‘Gravity release me, and never hold me down. Now my feet won’t touch the ground’ (LIFE IN TECHNICOLOR II)

Those close to me will know that my car and iTunes only rotate Coldplay (and occasional Radiohead / Padi ) CDs and those who have visited BE Yoga‘s website would have noticed I intentionally used Coldplay’s lyrics to introduce my beloved yoga teachers.

With MTV World Stage (Astro Channel 713) premiering Coldplay’s VIVA LA VIDA: Tokyo tour this week, it refreshes me of my day trip to Singapore in March this year solely to attend VIVA LA VIDA: Singapore.

During VIVA LA VIDA: Singapore, my jaw dropped when I witnessed Chris Martin dropped back to Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow pose) from standing! Only if you practice yoga, you will understand how preposterous this stunt can be unless you have perfect balance of lowest two chakras (feet and hips) strength, open back flexibility and of course, balance.

So I was looking forward to see the same pose from him as I immensely enjoyed MTV World Stage – Coldplay: Tokyo. To my surprise, he didn’t drop back in Tokyo (or I could have missed it / maybe he did but the clip was just for an hour) but – to my very eyes, I caught him rolling back to Chakrasana (Rolling Wheel posture) in between the finishing of Viva La Vida and to start Lost! Only if you practice yoga Ashtanga, you will have an idea how almost impossible it is to perform this Chakrasana vinyasa gracefully let alone onstage with concert costume and in front of twenty thousand people.

I know Gywneth practices yoga since she used to be bestie with Third Series Ashtanga practitioner, Madonna so I googled Chris Martin and yoga. And found out, Chris Martin not only does practice yoga (I have had enough of “I do yoga but the my last class was three years ago and I was doing it like once a month for a couple of months”, right..) but he practices Ashtanga at least an hour everyday for the past five years, a vegetarian (and vegansexual!) and for the world’s biggest if not coolest rockstar, HE DOES NOT DRINK ALCOHOL AND COFFEE EITHER!

Among my favourite online findings of Chris Martin and yoga is this article whose first paragraph ends with “.. but Coldplay’s Chris Martin is too nice.”

(FIONA) APPLE Hi, Chris. God, I’m depressed. I’m at the top of all these critics’ best-of-2005 lists. If only those old creeps bought records.

(CHRIS) MARTIN I wish I could be so fucking depressed! Maybe my lyrics would improve. Just turn that frown upside down, Fiona. Don’t you know Apples are my favorite fruit?

APPLE Hey, you stepped on my granny-apple-doll wood-carvings!

MARTIN Have you ever tried piyoga for that bad attitude?

APPLE I hate you.

I stand by my review of X/Y last year: The trouble with Coldplay is that, despite the calming, balanced, almost Enya-esque beauty of their music, they’re so denuded of danger, risk, grit, rebellion, and sexuality (apart from Martin’s ADD-style hip-thrusts behind his piano) that they threaten to become the musical equivalent of St. John’s wort.

So what is at play with Coldplay? What drives the music, the vision, and, oh, those much-maligned words?

I believe it’s yoga, and Martin’s ashtanga teacher Anthony Carlisi can confirm. Shortly after Coldplay’s Shoreline date, I tracked down Carlisi via e-mail and asked him if he believed the practice leads to good music and, really, decent rock ‘n’ roll — which most would probably associate with unhealthy and downright antisocial antics like rolling around in broken glass and doing lines of coke off speaker cabinets.

He replied: “Absolutely !!!!!!!!!!! (sic) In fact I just saw Chris in Phoenix before the concert there. He has been practicing now for several years. I visit and teach him and Gwyneth when I am in London. He was telling me that he loves how it has enhanced everything he does. His energy was electric at the concert…………….Great Show!!!!!!!!!!!!”

See? It’s not rock, after all, but yoga. All of which probably explains Martin’s greatest feat at the Oakland appearance: bending over backward while playing keyboards and touching the ground with the top of his noggin. Brings a whole new meaning to the lyric ‘rush of blood to the head.’

I don’t need to look elsewhere for a yoga rockstar inspiration when I can find one in form of Brit rockGod with yoga master’s mind and words (it doesn’t hurt that he definitely has a yoga body too).

I am praying with my fingers and lotus feet crossed to be able to live long enough to witness Coldplay live in more concerts, continue seeing lights / hearing enlightenments in their future albums (“Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, I will try to fix you”) and hopefully practice with Chris Martin in Mysore (the Mecca for aspiring Ashtangis) in the future if not in my nearest yoga nidra.

See You Soon.

I Eat, Pray, Love. And Yoga. At least five times a day.

I might be the last person in the world to have only started reading Elizabeth Gilbert‘s best-selling and much talked-about memoir Eat Pray Love last week (I got it for my birthday from the fabulous Joseph Teoh), but really – how did you guys manage to read it without wanting to pick up / start / do YOGA immediately as you flip the pages?

