Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast Episode #91 – Inclusive Yoga – Yoga in South Sudan with Paska Atim John

Welcome to Episode #91 of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast! My conversation with Paska Atim John, a yoga teacher from South Sudan, was wonderful as we took discussed how true yoga is not about the shape of one’s body, but the shape of one’s life. I hope that this shed light on how important it is to create inclusive spaces for communities to unite  and how yoga can be the driving force of transformative power for collective collaboration and a way to lead to personal and communal growth. If you’re looking to tune into a podcast episode that is all about yoga in South Sudan then this is the conversation for you.

Tell me more about Paska Atim John

Paska Atim John is a yoga teacher from South Sudan. With a passion for sharing the transformative power of yoga, Paska has accumulated 600 hours of teacher training from three different schools. Her teaching journey has taken her to various countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan, where she has been guiding students on their yoga path for the past eight years. Paska’s dedication to yoga and her diverse teaching experiences make her a valuable resource in promoting wellness and self-discovery through the practice of yoga.

What to expect in the Yoga In South Sudan episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast

Paska Atim John is committed to teaching community yoga and creating inclusive spaces where people can come together and connect without judgment. For Paska, yoga is a way of living, a practice that goes beyond physical postures and brings people together to share energy and support one another. She believes in the power of yoga to create unity among individuals, irrespective of their differences, and sees yoga as a tool for personal and communal growth.

In her community in South Sudan, Paska faces challenges in introducing yoga to a population that is unfamiliar with the practice and often perceives it as a religious activity. As the only yoga teacher in South Sudan, she is determined to overcome these challenges and bring the benefits of yoga to her community. Paska believes that yoga can be a healing tool for individuals who have experienced trauma and suffering in a country marked by war and conflict. She aspires to train more people in trauma healing and host workshops to help her fellow South Sudanese heal and find empowerment through yoga.

Paska’s story is one of resilience, unity, and the power of yoga to bring about personal and social transformation. Her dedication to spreading yoga in South Sudan is truly inspiring, and her vision of a healed and empowered community serves as a shining example of the potential of yoga to create positive change.

Favorite Quote From Paska Atim John

“It is really like inspiring to me to see people from different background coming in one room, practicing without judgment because in my country, South Sudan, we have 64 tribes. And all these 64 tribes, most of them hate each other. I’ve seen yoga is one of the big reason of bringing people together from different backgrounds, different ethnic community, different social status.”

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Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast Episode #91 – Yoga in South Sudan Transcription

[00:00:00] Lily Allen-Duenas: Namaste, family and welcome back to the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast! Today, I’m so excited to welcome Paska Atim John onto the show today. She’s a yoga teacher from South Sudan who is so passionate for sharing the transformational power of yoga. She’s accumulated over 600 hours of yoga teacher training, and she studied with three different schools.

Her teaching journey has taken her to various countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan, of course. So she has been guiding students on their path of yoga for eight years. So thank you so much, Paska for joining me on the show today.

[00:00:39] Paska Atim John: Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. 

[00:00:42] Lily Allen-Duenas: So just to get started, I would love to hear from you about how yoga came into your life. Tell us about your personal yoga journey and how you discovered yoga and what drew you to become a yoga teacher.

How did yoga come into your life?

[00:00:53] Paska Atim John: Yeah how yoga came into my life was I was in South Sudan and then the war broke out in 2013, and I had a friend from Czech Republic and the friend decided to sponsor my studies in Nairobi, , and then during my holiday time she asked me what I do during holidays

I told her nothing. I just sit in the hostel and maybe read my books or watch some documentaries and movies. And then she said, okay, I have something that, [00:01:30] something else that I want you to do. And then I asked her, what is that? And she told me I want you to do yoga and I’m going to introduce you to some yoga schools in Nairobi.

Then I said, okay, no problem. I’m willing to join and do the new stuff. So she introduced me into a yoga school called Africa Yoga Project. Africa Yoga Project is originated from originally from U.S. from Baptist Power Yoga. So they brought it to Nairobi and they were teaching Africans and they were giving scholarship to African as well.

