Welcome to Episode #81 of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast! My conversation with Nathalie Bittar, a yoga teacher and the first yoga studio owner from Sudan, was enthralling as we took a deep dive into yoga as a complementary practice, not a competitive practice to religion. I hope that this conversation expanded your perception of how yoga can be a space for community, trust, and safety and how yoga can help you individually, and a community as a whole, shed defenses, shed armor, and help trauma to move through. If you’re looking to tune into a podcast episode that is all about yoga in Sudan then this is the conversation for you. Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/wildyogatribe Tell me more about Nathalie Bittar  Nathalie Bittar opened the first yoga studio in the capital city of Khartoum in Sudan in 2008, named Blue Nile Lotus. She is trained in Vinyasa Yoga, Tibetan Heart Yoga, Anusara yoga and Jivamurkti yoga and more. With over 1,000 hours of training, she can’t get enough yoga. Nathalie also leads yoga teacher trainings in Sudan, and leads yoga retreats worldwide. She is also a psychotherapist in Core Process Psychotherapy. For the skimmers - What’s in the yoga in Sudan episode? Experiencing 9/11 first-hand and coming to yoga at that time in her life Shedding defenses, armor, and trauma through yoga The political unrest in Sudan and how yoga helps the Sudanese heal and move through trauma How and why yoga resonates with the Sudanese Advice for the next generation of yoga retreat leaders What to expect in the Yoga In Sudan episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast Nathalie was working and living in New York City when 9/11 happened. In fact, she worked in the towers. Not the ones that fell— the one across the street. She had just begun practicing yoga that same year, and kept going to practice throughout that time of enormous trauma and turmoil. Yet, as the practice healed her, it still felt like a mystery. That led Nathalie to do her first yoga teacher training, and she decided to move back to Sudan to open the first yoga studio in her country in 2008. We talked about what it was like for her to open the first yoga studio in Sudan, and if there was any pushback. She expressed fears about the police shutting it down or disturbing the classes, but fortunately, that never happened. We also talked about what a difficult time it has been in the last few years for Sudan, with overthrowing the government in April 2019 and just over 2 years later a military coup taking place in October 2021. Nathalie shared with us how has yoga helped her community during this time of turmoil. As Nathalie leads yoga retreats not just in Sudan, but worldwide, we also delved into what advice she has to offer to yoga teachers who are one day hoping of leading yoga retreats themselves. As Nathalie conveyed, always have a plan and always have an eraser!  This was a beautiful conversation about trauma, safety, trust, shedding defenses, and how healing can happen on and off the mat, in and outside of the studio, all with, through, and by… yoga! Curious? Tune into the whole episode on Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast and learn more about yoga in Sudan! Connect with Nathalie Bittar bluenilelotus.com https://www.instagram.com/bluenilelotus https://www.facebook.com/bluenilelotus To contact Nathalie directly: bluenilelotusyoga@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/bluenilelotus The company she previously worked with is kaylolife.com, CEO Natalie Munk Want more? Head on over to my website  https://wildyogatribe.com/thepodcast/ Everything you need is just one click away! Check out all the resources here: https://linktr.ee/wildyogatribe