I laughed so hard at the ninth page as I read this,

I am alone, I am all alone, I am completely alone.

Grasping this reality, I let go of my bag, drop to my knees and press my forehead against the floor. There, I offer up to the universe a fervent prayer of  thanks.

First in English.

Then in Italian.

And then – just to get the point across – in Sanskrit.

..until I teared up and had to stop reading for a good couple of minutes for my stomach hurts from laughing so hard.

For a yoga teacher who has been trying to grasp as much Sanskrit (albeit, mostly of yoga poses) as I can, how can anything else be funnier than that?

And this book got me, when I got to page 27 (can you imagine my excitement, PAGE 27 on the book I got and read on MY 27th BIRTHDAY?) and I don’t think I breathed blinked at all as I read this,

..the old man asked me in person what I really wanted, I found other, truer words.

“I want to have a lasting experience of God,” I told him. “Sometimes I feel like I understand the divinity of this world, but then I lose it because I get distracted by my petty desires and fears. I want to be with God all the time. But I don’t want to be a monk or totally give up worldly pleasures. I guess what I want to learn is how to live in this world and enjoy its delights but also devote myself to God.“

Ketut said he could answer my question with a picture. He showed me a sketch he’d drawn once during meditation. It was an androgynous human figure, standing up, hands clasped in prayer. But this figure had four legs, and no head. Where the head should have been, there was only a wild foliage of ferns and flowers. There was a small, smiling face drawn over the heart.

“To find the balance you want,” Ketut spoke through his translator, “this is what you must become. You must keep your feet grounded so firmly on the earth that it’s like you have four legs, instead of two. That way, you can stay in the world. But you must stop looking at the world through your head. You must look through your heart instead. That way, you will know God.”

Within those lines in this Book, what I have been feeling all my life – is worded almost perfectly.

With this gift of Yoga, what I have been wanting in my life – is achieved closer everyday.

I eat generously, I pray wholeheartedly, I love honestly, I yoga purely to prolong my life and extend the happiness I get to experience and give others – for as long as I live.

Love and prayers.

I’d do whatever it takes, give (up) all I have to – to BE cancer-free.

Last Sunday, I conducted my usual Karma Yoga (free class for public) class to raise awareness on breast cancer as October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

I was grateful and blessed as the turnout was amazing (and almost everybody showed up in pink!). A number of our local celebrities did show up to support the cause as well including the usual Atilia and the familia Henry Golding, Yasmin Hani, Xandria Ooi, Aishah Sinclair and Stephanie Chai that is gracing the cover of Harper’s Bazaar this month with spicy Breast Cancer feature and fashion spread inside.

As Karma Yoga classes held every Sunday at BE Yoga are themed, before asking the participants to set their intentions and dedicate their practice that day, I asked these questions with everyone’s eyes closed

• Has any of us experienced breast cancer first hand?
• Does any of us have immediate family member that have / had breast cancer?

to tailor-make my class whether the class should consist of deep twists to eliminate (physical / chemical / emotional) toxins that might trigger cancer cells OR ‘loving’ and heart-opening poses to expand our hearts’ capacity with love and support for our loved ones in times of trial.

To my (not-s0-pleasant) surprise, out of almost 20 participants that day – a quarter raised their hands for the first question and more than half raised their hands for the second, BREAST CANCER IS NO JOKE!

No amount of yoga / exercise / fancy pink ribbons / expensive lingerie can help us if we call upon cancer by smoking!

Our lungs and breasts are so near to each other – the thousands of chemical and poisons (you know I am not making these up) in evil cigarette that are trapped in our lungs might trigger cancer cells that require just one stimulant for the cancer cells to be activated.

Socializing with smoke-stained breaths, growing old with blackened teeth and dying painfully slow with all sorts of cancer are NOT glamorous.

I love my lungs and my breasts. I know you do (love your breasts, I mean ;D) too.

I have successfully quit smoking and so will you.

Peace, pink love and healthy breasts this October.

I celebrate every day. Every movement. Every breath.

On my 27th birthday yesterday, I managed to

• sing 27 karaoke songs (pranayama)

• stand on my head for 27 minutes (Sirsa asana)

I thank Almighty High Above for 27 years of life, breath, strength, clarity and light.

I promise You I will take good care of Your gifts lent to me; this mind, this body, these lungs, this spine, these lips, these hands

• by respecting my body enough to not simply dump anything in my mouth in the name of gluttony / to not have to kill other living being for my survival (Non-harming in any way – Ahimsa)
• by performing enough physical execise (Poses – Yoga Asana) to not let toxins and excessive fat govern my system
• by speaking only words of  positive encouragements and truth to preserve your gift of truth (Truthfulness – Satya)
• by allowing my heart to let go of material things (Non-Possesiveness / Non-Greed – Aparighara) that do not help me be a better person / live longer (Inner contentment – Santhosha)
• by planting only positive thoughts in my head (Illumination – Tapas) to keep my whole system’s energy clear (Self-realization – Samadhi).

to hopefully be able to live another year in health, happiness and with Your blessing. Insya Allah.

