Lesvos Yoga Project is a non profit project aiming to bring yoga and well being to refugees living in different camps in Lesvos.

Sport For Refugees is a French registered NGO organizing sport trainings for refugees in Lesvos.

THE SITUATION:

Lesvos is a beautiful greek island where over 6 000 human beings are stuck. They are refugees, displaced women, men and kids, from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Cameroun, Erythrea an Congo, among others.

They fled war, persecution and conflicts. They survived a difficult journey on land and on the sea. Now, they are living in refugee camps where they face a lot of frustration, uncertainty about the future, unsafety and violence.

We want to bring them relief, we want to empower them by setting up daily goals and activities.

We want to make them feel surrounded by positivity and integrated in their new environnements.

We want to make them feel part of a community.

WHY YOGA AND SPORTS ?

Through developing physical, emotional & mental balance, yoga has proven to be effective in helping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Alternatively, to seek psychological help refugees have to wait for an appointment for months (with 400 persons in line) while yoga gives instant relief by:

- brightening up their daily life and distracting from negative thoughts,

- developing their self knowledge, positive thinking, mindfulness and self awareness,

- easing stress and helping them find a home within themselves,

- building a community by getting together people from different origins and religions, with locals and people from around the globe;

Sports allows energies to flow: it’s a way to give, to create and to use stamina. Practicing sports such as running, core workouts or martial arts enables refugees to:

- release their frustrations,

- to get away all the bad energy they have in themselves and to build positive ones for the future,

- help them clear their minds,

- become aware of their body and movements.

In our vision YOGA and SPORT are complementary and that is why we want to share this with humans !

Both training the body, the spirit and the mind are good for acquiring dedication and discipline.

Yoga and Sport for Refugees

The publications