UAE opens two hospitals in Somaliland
Jessamyn Stanley needs you to know what yoga is really about - and it's not the poses. In her new book Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance, the yoga instructor and body activist shares reflective personal essays that touch upon everything from racism to the cultural appropriation of American yoga, from consumerism to cannabis. And while the timing couldn't be better considering the current cultural climate, the idea for the book came to her years ago while she was writing her first book, Every Body Yoga, a guide to developing a yoga practice. "I realized yoga is a lot more than postures," she tells PEOPLE. "The postures get to be more complicated, not because you're practicing harder gymnastics or physical postures, but because you're practicing emotional and mental and really spiritual postures." In fact, she says, yoga is not supposed to feel good. Take the example of someone expecting a Zen-like experience from a yoga practice - only to be disappointed. "You're like, 'This is hard. Everyone else seems to know what they're doing. I am not good enough, I shouldn't be doing this, maybe my body is supposed to look different, maybe my life's supposed to be different.' All these feelings start to come up. That's what the postures are leading you towards, is to have that experience." RELATED: Jessamyn Stanley Found Body Acceptance Through Yoga and Can Help You Do the Same Stanley has been nurturing this self-awareness in the nearly 10 years since she has been breaking barriers in the yoga world, tackling topics like fat-shaming, her queer Black identity and unattainable beauty standards. In Yoke - which means yoga in Sanskrit - she uses her own life as a a metaphor to further explore the coming together of mind and body, light and the dark, good and the bad - both on and off the mat. "I wanted to reflect on what it is to practice yoga when we are as a society being forced to reckon with the long, deep, systemic, down-to-the-bone problems. We're being forced to look at things that we've never wanted to look at. And that's all that yoga is, is looking at the things that you don't want to look at. And ultimately, come hell or high water, accepting them." Story continues Workman Publishing
A delegation from the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation has opened two hospitals in Somaliland as part of its humanitarian action to improve underprivileged people’s living conditions.
The first, is the "Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital," in the city of Berbera, northwestern Somalia, and the second, is a specialised hospital for women, childbirth and neonatal care, in the city of Burao, the second largest city in Somaliland.
The gesture - implemented by the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation - is part of the UAE's humanitarian initiatives to alleviate the suffering of underprivileged people, especially given the challenges facing the health sector in Somaliland, and in light of the worsening health conditions the world is witnessing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hospital in Berbera was inaugurated by Abdirahman Saylici, Vice President of Somaliland; and Omar Ali Abdillahi, Minister of Health of Somaliland, in the presence of a number of senior officials from both sides.
Saylici praised the distinguished relations that bind his country with the UAE, and expressed his appreciation for the humanitarian and developmental assistance provided by the UAE government to Somaliland.
He also thanked the Khalifa Foundation for its charitable initiatives in the country, noting that "thousands of families in Burao and Berbera will receive excellent health care thanks to this Emirati donation."
The Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital has a capacity of 40-beds, with a total area spanning 1,351 square metres. It includes a reception office, an operating room, eight patient rooms, six clinics, including a dental clinic and three critical care rooms, as well as an emergency room.
The hospital was also equipped with modern medical devices, and a backup generator.
The second hospital, which also has a 40-bed capacity, was inaugurated by the UAE delegation and the Somaliland Minister of Health.
The Health Minister thanked the UAE leadership for funding the project, saying that it will significantly improve the health care being provided to women and newborn babies.
The hospital covers a total area of 1,351 square metres, and features an operating room, eight patient rooms, six clinics, including a dental clinic, three intensive care rooms, and three emergency rooms. The hospital also hopes to reduce the rate of neonatal and maternal mortality.
Jessamyn Stanley needs you to know what yoga is really about - and it's not the poses. In her new book Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance, the yoga instructor and body activist shares reflective personal essays that touch upon everything from racism to the cultural appropriation of American yoga, from consumerism to cannabis. And while the timing couldn't be better considering the current cultural climate, the idea for the book came to her years ago while she was writing her first book, Every Body Yoga, a guide to developing a yoga practice. "I realized yoga is a lot more than postures," she tells PEOPLE. "The postures get to be more complicated, not because you're practicing harder gymnastics or physical postures, but because you're practicing emotional and mental and really spiritual postures." In fact, she says, yoga is not supposed to feel good. Take the example of someone expecting a Zen-like experience from a yoga practice - only to be disappointed. "You're like, 'This is hard. Everyone else seems to know what they're doing. I am not good enough, I shouldn't be doing this, maybe my body is supposed to look different, maybe my life's supposed to be different.' All these feelings start to come up. That's what the postures are leading you towards, is to have that experience." RELATED: Jessamyn Stanley Found Body Acceptance Through Yoga and Can Help You Do the Same Stanley has been nurturing this self-awareness in the nearly 10 years since she has been breaking barriers in the yoga world, tackling topics like fat-shaming, her queer Black identity and unattainable beauty standards. In Yoke - which means yoga in Sanskrit - she uses her own life as a a metaphor to further explore the coming together of mind and body, light and the dark, good and the bad - both on and off the mat. "I wanted to reflect on what it is to practice yoga when we are as a society being forced to reckon with the long, deep, systemic, down-to-the-bone problems. We're being forced to look at things that we've never wanted to look at. And that's all that yoga is, is looking at the things that you don't want to look at. And ultimately, come hell or high water, accepting them." Story continues Workman Publishing