So when my friend, her name is Andrea, she introduced me to that yoga school. And then I started coming more often. Every weekend I do yoga. The same yoga school, Africa Yoga Project, were giving scholarship to African student. So I’m happy with because the community that I have here right now, the Africa Yoga Project community, it’s big; it bring people from different background, different culture, and all comes in one room and practice without like tribalism, segregation, or different bank status. Like people are all coming together and practicing yoga without judgment. So that is what inspired me [00:03:00] to apply for the yoga teacher training with with Africa Yoga Project.

So when I applied, I was the only South Sudanese who had applied, had ever applied to practice yoga with them. So immediately they accepted me. I went for three weeks teacher training. That was in 2016. It was 200 hours, three weeks to the teacher training.

And after that they gave me they call it mentorship program. They got a mentor who lived in the US, her name was Alison. So Alison mentored me for three years from 2016, 2017, 2018. Until now. I’m still communicating with Alison. So once a month, she give me questions and then after that we have like video calls and we talk to each other.

There’s another yoga school where I was practicing yoga and where I was teaching yoga. The yoga school is called Kauna Yoga Journey. Kauna Yoga Journey was based in Kampala, however, originated from the UK. They were also offering scholarship for African students and also for me, because I’m also the only South Sudanese, I got an advantage of getting that scholarship also. So I went and did training with also Kauna Yoga Journey which is like, another [00:04:30] 200 hours.

So the first 200 hours was with Africa Yoga Project. The second 200 hours was Karuna Yoga Journey, which happened in 2018. In 2020 also did another training with another yoga school called Kanga Yoga. So Kanga Yoga is based in the U.K. and she came to Nairobi because she wanted to open another branch in Nairobi, Kenya, and she found me.

I was close to her and she said, okay, I need a dedicated yoga instructor to open this yoga studio with me. However, I need to teach this yoga instructor my style of Kanga Yoga. So when she was doing her yoga teacher training, she decided that, okay, I’m giving opportunity to Paska because she is a very dedicated yoga instructor that I need to work with. So we did the training. It was during covid time, 2020. So that, that made it to, for me, like now to make it to 600 hours teacher training. Three different yoga school, but 200 hours of each. 

[00:05:41] Lily Allen-Duenas: Wow. Uh, that’s amazing. I definitely have interviewed a lot of yoga teachers from the Africa Yoga Project, so I’d love hearing that you are involved with them as well. Such an incredible organization. But Paska about the community yoga… I’d love to talk to you more about that [00:06:00] because community yoga seems to hold a very special place in your heart and in your beliefs. Can you tell us about the significance of creating inclusive spaces where people can unite with their body, their soul, and their community?

The significatnce of inclusive spaces and community yoga

[00:06:15] Paska Atim John: Yeah. It’s really important for me to teach communities because my first yoga teacher training I did with Africa Yoga project where their main focus is to take yoga to the community and unite people. It is really, like, inspiring to me to see people from different background coming in one room, practicing without judgment because in my country, South Sudan, we have 64 tribes.

And all these 64 tribes, most of them hate each other. I’ve seen yoga is one of the big reasons of bringing people together from different backgrounds, different ethnic community, different social status. So it’s really inspired me to do such thing, I was teaching community yoga three times a week. Groups of children, group of women, group of young girls and boys. Bringing people together. That is my main aim. Community yoga is one thing, which is very important to me. 

[00:07:28] Lily Allen-Duenas: Yeah, I love hearing [00:07:30] that there are 64 tribes in South Sudan, and as you said they don’t get along, so creating a space for yoga, for people to come together and to meet each other, to have a space to interact, that’s a safe space. I think that’s incredible. And something you also emphasize, paska is the essence of living yoga rather than merely performing yoga. Can you tell us more about that? That’s fascinating.

Living yoga don’t perform yoga

[00:07:56] Paska Atim John: Yeah, living yoga is making yoga part of your life. Cause performing yoga or doing yoga for the sake of having money or just to get some benefits out of it, it’s something that you can do for like temporary maybe after, maybe you get higher income while you’re doing something else, then you drop yoga, you gonna do that.

