - Ubuntu 

~engar

Our African yoga trainees are still passionately trying to get trained--- when they can they attend a private class with Jacquie, or myself - or even had the fortune of a lesson at the Ubuntu Yoga deck by the Senior Yoga instructor who trained both Jacquie and I, Ena During from DevaHiti. So slowly their understanding of the postures and yogic concepts is deepening and their body awareness already is quite amazing. 

Our BIGGEST goal is 2 -fold. To get a floor on our Ubuntu Yoga Pavilion... and find the funding to send our trainees to the African Yoga Project in Kenya to get qualified---  so if you can help with either of this-- please reach out! 

In the meantime, our Yogis " Pay it Forward" by starting to teach classes ( which also gives good practical experience ) to the children from the Nourish aftercare center. The best way to learn yoga is to teach and it was amazing to see the children being so quiet and focused during their afternoon Yoga session. There is really something special in these Yogis and in what Yoga can bring to these children and this community! 

We hope you stay involved and keep walking this road with us! 

Ubuntu - Namaste

Thanks to some generous donations from friends of Nourish and the Yoga community in Canada ,( amongst others) construction of our Ubuntu Yoga Pavilion is underway at Nourish Eco Village. Our eco brick foundation ( made of 2 liter plastic bottles stuffed with scrap plastic, removing waste from communities and landfill)  has been laid, and our tin can walls are rising. The earth is being compacted to lay our cow dung floor, and we are raising funds to put a rubber floor on top of it to eliminate the need for yoga mats, which don't hold up well in this environment. We plan to paint the outline of mats on the floor so each person will have their space. We still want to raise the funds for bolsters, straps, and blocks for the children and community members who will use our Yoga Pavilion. 

In the meantime we practice anywhere we can- sometimes in the library or even in the kitchen. :) The Yoga will continue!

We now have three tainees who are talented and dedicated. They will be instrumental in taking yoga into our local communities. Our goal now is to find a way to fund training to have Zandili, Dineo and Letsatsi become certified yoga instructors. We have made contact with the Africa Yoga Project in Kenya and have set up a Skype meeting to see if there is some way we can partner with them. It would be ideal to be able to send these young people to train with the project in Kenya, but the cost is quite high. We're exploring other alternatives; possibly having one of their instructors come here, or seeing if a senior yoga trainer here can affiliate with the Africa Yoga Project. 

So lots of exciting things happening! So for now-- Namaste; or as we say with the Ubuntu Yoga Project: Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu ( a person is a person becuase of other people) speaks to our connectivity, to each other and the natural world around us. xxx

In order to raise funds for the Ubuntu Yoga deck at Nourish Eco Village, we have set the target of some serious fundraising, to raise around R 100 000 to be able to start covering the costs of building the foundations, roof, storeroom and blinds.. and then start to kit out our commuity based studio with mats, straps, blocks and bolsters... 

At the same time, we are continuing to identify and train young women, nurturing the love of yoga and supporting the skills sharing process. This is happening slowly, but as we all know, Rome wasnt built in a day... and nor is Africa. Valencia is slowly working her way towards accreditation, coming to classes whenever she can and practicing by teaching her colleagues at the place she works. In the meantime we have indentified two other potential Yoga candidates and Jacquie is heading out in the next two weeks for their first Intro to Ubuntu Yoga class. So watch this space. 

In the meantime we have taken the first step towards our building, we have been collecting Eco Bricks ( plastic 2 L containers filled with unrecyclable scrap plastic) and storing them, ready to use them to build our buildings foundation. Also Jacquie has hosted two wonderful Ubuntu Yoga Classes in her home country of Canada. All proceeds from these classes and any sales come straight to the Ubuntu Yoga project, so we are super excited now that she is back, with funds in hand ( and thank you to those that donated via this GlobalGiving platform). 

We are ready to get going, so will set out the pegs next week and start digging the foundations, making our dream of a yoga space at the Nourish eco village a reality.. we are already putting together a Yoga Retreat in early September! 

Thank you to everyone for your support and for sharing our dream! 

Until next time, Namaste