Help heal war trauma // Stop the cycle of violence

Aim: Support trauma-sensitive yoga training in Greece for Ukrainian yoga teachers, designed to spread healing widely through communities in need.

WHAT: 

You are invited to be part of an ongoing urgent mission to end the cycle of violence happening in Ukraine and worldwide, starting by training yoga teachers in trauma-sensitive methods at a 2025 retreat in Corfu, Greece, so that they can, in turn, help heal communities traumatised by war: 

• Military personnel and their families
• Refugees and internally displaced persons
• People who lost homes, jobs, income, and the opportunity to study
• People who lost loved ones or suffered physical and mental trauma 

Then, we intend to build an online-accessible library of teachings so that these methods can reach an even larger community in need.

THE PROBLEM: 

It has now been over three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the longer the war goes on, the more deeply trauma sets in for its people: families continue to be torn apart as they search for safety; loved ones continue to die.

This is nothing new. It is part of a cycle of war and perpetual violence woven into our history, normalised by those with power to protect. People traumatised by violence, by wartime, continue to spread violence and trauma. 

THE IMPACT: 

By engaging with the roots of violence in influential individuals, helping them unlearn violence with a combination of trauma-sensitive yoga techniques, psychological and psychotherapy support, and group connection through shared experience and understanding, we saw in 2024 that healing and peace can spread. 

With the help of partners and donors like you who believe in this mission, Yoga for Healing the Wounds of War 2024 was a massive success.

After seven intensive days of trauma-sensitive yoga techniques, psychological and psychotherapy support, and group connection through shared experience and understanding, our 20 participant yoga teachers – who serve large communities suffering from PTSD symptoms like amnesia, anxiety, burnout, chronic stress, depression, dissociation, flashbacks, grief, insomnia, OCD, panic attacks, paranoia, and survivor’s guilt – left the retreat empowered to bring their newly learned trauma-sensitive yoga methods to a combined community of over 2600 Ukrainians in need.

All 20 committed to teaching at least six free classes to their communities, and by March 2025, 88% of participants had already taught six free classes or more to their communities, widening their reach by leading classes both online and offline, and in Ukraine and abroad for displaced communities of Ukrainian refugees.

In a post-retreat survey in March 2025, 100% of our participants responded that yoga classes have “significantly helped” their students with post-traumatic symptoms. Although 75% had no previous knowledge of the ‘trauma-sensitive method of yoga’, 85% said that the method was exactly what they needed right now in their personal work.

To read more about our impact, read the Yoga for Healing the Wounds of War 2024 Impact Report.

OUR JOB IS NOT DONE

In 2025, we’re looking to raise £45,000 to continue spreading urgent trauma relief.

Yoga for Healing the Wounds of War 2025 is aimed to happen from 12 to 18 September, 2025, at Claudi Agapi Retreat Center in Corfu, Greece. 

Your support will help us give thousands of Ukrainians the tools to manage the effects of war trauma, strengthening minds and whole communities, and pushing back against the war-driven mindset that keeps the world mired in vicious cycles of violence.

HOW YOUR DONATION WILL HELP:

€150 donation will cover meals for one participant from Ukraine during the retreat

€300 donation will cover one faculty member’s travel from Ukraine to to Greece (via overground to Poland)

€400 donation will cover the cost of accommodation for one participant from Ukraine in Greece for face-to-face training

€1200 scholarship will cover one participant's from Ukraine attendance to Greece

€10 000 will cover the whole online training budget for a year for 100 qualified participants

With your donations, we will hold an intensive seven-day retreat in Greece for 20 experienced Ukrainian yoga teacher participants to be instructed, inspired, and immersed in techniques to reverse the cycle of violence by four faculty members: two renowned yoga masters, an integrative psychotherapist and a musician trained in group healing. 

We will then send these 20 yoga teachers back to their communities to help spread healing, which can be spread to that community’s extended community, and beyond, with a big-picture goal of putting an end to the cycle of violence destroying minds, homes, and lives worldwide.

IN-PERSON AND ONLINE:

This year, we hope to build out from the retreat with an accessible online library of learning resources. This new, pilot strand of Yoga for Healing the Wounds of War will have the greatest reach, and will focus on building community and resilience. We will provide online training to 100 yoga teachers, therapists and mind-body practitioners from Ukraine. 

The aim of these online workshops is firstly to deliver teachings with experts in trauma-informed practices but also to create an active community where students can build relationships, exchange ideas, and offer peer-to-peer support.

With your help, we want to expand our reach, continue to turn the violent tide and heal the wounds of war.

ORGANISERS: Brightseeds and AZAHAR Foundation.

PPROJECT PARTNERS: Fundacion Radika and La Cura Retreats.

CONTACT: To learn more about how you can help, contact us at [email protected].

PLEASE DONATE NOW

We can accept GiftAid donations through our fiscal sponsor, Prospero World.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 22nd September 2025 at 12:00pm