A 30 minute Breath, Body, Mind technique workshop. Developing a trauma prevention toolkit with OURMALA.

OURMALA has specialised in delivering yoga classes for people seeking international protection in the UK, such as refugees and survivors of torture, trafficking and modern day slavery since 2011.

Stacey Adams

Stacey Adams has worked for more than twenty years at a senior level in international development, health and education across sectors including government, health, academic and not-for-profit. She has led and managed strategic and organisational change; fundraising, communications and stakeholder engagement; and commissioned research to evidence impact. Organisations she has worked for include BBC, Unicef and the NHS regulatory body.

Most recently, Stacey worked as Chief Executive of Raleigh International for 13 years until leaving at the beginning of 2020 to complete her training to be a psychotherapist.  

Areas of focus have included working with academics and research institutes building the evidence base of effective interventions for behaviour change in public health; working with practitioners and professionals to get evidence into practice to reduce health inequalities; and understanding interventions that improve social mobility and improve inclusion. Stacey is also a yoga practitioner and has lived experience of the deep and far-reaching benefits of yoga.

Francesca Grandi

Francesca has many years of experience working and volunteering with refugees and homeless people around the world including the former Yugoslavia, Lebanon, the USA and the UK. She has been practicing yoga for fifteen years and in 2017 spent six months teaching yoga in a refugee camp in Lebanon. Francesca joined OURMALA’s team in 2019.

In addition to her yoga practice and teaching, Francesca is a conflict expert having worked in international protection, humanitarianism and development. She has taught graduate and post-graduate courses, researched dignity in displacement and interviewed refugees and humanitarian workers and supported conflict reconciliation processes in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.