Sanctuary-making through the body: A community-based model for healing and resistance

By Fiore Bran-Aragón and Alejandra Cruz-Blanco| Issue 27

Photo by Global Refuge, in partnership with Kula Yoga ABQ: one of our yoga sessions for refugee women

In times of displacement and exclusion, the body can become a site of struggle and liberation. This essay explores a trauma-informed and decolonial approach to yoga for BIPOC immigrants and refugees as an act of sanctuary-making. Rooted in our experiences as immigrant yoga teachers, we co-founded Kula Yoga ABQ in 2022 as a collective offering accessible yoga and meditation in the US Southwest. 

We understand sanctuary-making as both a metaphor and a movement practice – one that honours the right to choose movement/migrating or stillness/staying and recognises the body as a sacred site for sovereignty. In this way, sanctuary-making becomes a radical act of reclaiming what dominant narratives seek to erase: an immigrant’s humanity and power. Through three interrelated practices – appropriating spaces, mindful body movement, and community-building – we strive to offer practices that centre BIPOC immigrants not as passive recipients of care, but as active co-creators and healers.

Our approach: Reclaiming the sacred

Today, dominant political and media narratives often reduce immigrants and refugees to criminalised, racialised, faceless others. We are framed as “homo sacer” (Agamben, 1998), a person who exists in a state of exception – stripped of rights, and expendable. We reframe this designation by reclaiming the word “sacer”– the sacred. Instead of viewing our bodies through the lens of exclusion and disposability, we reframe them as sovereign. We believe in our right to rest, move, and resist.

Informed by the practice of a trauma-sensitive and decolonial approach, we view yoga not as a commercialised fitness trend, but as an ancestral way of living for liberation today. We draw inspiration from the words of Akomolafe: ‘the times are urgent; let us slow down’. Through slowing down, we reconnect with the breath, our bodies, and with one another. In that stillness, we co-create sanctuary to heal from the trauma of forced migration. 

Spaces as sanctuary

Creating sanctuary begins with challenging dominant ideas about where yoga should happen, and for whom. Many Western yoga studios are inaccessible to BIPOC and immigrant communities. They are often expensive, physically and culturally exclusive, and uphold ideals rooted in fatphobia and visual perfectionism. Some of our students told us they felt out of place, afraid they didn’t “look like” someone who practises yoga.

So, we moved with the community. Our offerings are held in community centres, parks, prisons, and online settings. We strip away mirrors and rigid instructions, and instead offer props, chairs, and variations. There is no pressure to perform or imitate. We also emphasise consent and safety: exits are marked and visible, water and gender-neutral bathrooms are prioritised, and tools like music and essential oils are used only with group agreement. Our classes often include trauma-informed teaching materials – cards, pillows, drawings – that the students can take with them to continue their practice at home.

This approach allows us to bring yoga to unexpected places and engage diverse students. Whether someone comes for physical wellness, emotional healing, or simply to be in community, they are welcomed with care and dignity. Their yoga is beautiful because it is theirs.

Bodies as sanctuary

Beyond the physical space, sanctuary-making is also about the practice itself. We invite students to engage with their bodies as wise teachers. Our language is invitational. Participants are reminded that they can adapt or skip any practice that doesn’t feel right. We encourage them to listen to their breath, their bodies, to their needs today – and to accept that those needs may evolve. Because of this focus on listening to the body, and due to trauma considerations, we do not offer physical assistance. 

Since many of our students are English learners, we demonstrate physical cues and keep our instructions simple and visual. We often teach in multilingual formats, incorporating Spanish and Sanskrit to honour both the linguistic roots of yoga and the languages spoken by our communities. This creates a sense of cultural belonging, and curiosity about the cultures in the room.

Through this gentle, inclusive approach, we’ve seen participants surprise themselves. Many who initially doubted their ability to engage in yoga began to learn postures and breathing techniques they now practice at home, or simply familiarised themselves with a sensation of rest long gone. We do not teach one right way to do yoga. Instead, we invite people to explore what healing looks and feels like for them.

Sanctuary in community

Since 2022, we have offered classes to more than 120 people from over 20 countries. Our collective has collaborated with nonprofits, churches, schools, and advocates. Despite financial constraints, our work has been sustained by the generosity of allies and our communities. 

In 2024, we conducted a survey with 15 refugee women participants in our programme to understand how yoga served as a complimentary practice for trauma recovery and mental health (Turner 2020, Flynn 2024). We learned that 80% strongly agreed that their energy level has improved because of yoga, 60% said their sense of wellbeing and sleep routine improved, and 80% agreed that they are happier after yoga. For some, the most relevant part of practice was coming together in community to play, rest, and spend time outdoors, breaking the isolation that characterises the refugee experience.

These experiences led us to understand that spaces like Kula are not a luxury, but a necessity.  Our communities cannot thrive, and advocate for justice and rights while exhausted and disconnected. We must encourage our institutions, policymakers, and allies to promote initiatives that facilitate safety, trauma-informed care, and conditions for collective care and thriving. This is what we look to achieve at Kula with sanctuary-making through yoga: it is about reclaiming the sacred within us and with each other to build movements rooted in embodiment, consent, and care for liberation.

We share our story not as a conclusion, but as an invitation. May these words inspire you to create sanctuary in your own context – in a living room, a classroom, or a garden. Wherever you are, you can help co-create a sanctuary today.

Learn about us at https://www.kulayogaabq.com/ 

Fiore Bran-Aragón

Fiore (she/ella), M.A, Registered Yoga Teacher, is an educator, advocate and trauma-informed yoga practitioner. She is the co-founder and co-director of Kula Yoga ABQ and works as an immigration advisor for international university students and scholars. Her research interest focuses on policies and practices for refugee integration, health and wellbeing in the USA southern border and Central America.

Alejandra Cruz Blanco 

Alejandra (she/ella), Registered Yoga Teacher, is a cultural worker, mindfulness instructor, and trauma-informed yoga practitioner. Co-founder and co-director of Kula Yoga ABQ. She is interested in making yoga and mindfulness accessible for BIPOC, immigrants and refugees historically excluded from yoga and wellness spaces.