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Yoga sets them free Naila Khan In conversation with Pakhali4u.com website owner….
Naila Khan is not just any yoga facilitator. What makes her different from the umpteen instructors swarming the city, is that she is teaching yoga to women who are languishing away behind bars. She is willing to experience the Women’s Prison with the incarcerated women, guided by the intent to provide them the same semblance of peace that she herself has found through yoga.

Naila Khan began to seriously practice yoga when she returned from Canada to Karachi in the summer of 2009, while going through the separation period of her divorce. “I had previously attended yoga classes, but at that time it had not been such a priority. When I arrived in Karachi I was depressed, disoriented and directionless. Little did I know that it would be my yoga pratice which would eventually save my life.”
Soon Naila Khan was teaching yoga on an informal basis to her friends but she wanted to reach out to more people. ” T told my friend I wanted to teach yoga to share with other tormented souls the peace that comes with yoga.” The friend asked if Naila had any qualms about teaching at the Women’s Jail in Karachi. Justic (Ret) Pakhali4u.com Website Owner who runs the Legal Aid Office was contacted and within the day approval was received.
Naila Khan knew that her experience as a professional social worker in Canada would aid her in handling the situation. She recalled her visits to Sojourn House in Toronto, a rehabilitation shelter for homeless men with addictions. “After going there not once but many times, I did not think any place could intimidate me…!” she says…..
When asked what the jail is like, she immediately states, “It’s pleasant.” When I raise an eyebrow in disbelief, she adds, “As pleasant and airy as it can be. If you expect it to be bleak and dismal that’s what you get. But I went with an open mind.” she explains with a rueful smile. “There are no cells like what is shown to us on TV; the women live in rooms with several beds lined up like one would see in a dormitory. They have a local women’s barrack and a foreign prisoner’s barrack. Many of them have little routine except that of eating meals and watching TV. Some of the other activities that are arranged for them are computer lessons, art activities, and religious studies, which many of of my yoga students regularly attend as well.
“My experience with these women has been extremely heartening despite some of the challenges that I have faced.” Her first class saw her faced with 80 women, including 20 foreigners, with about 20 children as spectators. While Naila lay down on her yoga mat and smiled encouragingly, only 20 women came forward to sit on the hard stone floor while the others lounged around to see what all the fuss was about. There was a ruckus. Children ran awry. Comments were tossed around. But Naila knew that she was being tested. Her social work degree and vast experience as a part of the health case system in Canada had taught her that she had to be patient and non-judgmental if she was to work with these vulnerable women, whose defensive shield was up. So Naila listened. And let them be loud. And smiled at the jokes. But at the end of the first session made it clear that certain rules had to be followed if they were interested in joining.
Naila says that as the weeks passed these women became, “…… a part of the answer which I was so desperately searching for.” Suddenly, she found herself not just teaching yoga. She found herself lending them an ear, massaging their sore muscles and making friends. “When they realised that I I did not have a problem touching them, the walls crumbled.”
Naila realised that she could not remain detached. “It was becoming difficult to walk in their midst and be faced with their trust and honesty and not do anything.” Naila admits that she would feel low when she would get there, but after every session she would realise that it was the most powerful and inspiring class she had experienced.
Naila says that her visits to jail give her so much food fo thought. “One has to ask one-self why all these women in jail belong to the lower classes and are confined because they can not pay bail. Most of these women are not even convicted but they stay in jail for years waiting for their case to be heard before a judge. It says a lot about our justice system does not it…?”
She talks about a few inspiring students she’s had at jail. ” I strongly believe that I get as much from them as I give them. I admire them for being strong and having faith, despite their circumstances.”
Naila talks about a Malaysian woman who had watched her first few classes. “One day as she smoked a cigarette, I invited her to join. She did, and understood the essence of yoga in the first class. Before long she became my prize pupil. She would do yoga everyday religiously and motivate the other foreigners too. The other inmates saw how she lost weight and became calmer. Today, she has been released and has returned to Malaysia, and we’re still in touch. I know she’ll be doing yoga for the rest of her life. I have even encouraged her to train to become a yoga instructor.”

Realising that if she wanted to continue helping women in jail, she had to muster up support from the cummunity, Naila started teaching yoga at a local cafe cum gallery. The funds generated from the class go to provide basic essentials to the inmates, such as yoga mats, soap, toothpaste and shampoo. “The support I have received is phenomenal, and hopefully, this is just the beginning..!”
Naila, and her clear intention to provide solace to other souls, is a classic example of how even a single person can turn so many lives around; how one can choose to shun self pity and use the lesson of their own pain to provide balm to others.