But to me, I believe yoga is part of my life. And I do it no matter what. It has money or it doesn’t have money, or it gives me that famousness or no. For me, it’s just the sense of bringing people together, practice together, sharing the same energy, sharing the same room. That’s what I believe in.

[00:08:47] Lily Allen-Duenas: I think you said that so well, that yoga is a part of your life no matter what happens, no matter financially or whether it’s supporting you or not. Like I, I really enjoyed [00:09:00] hearing how you said that.

And something else that I really know that you stand for and stand about, and I’ve read about it on your social media and I was excited to ask you about it. So Paska, you mentioned that yoga is not about the shape of one’s body, but about the shape of one’s life. Could you expand on that concept and how you integrate it into your teachings?

Yoga is not about the shape of one’s body, but about the shape of one’s life

[00:09:22] Paska Atim John: When I say I teach yoga, cause my body… there’s different how people expect yoga people to look like: slim, tall, looking slender, and with so much strength or doing all the posts that they see on social media or online. So on my side, I don’t look like whoever that expect me to look like. And like yoga is not about what you see, but what you feel. The journey you feel during the time that you’re doing yoga. 

[00:10:01] Lily Allen-Duenas: Absolutely. And so Paska, I do ask this question to every guest on the podcast, and I think right now is the perfect moment. What is your personal definition of yoga?

What is your definition of yoga?

[00:10:12] Paska Atim John: My own definition come back to the same origin of definition of yoga. Unity for me, the unity of people from different background, different social status, different financial status, the [00:10:30] unity of all these type of people in one. The definition of yoga is unity of mind, body, spirit. But on my side, it’s unity of people. That’s what I believe in. Yes.

[00:10:45] Lily Allen-Duenas: Unity. Yeah. Unity is the core of yoga. I love how you said that. So I know we’ve talked about the power of the collective community collaboration and coming together. For personal and communal growth, but could you share a story with us maybe about something you’ve witnessed about how yoga has changed your community or the people in it?

How has yoga changed your community in South Sudan?

[00:11:07] Paska Atim John: Yeah How yoga has changed my community. I may not say much on that because I just got back in South Sudan. I’ve been teaching in Kenya where I’ve been teaching in Kenya, which is like mainly group of women, children and young girls, young boys. That’s where I’ve seen changes, but in South Sudan, in my own community.

Yoga has not been a big thing yet. It’s still on a… in a I’m still in the process of putting out there the word of yoga so that people would understand what yoga is cause most of them believe that yoga is a religion. I need to put it out there that it is not a religion. It can be a religion, but in the essence of the belief of yoga, but not the current [00:12:00] aspect of yoga.

I am the only yoga instructor from South Sudan so far, and I’m still struggling to put out the word of yoga and I don’t know if you know about it, it’s difficult to convince people that don’t know about the yoga and for them to start like practicing it; it’s really hard. I’ve been struggling. It’s has, it has taken me so far a year plus for me to be able to convince few South Sudanese to come in my yoga class.

[00:12:34] Lily Allen-Duenas: So it’s just a battle it sounds to actually get people to show up and trust you and believe that what you’re teaching them isn’t a religion? Maybe they’re scared or upset or were about it. And what you’re trying to do. So what are you trying to do? What are you teaching? Are you teaching in schools or in different spaces?

Where are you teaching yoga in South Sudan?

[00:12:54] Paska Atim John: Yeah, currently because I am personally, I also have to some little income to push my life weight, so I could not fully survive on yoga. So I’m doing other things apart from yoga. However, yoga is the main thing, and so for me, I would I would like to teach yoga to the schools, the orphanage to the community so that I would get more people.

But at the moment, I’m only teaching [00:13:30] yoga to some groups of youth. And I’m doing it in form of a community yoga and it’s completely free. Just to put out the word of yoga. That’s the only thing that I’m doing right now.

[00:13:43] Lily Allen-Duenas: You are the only teacher in South Sudan, so there really is just so much you can do as a team of one. Okay, so I know that South Sudan has faced its share of challenges and hardships, and I was wondering how do you believe that yoga can be a tool for healing or personal empowerment or growth in the context of the community you serve and South Sudan? 

