Indian toughest woman are given yoga and meditation lessons

United nations first peacekeeping group all woman125 member team fromIndia are being trained to help strife-torn Liberia, a west African nation rebuilding after nearly a quarter-century of conflict.

"The situation in Liberia is extremely volatile, but we believe our experience in handling difficult situations in India will come in handy," said Seema Dhundia, the 39-year-old unit commandant, .

India has been a major contributor to U.N. peacekeeping missions for decades, and has sent women as part of earlier contingents. But Indian officials felt it was time for a woman-only unit, picking candidates from the country's paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force. The unit expects to deploy to Liberia by mid-October.

125 member team are now in an intensive six-week training program, working under veterans of earlier peacekeeping operations. "Given the situation on the ground in Liberia, our training includes civil disorder management, handling crowds, the levels of force to be employed and use of non-lethal and lethal weapons," said Poonam Gupta, a 10-year veteran of the Central Reserve Police Force.

They are also being given lessons in yoga and meditation to deal with theStress they will face, said Dhundia.