Interview: ‘Getting to know Ninie Ahmad’

MSN Life & Style speaks to Ninie Ahmad, yoga ambassador for adidas Malaysia.

By Flora McCraith

Life is a perfect balance for Ninie Ahmad. Together with Azmi Samdjaga, Asia’s most renowned Ashtangi, they’ve opened BEYOGA, a new studio in Damansara Perdana. With more than 200 yoga and Pilates classes on offer monthly, many taught by Ninie herself, she still finds time for a chat with us.

Tell us a little known fact about yourself.

People find it hard to believe that I was not at all flexible until I started yoga 10 years ago. I had always been an athlete and hockey player in school, so I was a pretty strong girl, but I had completely neglected the importance of flexibility. Strength and flexibility are on two very different ends of the health spectrum. To be physically fit, you need both. Yoga makes being both strong and flexible, inside and out – possible.

What made you get into yoga?

I developed asthma when I was 13 years old and it got so serious that I was being hospitalised twice a week until I turned 17. People believe that if you’re born with asthma, you’ll grow out of it as a teenager. But, if like myself, you develop it later in life, it will only get worse. Eventually, my respiratory problem restricted me from furthering my sporting activities, so someone suggested yoga.

I thought it was going to be easy, if not boring, for a sporty girl like me. I was literally dragged to my first class in 1999… IT WAS THE HARDEST WORKOUT I’D HAD IN MY LIFE! I was completely hooked. I started going for classes almost everyday and began to see the huge improvements in my flexibility. Within 6 months, my asthma had actually disappeared and it hasn’t returned to this day. On top of that, I stopped suffering menstrual cramps and found myself much slower to anger.

What fitness and health benefits can a newbie expect to achieve?

Personally, my asthma, gastric problems and migraines subsided after 6 months of regular practice. I had a student who had been trying to conceive for 12 years. Within 3 months of yoga, she was pregnant. Jessica Alba used a breathing technique called Kapalabhati to aid her child birth, instead of using an epidural. The founder of Bikram yoga had been paralysed at 18, but yoga actually helped him walk again! The physical poses and breathing discipline of yoga make us use our own body, mind and breath as a powerful healing machine. It’s so much more effective than expensive medicines and drugs, which aren’t organic to our system.

From a fitness perspective, yoga is the only discipline that incorporates ALL fitness aspects in one workout: strength, endurance, flexibility, cardio, balance and resistance, plus it also offers focus, optimal breath control and lifetime sustainability. Yoga also makes any man a better sportsman as it’s famous for its de-stressing effects and helping you stay focused.

What has been your biggest achievement so far in life, and how has yoga influenced that?

When I was 24, I published Malaysia’s first yoga magazine and was appointed Yoga Ambassador for adidas Malaysia. This year, I launched my dream yoga studio. Today (at only 27-years-old) I can proudly say I have been practicing yoga for 10 years and teaching professionally for the past 8 years.

Beyond these material achievements, I feel that my biggest achievements are being able to say: I am physically and spiritually happy and I continue helping change people’s lives and improved people’s health. Nothing makes me happier than hearing my students say they no longer suffer back pains, seeing them smile at the end of my class and witnessing my students succeed their first unsupported headstand.

What’s next for you?

BEYOGA will be expanding to two include to more branches in KL . I just want every Malaysian to have a taste of good yoga.

How do you deal with difficult people or personalities, or situations?

I live life according to this mantra: whatever you find useful on the yoga mat, apply it to life. I always say the poses are painful and challenging, but whatever doesn’t make you bleed or break bones, only makes you stronger. Difficult people and situations are like a challenging yoga class, it will pass and we will learn something from the experience.

Sell us to BEYOGA.

BEYOGA is run and owned by teachers whose core value is to inspire the public. We want you to know that it’s not just scary postures and intimidating breathing. It is essentially about the comprehension of love, compassion, knowledge and respecting your body. All BEYOGA teachers are Malaysia’s highest accredited teachers from world-renowned yoga schools of Iyengar, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Anusara and other disciplines of yoga including Pilates.

Who are the inspirational figures in your life?

I admire highly successful personalities and business moguls that are still funny, humble, friendly and honour their own values.  Good leaders attract good energy and good people. I hear Tony Fernandez of Air Asia remembers all his employees’ names and birthdays.

In the yoga industry, I have lots of respect for yoga teachers who do not have to perform scary and out-of-this-world poses just to inspire or gain recognition. Without trying, they shine yogi qualities simply by saying kind words, respecting their own body and everything around them and practicing what they preach.

