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Truth be told, the art of yoga never interested me at first. Basketball, volleyball and hockey were right up my alley but yoga …it looked like a bunch of girls breathing on a mat and doing silly poses.
When my friends asked me to join their class, I scoffed at the idea and told them: 'This is another mumbo-jumbo exercise fad and you guys are simply imitating celebrities.'
Nonetheless, I showed willing and attended one class. It lasted a mere 10 minutes before I burst out laughing at the hippie-like instructor. She was too intense and every time she let out a loud ‘om’ and started breathing heavily, I’d crack up and look at my friend who was also stifling a laugh.
One gym-goer seated on a mat across from me started to ‘shush’ us and another darted dirty looks in our direction. Then the instructor directed us to close our eyes and picture ourselves as birds soaring through the sky followed by a thunderous ‘om’. It was then that I rolled up my mat and walked out while the ladies continued a downward dog pose.
I had decided then and there that yoga, the ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice was not for me.
However, now I’m older, wiser and stressed out on occasions. Fifteen years on, it felt like the right time to give it another go.
Where better to kick off my new sense of zen than by attending a yoga tea party at the Pure Yoga studio in Hamala?
The day started with a group of girls chatting away as they nibbled on finger food and sipped herbal tea, energising juices and refreshing H2O. More than 15 yogis, members of the media and invitees attended the function.
Soulful music serenaded the guests as the studio’s yoga instructor Banu Malek mingled with other yogis from different centres.
According to Banu, a mother-of-two who has been teaching for the past three years, this ‘meet-and-greet’ event served as an opportunity to bring like-minded people together under one roof.
She said: 'In Bahrain we don’t really have an official yoga community get-together. That’s why we thought this open house would be great as we can all get together, no rivalry, and share the spirit of yoga. Also, it’s a great way to spread the light and share experiences because everyone has a beautiful story about how they got into it.
'For example, I spent four months training in the Himalayas. It was an incredible life-changing experience having learned yoga from my mum who has been practicing it for 30 years. She was taught the technique by her mother.'
After sharing my darkest early yoga experience with her, she smiled and calmly described the benefits of yoga, explaining that you didn’t have to ‘get it’ the first time. It is so much more than simply a stretch and flexibility exercise.
'You increase your stamina 10 times more than when you do cardio, cross fit or anything,' she claimed. 'Breathing is the central access of yoga - it’s the heart and soul of it. You don’t feel like you are working out. You don’t get tired, you don’t get exhausted and you are not just working your external body but your mind as well.
'You calm down because the relation between the breath and body work is so phenomenal that you don’t even realise after a few months of doing yoga how good, calm and composed you will feel. You will even work muscles that you thought you never had. It is really the true sport you need.'
I joined the group trying out a yoga called vinyasa with an open mind.
In vinsaya, partakers coordinate movement with breath to flow from one pose to the next. 'Vinyasa yoga is a breath synchronise sequence where you flow from one posture to another in sync with your breath,' explained Banu.
'It keeps your body and hormones in balance. In my opinion, if you practice yoga three to four months regularly every single hormone in your body will be balanced and regulated from digestion issues to thyroid problems.'
Banu gracefully lead the class from one pose into the next with ease. Those watching it probably thought it was an easy feat but my muscles beg to differ.
We performed the dancer pose which required strength, flexibility, balance and breathing. You balance on one leg, lift your back leg, stretch it out and grab it with one arm while stretching out the other.
We also practiced a few warrior poses and sun salutations. I barely could lift my leg off the ground at one point. Not surprisingly, my favourite position was the fetal one in which you lay on your knees, drop your head to the floor and rest your arms and legs to the side. I rocked in that fetal position.
By the end of the 30-minute class I had broken into a sweat. The message from the session was to check our fitness levels and to become more aware of our bodies.
It truly was an eye-opener and from now on I will never say that yoga is an easy exercise option.
My body and mind will not let me forget it.
