OUR MISSION.
“Boxing helps me, not only when I’m inside that room, but to have more courage in other situations. That’s why I really need it”
— Nadifa (Boxing Sister)
GUARDING THE BODY
It is common, after suffering a traumatic experience (sexual, physical, emotional, etc) to feel lost in one’s own body. To feel as if the body is no longer your own. Healing from sexual and physical violence and trauma often entails restoring a sense of self and relieving feelings of helplessness.
Since the nervous system is in a hypersensitive state following a traumatic experience, survivors may start trying to numb themselves or avoid any associations with the trauma. But it is almost impossible to selectively numb one’s feelings. When the person shuts down the unpleasant sensations, they also shut down their self-awareness and capacity for joy. They end up disconnected both emotionally and physically existing, but not fully living. Trauma is linked to body dissociation, or a break in how the mind handles information. Dissociation signs include:
Feeling physically shut down: Having trouble feeling bodily sensations and differentiating between pleasure and pain.
Feeling separate from the body or surroundings: One may feel like they’re watching themselves or the situation they are in, rather than participating in it.
Having trouble concentrating and remembering things.
Feeling detached from the world, the people around, and the activities one used to enjoy.
Feelings of helplessness: This is an absolute pre-condition for trauma. Where often times survivors feel silenced.
It is often frightening to get back in touch with one’s body and feelings following a traumatic experience. In many ways, trauma makes the body the enemy, something that has been violated and contaminated. Boxing is an important catalyst for getting in touch with one’s body through building physical strength, enhancing coordination, boosting confidence and reclaiming the body.
BOXING & EMPOWERMENT
Many studies have proven the immensely positive effect boxing has on confidence and esteem. Boxing offers a myriad of vital physical and emotional benefits that can be especially significant for women and girls who have experienced trauma in the form of sexual assault, war experience, domestic violence, or any other form of life-altering situations. Above and beyond the physiological strength gained from the training, women can also use boxing as an outlet for anger and stress, a way to increase their self-confidence, as well as regain connection within their own bodies.
Women empowerment is also established through a framework of skills and knowledge transferred to local mentors, who ultimately take charge in continuing training other members of the community. This ensures the long-term sustainability of the project. Boxing is ideal as few facilities are required. Currently, while some charities on the ground offer support, none are providing sports opportunities.
GUARDING THE MIND
Refers to mental health conditions that usually affect, mood, decision making, thinking ability and emotions of an individual especially when they have been through intense trauma and taking control over how the emotions and feelings affects their behaviour. People face concerns of mental health but struggle to know how to face these difficulties for a positive outcome. In order to identify this particular concern, one needs to understand the negative effects whether it be depression, anxiety, anger, social exclusion, or lack of confidence and self-esteem. Mental illness can act as a barrier in functioning well on a daily basis. However, mental illness can vary in comparison to the disorder, circumstances and the factors that eventually change the behavioural activities, human emotions and the intellectual ideas of a human being. That is why it is important to consider each individual as unique, and create a mental health plan based on this, each woman should have their own plan as well as group plans to work together towards to help reclaim their mental health.
Signs of mental illness:
Feeling sad
Unable to concentrate
Fearful and guilt feeling
Mood swings (low and high)
No social life (interaction)
Insomnia and low energy
Unable to cope up with stress
Alcohol and drug abuse
Eating disorder
Aggressive or hostile
Suicidal thoughts
One of the other metal health issues faced by women who have experienced trauma is PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is a mental condition that occurs when an individual has experienced or witnessed any terrifying incident. Some of the symptoms include nightmares, flashbacks about the events, severe anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts about the incident. If the condition isn’t addressed, it will worsen with time and lengthen into months and years. Healing from sexual and physical violence and trauma often entails restoring a sense of self and relieving feelings of helplessness. The best form of therapy for PTSD is talking therapy and to be given coping mechanisms. A team at the University of Canberra found that combat sports impacts cortisol production, noting that regulation of the hormone is typically impeded in those with PTSD, resulting in exaggerated and unnecessary reactions to stimuli.
Boxing is an life skill/tool, which would help with reclaiming the mind as it helps improve self-confidence, esteem and worth alongside being a powerful empowering exercise. Once an individual has released their emotions linked to trauma, through boxing, it is a natural occurrence that they can begin to feel strong enough to talk about past events and therefore open a path of talking therapy and healing.
MIND PLAN
Run one on one sessions, which help individuals create their own mind plan using CBT/NLP techniques.
Group sessions which would include mental exercises that can be used to help when needed. Printed material will be given on mind exercises, so that individuals can benefit in the long term.
Create awareness material for a variety of educational topics; e.g. an informative book about sexual assault awareness, body-related topics, nutrition, etc. that can be tailored to a specific audience.
Create well-being journals: structured journaling, provides a private space for mental purging so one can move beyond the past and build a purposeful, rock-solid future. Pen and paper work well for most and research shows that writing by hand calms the mind whilst improving memory and creativity. Journals can be developed with guided questions and added as a daily habit and companion to the boxing training component.
MINDFULNESS MEDITATION WORKSHOP
The concept of mindful meditation, as a skill to practice and hone daily, has become this decade’s cure-all and for good reason – it works! The beauty of this is that it can be practiced anywhere, even whilst walking or eating. The practice involves focusing on one’s feelings in the present moment — including any bodily sensations and emotions. The goal is to observe without judgement. Mindful meditation coupled with breathwork can actively contribute in regulating the fear centres in the brain and thereby lowering the hyperactivity of the nervous system.
Powerful mindful meditation skill set can be introduced in a workshop format where the basic practices and subsequent benefits can be explained to the participants. Adding this practice to the boxing training could unleash new potentials for participants and boost the overall benefits of stand-alone boxing training. Example of the skills that can be covered during the workshop include:
Awareness: One skill of mindful meditation is learning how to focus the attention on one thing at a time. This includes being aware of and being able to, recognise all that is going in one’s surroundings (for example, sights and sounds), as well as all that is going on internally (for example, thoughts and feelings). By developing a sharpened awareness of the internal mindset, whilst at the same time sensing what is going on around us, we can thereby help to increase the boxer’s overall skillset, both during a sparring session and also generally
Non-judgmental Observation: This skill is focused on looking at one’s experiences in a non-judgmental way. That is, simply looking at things in an objective way as opposed to labelling them as either "good" or "bad". An important part of this skill is self-compassion.
Being Present in the Moment: Part of mindfulness is being in touch with the present moment as opposed to being caught up in thoughts about the past (also called rumination, especially about traumatic experiences) or the future (or worry). An aspect of this skill is being an active participant in experiences instead of just "going through the motions" or "being stuck on auto-pilot", which are very common states of mind for trauma survivors.
“After every class, I’m more mentally relaxed, because I got this anger and depression out, from inside me. Boxing helps me to be strong”
— Hussna (Boxing Sister)