If it wasn’t for yoga, where do you think you’d be today?

I have always loved writing and drawing. My father used to be the editor for a big newspaper and my mother is still an English lecturer, but they insisted that I studied something other than writing or design. They actually wanted me to go into engineering or medicine!

After highschool, I was torn deciding what to pursue next. Architecture had always been my childhood dream, but I was also being offered a scholarship to study Information Technology. With a heavy heart, I chose the latter for my parents.

As it turns out, I have been able to marry my passion, my tertiary education and what I have always been good at in what I am doing now. I get to work and workout at the same time, I am pretty Internet-savvy for a yoga teacher, I am the architect for my business and I actually design and copywrite almost everything you see in BEYOGA’s website, buntings, posters and press releases.

What does being an ambassador for a brand as prestigious as adidas mean to you?

Being appointed to represent yoga and Malaysia for the biggest sporting brand in the world means the world to me. Some people even see yoga teachers as the highest physical and mental state of human form, so I bear the responsibility of  being ‘the walking example of a yogi’ in everything I say, do and wear, and am living-proof of adidas’ motto that ‘Impossible Is Nothing’.

What is one magic mantra we can all incorporate in our daily life?

Yoga reminds us that, ‘I go forward by going back, go up by going down, go out by going in and get by giving out’ and it allows me to let go of who I have become to be who I really am.

(Source: MSN Life & Style)

I seek Your forgiveness and blessing. Today, tomorrow and always.

Selamat Hari Raya to all practicing Muslims in the world and happy holiday to everyone else celebrating this long weekend.

Peace, love and victorious Aidilfitri light.

‘I am optimistic and sentimental to the point of being annoying, especially to people who think that being cynical and cold is cool.’ ~ Yasmin Ahmad

I meant to write another lenghty entry on my recent quest of becoming an Ashtangi but I was distracted by a lousy tribute show for the late Yasmin Ahmad on Astro Ria. I had to stop writing what I intended to write because the show (and other ‘tributes’ done by different channels) just did not do justice, not even close to what Yasmin had contributed to Malaysia and how she changed us all!

I, for one, chose not to blog nor Twit about her passing last month because everyone else was doing it (I thought I was playing Yasmin Ahmad’s faux-cool bit :(, read again post title).

But recently, especially tonight, especially now – I suddenly feel the urge to.

At first I thought I was furious at this pseudo-THS: Yasmin Ahmad show for using disappointing AF has-beens that do not live up to Yasmin’s contributions and for not being able to capture the ‘loss’ emotion and tragic sadness from the people they interviewed BUT then I realized:

I was mostly angry for it startled me – if Yasmin had directed this, I would have cried, teared up and most importantly, moved by now.

I am just angry for all of us wouldn’t be able to appreciate another simple yet most powerful masterpiece from an incredibly talented and from what I gathered, insanely humble human being we all knew as Yasmin Ahmad.

I have personally met Yasmin only once, during the media premiere of Mukhsin (2007) but we did communicate when Leo-Burnett (the ad agency whom she was their beloved Creative Director) contacted me to conduct yoga sessions at their firm and when I left a comment at her blog in which she took her time personally replying:

Ninie Ahmad commented…

Dearest Yasmin,

I love you.
And love is an understatement.

I admire you for making me not ashamed of having been going to the cinemas again to watch Malay movies (although I had to walk out on Senario The Movie and Jangan Pandang Belakang after 15 minutes. God knows, I tried).

I thank you for portraying Malaysia beautifully in your ads, for capturing beautiful Malay values in your movies, that I am not proud to say – most of the time more beautiful on silverscreen than what we know happening and for making lines from Malay movies memorable again.

I am a Malay Muslim (soon to be banned?) yoga teacher in KL that’s having the trial time of my life by MY own people that can’t seem to stop keeeeeeep telling me (in my blog) ways to ‘be a good Muslim’ by listening to our Muftis, to cover up, to not live with non-Muhrim when all I am trying to do is, to ‘be a good person’ with big dreams to make Malaysians look better and live longer.

(I am) On the brink of giving up ‘blogging’ (before I become the words they have been putting in my mouth), I thank you for lending me some strength from the meaningful quotes you often paste here, for your lovely words and wonderful insights and for many more inspirations you never know.

Thank you.
May God bless us all and forgive all cruelty we have done to each other.

Peace, love and light.

November 20, 2008 9:21 AM

Yasmin Ahmad replied…

gosh, ninie. i don’t know what to say. i wish i knew what rasulullah s.a.w would have to say about your yoga and my films. someone wrote on my blog that i had no right to utter the words “alhamdulillah” because i don’t wear the hijjab. i told them if i can’t say those words, than i can’t recite the fatihah, and if i can’t recite the fatihah, then i can’t do my solat, and if i can’t do my solat, i’d be very, very sad and lost.

why do they judge people so easily? do they think they will gain allah’s pleasure by condemning a fellow muslim like that? and why do they always comment anonymously?

oh well, allah knows best.

i read in al-baqarah that there will be many who will say they believe and worship allah, but in truth, they don’t. and they don’t even know that they don’t believe! na’uzubillah. was the koran referring to these people?

allah knows best.

