ERBIL – A mosque in Kurdistan Region’s Halabja governorate is offering exercise sessions to people after morning prayer, helping them to stretch for the day ahead.

“Personally, the practice has reduced the pain from my chronic diseases,” Sarkawt Nuri, one of the participants, told Kurdistan 24.

Nuri hopes the sessions would continue because the trainer provides people suffering from chronic health conditions with training tips and even activities to do at home.

“All the participants continue to request that the instructor carry on with his sessions after the morning prayer,” he said.

The trainer, Dara Mahmood, said the exercises are available to anyone who is interested.

“The exercise sessions start after the morning prayer at the mosque and last for 45 minutes twice a week,” Mahmood stated.

“The participants are 13 to 75 years of age and are given different coaching tips according to their health conditions.”

A similar initiative started in 2017 in Dumlupinar, of Kütahya Province, Turkey.

The program, dubbed “Five Sets of Prayer, One Set of Exercise,” was launched by students who help elderly men stay fit with daily exercise sessions after their daily prayers.