How can yoga be a tool for healing in South Sudan?

[00:14:05] Paska Atim John: It’s not gonna be easy. That’s what I believe. I know it’s not going to be easy to make yoga a… a healing, like, how do I say, like a healing form of something that is healing to most people that have been going through traumas. Because we have so many people that are really suffering. They don’t know that they’re really suffering, but they are suffering because of the family. Trauma or the war that has been happening in South Sudan over and over again, and they went through it. They went through a lot. They’ve seen a lot, and they still have that trauma, although they believe that they’re happy, but they still have that trauma.

So for me to be able to overcome all this trauma, It’s going to be really difficult. I won’t admit that it’s going to be easy. It’s going to be difficult, and it is not a [00:15:00] work of one person. I can’t do it alone with time cause my aim is to train more people. And train more people on how to like the trauma healing so that we can be hosting trauma healing workshops and then we’ll make it like a healing project to most South Sudanese. 

[00:15:22] Lily Allen-Duenas: Yeah, that is such a very good point and I love hearing it about the trauma healing element of that and the work that you want to do there. And it’s beautiful and it’s important. And for our listeners, Paska, who don’t know too much about South Sudan, maybe they’re not too familiar about it. Could you tell us about South Sudan, maybe some of the history of South Sudan, or what South Sudan is known for?

What is South Sudan like?

[00:15:45] Paska Atim John: Okay. What South is known for: I’m glad how you put it there. South Sudan is a country that was one called Sudan We had one country. Before South Sudan and Sudan separated, we were all one country. And then because of so many, like, conflict and the segregation and so many issues that came between inside this country.

So we decided to divide between South Sudan and Sudan. I know it for someone who’s, who doesn’t know completely about South Sudan. In South Sudan, I can describe it on the people, how we look like. So in South Sudan [00:16:30] we are a little bit more darker in color and we are tall. And most of us are not like huge in the like body. We are little like slim, slim and top. If you maybe seen online the most famous models in the world are South Sudanese. Cause they’re slim tall, and the skin is really beautiful and soft. South Sudan borders I think nine countries. It borders Kenya, borders Uganda, borders Sudan… I think also Ethiopia chart.

Yeah. I forgot a bit. But yeah. It borders all these countries. It’s a little bit in the middle and it’s a very big country. It’s big, but it has less people because of the war. Yeah.

How to get in touch with Paska

[00:17:24] Lily Allen-Duenas: So I know that some of our listeners might wanna get in touch with you, might have a question, might wanna follow up on something about yoga in South Sudan.

And so it’s beautiful that you’re the only yoga teacher. In South Sudan so far. So definitely you’d be the yoga teacher they’d wanna learn about and connect to. So I’m gonna link to your Facebook and Instagram in the show notes as well as on my website, wildyogatribe.com/yogainSouthSudan. But right here on the podcast. Would you tell us about where people can reach you?

[00:17:53] Paska Atim John: Yeah, so the same as you mentioned; you can reach me on Facebook and Instagram. On Facebook. My [00:18:00] name is Paska Atim in South Sudan. Yeah, so under, so it’s still the same name, Paska Atim but on Instagram it has that underscore. Yes. So that’s it.

Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast Outro

[00:18:11] Lily Allen-Duenas: Perfect. Thank you so much, Paska. It has been a joy to be with you today and I’ve really enjoyed our time together, and I’m so appreciative also for all the amazing work you’re doing for South Sudan. So thank you so much for being with me. 

[00:18:25] Paska Atim John: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. 

[00:18:29] Lily Allen-Duenas: Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast. My conversation with Paska Atim John, a yoga teacher from South Sudan was wonderful. As we discussed how true yoga is not about the shape of one’s body, but about the shape of one’s life. I hope that this conversation shed light on how important it is to create inclusive spaces for communities to come together and unite, and how yoga can be a driving force of transformational power for collective collaboration and a way to lead personal and communal growth.

If you’re looking to tune into a podcast episode that’s all about yoga in South Sudan from the only yoga teacher in South Sudan, then this is the conversation for you. Thank you for listening to the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast. Be well.

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