November 20, 2008 9:46 AM

That very reply of hers lent me the strength to keep on fighting for my yoga when it faced the thoughtless tribulation late last year.

I am reminded and kept borrowing her last line of advice “Allah knows best” whenever I get asked, “How dare / come you are still doing yoga?”

For that, I am still here.

For her haunting & beautifully-written and love & kindness-laden movies, I am inspired to keep feeding my yoga classes with beautiful poses and love & kind words.

For her success of having proved (brilliant) Malaysian movies do not have to have Mat Rempits or Datuk’s second wives in them, I aspire to prove to the world that not all Malaysian Muslims do not exercise (BBC London reported ‘Malaysia bans exercise for Muslims’ on November 24, 2008).

Everytime I repeat reading her blog posts, I feel like quitting blogging altogether (in a good way!) for I will never be able to share and write as beautiful, as articulate, as honest and as humble as Yasmin did.

Everytime I repeat watching any of her movies, I immediately feel like I am already a better friend, a better family member, a better lover, a better Malaysian, a better Muslim and a better me.

For that, I will remember Yasmin Ahmad as a familiar stranger that has the biggest impact in my life  if not a cool big ‘sister’ (anak-anak Ahmad) I never have.

An excerpt from Muallaf (2008) that ‘Malaysia may never get to see’ and learn a lot from (I hardly get angry, but when Malaysians / Malays get generalized from some ignorant minority, my fuse blows):

“Did you forgive anyone that hurt your feeling today?”

LET’S DO THAT. Everyday.

LET’S SCAN AND FILTER OUR SYSTEM. Every night. So we would wake up the next morning feeling lighter and not hating the gift of living another day.

I am sure Yasmin meant that, for everyone to at least have thought of doing so – while she wrote the movie (I plead our government to uncensor Muallaf like how Yasmin would have preferred and begged for it to be shown in cinemas HERE).

‘It is in forgiving that we are forgiven’ ~ YASMIN AHMAD (1958 -2009)

Al-Fatihah.

Yoga 101: Yoga & Mantra

Eversince I started this website last month, I have been more than comfortable expanding my little yoga experience and knowledge in my own words, here.

I will also share some yoga (beside other relevant) questions that some readers have emailed to me starting with this shortened (not revised) e-mail from Liyana.

Question:

Dear Ninie Ahmad,

I just moved to the US a few weeks ago, and I just had my first yoga class at my university this morning. I missed the first class held for the semester, so this morning I just followed whatever the instructor asked us to do. I am quite familiar with the poses as I have tried yoga previously, but only through a friend. Ok anyways, at the end of the yoga class, the instructor asked us to chant a mantra mentally when we’re sitting. The thing is I have no idea what the mantra was as it was taught at the first lesson, which I missed.

But whatever the mantra is, I feel quite uncomfortable of the fact that mantra is involved, being a Muslim. So my question is, are the mantras in yoga connected to any teachings of any religion? Do you yourself practice saying/concentrating any mantras when doing yoga?

Wait, one more thing is that whether mantras in yoga are related to any religion, or are solely for discipline /concentration, I think that personally I would not be comfortable practicing the mantras. So what do you suggest I do when the other students are concentrating on the mantras? Are there any other substitute for mantra?

I hope you can help me with this. And get well soon, I hope for your recovery from the shoulder/tricep injury. Thanks!

Yours truly,
Liyana

Suggestion:

Dear Liyana and everyone reading,

Thank you for writing / reading  and congratulations on accepting the gift of yoga.

According to Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (written 2000 years ago in Sanskrit but available in many translations including English and Arabic), there are eight limbs to the tree of yoga – with each limb being a phase / stage to self-realization. In tradition stemming from this ancient text, each limb of yoga is  given in a precise order through which (aspiring) yoga practitioners must progress starting from the very bottom yet the most important.

(Note: Words in italic are Sanskrit, the oldest language ever documented in the world)

1. Yama (Moral codes towards others)

• Yama indicates how individuals should respond and relate to other people, all living beings and to the environment – in order to achieve a peaceful and harmonious world.

2. Niyama (Self-purification and study)

• Niyama deals with contentment and physical cleansing / purifying of the body – both internally and externally to find some clarity of thoughts before the next stage of yoga – Asana.

Note: Most yoga practitioners and I practice Yama and Niyama to the literal translation to why we chose not to kill others living beings (Vegetarianism) as our source of food to survive as our contribution to world peace and preserving green environment (Yama) and generally cleansing ourselves with bath or shower and accepting our current state of body especially our injury and lack of-s (Niyama) before our Asana practice.

3. Asana (Poses / Postures)

• Asanas in yoga (depending what branch of yoga we each can relate to / practice the most) are scientific sequences that access every muscle in the body, stretching and toning them as well as nerves, organs, glands and energy channels.
• Asanas are not merely exercises, they are postures and transitions synchronized with Pranayama (breath) that regular and systematic Asana practice with help of tristana (union of Vinyasa), bandha (locks that protect the body) and drishti (looking point) – help open and clear the nadis (energy channels of subtle body) allowing access and harness to internal lifeforce (energy) known as Prana.

4. Pranayama (Breathing)

• For most of us, breathing is an involuntary reflex action. Yogis, however, appreciate the role breath has in focusing the mind and Pranayama is a method of using the power of breathing to control the mind. Most yoga Asanas require specific dynamics of breathing (inhale to creating space and to lengthen, exhale to twist and to be stronger) to achieve the pose easier / safer and to ensure benefits instead of injury.

Notes: The first four limbs are external disciplines that, when practiced regularly create the necessary physical and mental state from which the remaining four internal limbs can continuously sprout and unfold.

Founder of Ashtanga Yoga, the late Shri K Pattabhi Jois was often heard saying, “Practice the first four limbs of yoga FIRST, and the rest four will come without trying.” With that inspiration, I always say, “Forget the Headstands and Scorpions, simply respect others by not making noise in class and honour your body by not doing poses that you are not ready for FIRST and you would already be doing yoga” before I start my classes.

In my humble observation, the system and order work almost like (but NOT equivalent to) how puasa (fasting) works in Islam. If we understand where the Rukun (Pillar) lies in Islam, puasa falls in the third rank within Pillars of Islam hence it is almost impossible to attain blessed Puasa if we don’t perform our Solat (Prayers) while fasting and if we don’t refrain ourselves from pleasures the material world has to offer.

5. Pratyahara (Sense Control)

• Pratyahara in easiest translation is the full awareness. Our mind easily strays especially if we can’t let go of imminent social engagements or daily errands need to be done when practicing Asana that is why – rather than closing thoughts out, we learn NOT to become attached to them as they move through our mind.

6. Dhanara (Concentration)

• When practitioners achieve a high level of Pratyahara, the mind is undisturbed by stray thoughts, sounds and sensation (such as pain). In this state, it is possible to achieve a deep level of concentration and that is Dhanara (or Khusyu’ in Arabic). Within practice of Asana, Dhanara is achieved when the mind reaches a single focus by concentrating purely on inhalation, exhalation and the looking point (drishti).

7. Dhyana (Meditation)

• The combination of limbs five and six (Prathayara and Dharana) brings about a state of deep meditation where if achieved in Asanas, each posture is gracefully strung on a garland of asanas, becoming, in effect – a moving meditation.

8. Samadhi (Contemplation)

• To reach Samadhi is the culmination of all the eight limbs of yoga. It is the goal, the fruit of the yoga tree that creates the edible and ingestibly sweet tasting part of the tree for us to consume, and for us to be consumed from – within.

[ Reference from Ashtanga Yoga by John Scott ]

It is very important for me to have explained and listed in detail (but not complete) description of what makes a yoga practice fruitful – before I can answer what does Mantra (Chanting) have to do with yoga and is it at all, necessary.

Mantra is an opening or closing sequence for an Asana practice to set an affirmation our practice and to offer a dedication of our time spent on Self-Realization to any good cause (world peace, be a better person, lessen trouble and pain of others, et cetera).

My point is, unless we practice Asana regularly and attain all eight limbs of yoga (which is almost impossible for us in this selfish day and age and material world, really!), lupakan saja!

Most of the Mantras are in Sanskrit just because most of them sound more beautiful in its’ origin language (Sanskrit NOT Hindu). Just because we do not understand them, it does not mean that once delivered – we will be out of our body (or be able to levitate for that matter, ha haa!).

Just like (again, but NOT equivalent) to Al-Fatihah (the mother of all verses) in Qur’an, sad to say many non-Arab speaking Muslims in the world take the power of Al-Fatihah for granted because they do not make effort in comprehending and BELIEVING in the verse because they simply do not understand a language so foreign.

Hence for some Mantras matter, it is suffice to say, unless you know what they mean, you do not have to follow (chanting) them out loud as it serves almost no purpose almost like saying an affirmation that we do not mean.

Below is the closing mantra for Ashtanga Yoga (my choice of personal Asana practice) and its beautiful translation.

Om
Swasthi-praja bhyah pari pala yantam
Nya-yena margena mahi-mahishaha
Go-bramanebhyaha-shubamastu-nityam
Lokaa-samastha sukhino-bhavantu
Om
Om shanti, shanti, shantihi

Translation:
Om
May prosperity be glorified
May administrators rule the world with law and justice
May all things that are sacred be protected
And may people of the world be happy and prosperous
Om
Om peace, peace, peace

‘MAY PEOPLE OF THE WORLD BE HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS.’

Subhanallah. Can any other offering be more selfless, honest and beautiful than this? I initially planned to post this entry on 9/11 notwithstanding, I chanted this as my offering to world peace this throughout the whole of last Friday.

As an alternative to Sanskrit mantra (if we are not familiar with Sanskrit at all), we can always say anything kind and affirmative in English, or in Malay for that matter (useful fact: 80% of Bahasa Malaysia derived / originated from Sanskrit). For my beginner to intermediate classes, I often chant this to my class, “If it is not now, then when. If it is not us, then who. We are the ones we have been waiting for” and I give an alternative of saying a loud, “NOW” to those who do not comfortable in pronouncing, “OM”.

While we are at it, ‘OM’ (pronounced A-U-M) is the most universal and powerful sound we can say in one breath. It means all, omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. OM has been described as the primordial sound, represented in all living matter. It is NOT a word – it is a sound. It is so powerful that when uttered in one breath and repeated many times, it opens and aligns all our chakras and the millions channels of nadis (energy channels) in our body.

Being a Muslim yoga practitioner and a perpetually curious learner (refusing to learn [new languages, new things about our body and others’ cultures] is a direct act of being ignorant. We are not the only ones in the world), I came to realize that Al-Fatihah is so powerful an AFFIRMATION and prayer that – very similar if not more meaningful that the word ‘OM’, it is also the only verse in Qur’an and finishes with an ‘eem’ and ‘een’ throughout its’ whole seven lines. I also recall my first Qur’an teacher said, “Al-Fatihah is mostly more beneficial and blessed when recited in one breath.”

Below is the general translation of Al-Fatihah. Wallahualam.

Bismillaah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Al hamdu lillaahi rabbil ‘alameen
Ar-Rahman ar-Raheem Maaliki yaumid Deen
Iyyaaka na’abudu wa iyyaaka nasta’een
Ihdinas siraatal mustaqeem
Siraatal ladheena an ‘amta’ alaihim
Ghairil maghduubi’ alaihim waladaaleen
Aameen

Translation:
In the name of God, the infinitely Compassionate and Merciful.
Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds.
The Compassionate, the Merciful, Ruler on the Day of Reckoning.
You alone do we worship, and You alone do we ask for help.
Guide us on the straight path,
the path of those who have received your grace;
not the path of those who have brought down wrath, nor of those who wander astray.
Amen.

I hope I have justified your question and given you comfortable alternative for Sanskrit mantra.

Let’s all begin this new week understanding, believing and living this saying (and my personal favourite mantra):

Watch our thoughts, for they become words.
Watch our words, for they become actions.
Watch our actions, for they become habits.
Watch our habits, for they become character.
Watch our character, for it becomes our destiny.

I personally will dedicate my yoga practice and teaching this new week to restoring a happy relationship with our neighbour country so we all have a chance of enjoying a blessed last week of Ramadhan ahead, with lessened hatred that does not make us blood brothers and sister any happier nor better in any way.

Namaste.
The light in me bows to the light in you.
Selamat sejahtera.
Peace be upon you.
Assalamualaikum.

(They all mean THE SAME although they sound very different, amazing isn’t it?)

I am grateful to get to work with Malaysia’s best (magazine, art director, photographer, make-up artist) and to get Malaysia’s best (yoga teachers) to work with me.

I badly want to hug all my instructors from BE Yoga NOW for rocking this yoga in haute couture shoot!

I know it is very unbecoming of a yoga teacher but Atilia and I have planned to kidnap these RM276,000 timepieces we are parading

and I also refuse to return this Karen Millen dress I am wearing. It is breathtakingly too pretty!

Till I return to the ground and be down on earth again, take care you beautiful people!

I am humbled and reminded that I am just human with tests of injury.

In yoga class, injuries mostly happen because of wrongly set intentions.

Good yoga classes often start with the instructors checking if anybody has any injury or special request AND asking everyone to set good intentions, to dedicate their practice to someone (loved ones, someone in trouble) or something (world peace, etc) and to visualize exactly how they want to feel at the end of  the class.

As we are all humans built with integration of delicate joints, sensitive tissues, constantly regenerating new cells and yoga class can be one of the most-intensed workout most people can ever experience, risk of injuring oneself in a yoga class is definitely not impossible especially IF:

• we arrive late to yoga class causing us to have missed the crucial breathing warm-up and sun salutations that are usually conducted first 15 minutes of a yoga class
  • to why, most yoga centres especially BE Yoga are strict on NOT allowing anyone to enter a class if they arrive later than 10 minutes of class’ start time)

• we do not respect our body, our limits and our teachers
  • Cramps and unbearable pain are organic ways of our body telling us something is not right or our alignment is not correct that – if we go on, we will definitely injure ourselves
  • Our limits and maximum tolerance of stretching / holding our own body weight are not the same for everyone. The person in front of us in our yoga class is able to hold it longer / stretch it furthermight be due to they have been practicing yoga longer / more regular than us
  • Our teachers / instructors might have been practicing yoga 10 times longer than us / have taught a 1000 students / have a lifetime experience of yoga so whenever they say “Don’t turn your head around as you hold Matsyasana (Fish Pose)” or “Don’t hyperextend your knees in Uttanasana (Forward Bend)”, listen to them!

• our intention to performing a pose (especially during advanced yoga classes) is not to better ourselves BUT to look like Jessica Alba or Cameron Diaz AND to show-off or to do it better / hold it longer than everyone else in the class
  • that is when, the pose comes with arrogance & hatred  side-effects instead of benefits & humbling effects

As a yoga instructor myself, as much as I can I use these reminders to remind myself whenever I join other yoga classes  or conduct my personal practice everyday. But sometimes especially when I am not centered, thinking of too many things at once or too tired, these reminders often slipped my mind.

That is why I usually get injured during photoshoot and public performances (as the intentions are obviously to show-off :()!

And errr, I injured myself again on Friday night while leading an introduction to Ashtanga class at BE Yoga. This thought was running in my head “Everything I do in this class will make me appear stronger on that cover!” as I demo asana by asana.

As a result, I pulled my upper trapezius (shoulder blade) and bracchialis (triceps) on my left while demonstrating Chakrasana Vinyasa (Complete Wheel Flow), I was not even warmed up as the rest of the class as I was showing it (off).

I went to an interesting Chinese chiropractor who performed some Oriental Tit Tar realignment for sports injury and applied some hot herbal medication on my back.

I can’t even turn my head or look up and down (let alone do the pose above) as I type this :(. Wish me speedy recovery and remind me to take the rest I deserve, please!

Love and light.

I have a(nother) reason to watch ESPN after this.

If it’s not too late to announce, tonight (Friday, September 4) is my dear friend  Henry Golding (CLEO’s Most Eligible Bachelor 2009)’s very last night hosting 8tv Quickie.

Do catch him (or even bombard him with groupie calls) if you can, 11.30pm on 8tv / Astro CH 708.

Henry has been like a younger brother to me (he is only 22, making me feel like 40!) and I remember him arriving in KL somewhere April 2008 with only a bagpack. It did not take long for his Brit charm and celup looks to take over KL and Malaysian TV.

Beyond the glittering fame and his goofy personality, he really is a wonderful person to have as a friend. I truly am honoured to have known him and to be able to say, I have seen Henry (and his obscene shoes collection) more than anyone else in KL will ever do.

Young one, you will be sorely missed.

Good bye and good luck for ESPN (ok ok, I used to watch ESPN because of Rashid Salleh ;)) & Singapore.

Just brace yourself Henners, there won’t be housemates as flexible & muscular and Khanna Curry House on Sunday afternoons for sho’!

I believe in the power of Belief.

In anticipation of the 8-pages-spread yoga in haute couture photoshoot next week,

I was informed that I will also be on the cover of my favourite local magazine. And the photoshoot is scheduled next week as well!

What are the odds of someone getting two of her biggest wishes granted, all in the same week?

If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.

Dream, work hard, be kind to everyone, count our blessings and all is coming.

To a Yoga Journal cover and to more dreams come true in the nearest future.

Love and light.

I praise Highest above for Malaysia(n) ground that grounds me down.

PETALING JAYA, August 2009 – When you don’t drink, not in the mood to party and when you are never into conventional fireworks and hazardous noise, how else can you celebrate Merdeka (Independence) Eve? Ever thought of a free yoga class conducted by Malaysia’s yoga celebrity?

The founder of beyoga and also the Official Yoga Ambassador for adidas Malaysia, Ninie Ahmad said, she has been counting the days to 2009’s Merdeka Day to commence her free yoga class for public on Merdeka eve.

“For years, I have never enjoyed partying and be stuck in traffic jam everytime Merdeka and New Year’s eve arrive. I respect my body by not consuming harmful substance just to validate a commercialized celebration and I believe, many more KL-lites are in the same boat with me.”

Since beyoga opens to public in May 2009, Ninie has been conducting free yoga classes she calls ‘Karma Yoga’ every Sunday 10.15am at beyoga Damansara Perdana with help of her key teachers at beyoga.

“We call it Karma Yoga as it is our way to give back to the public of what we have gained from them. The teachers do not get paid for teaching Karma Yoga class as it is of voluntarily basis. However, participants are highly encouraged to donate any amount of cash as they join this class and all donations from our Karma Yoga classes are to be forwarded to a chosen charity body or non-profit organization we have pre-chosen for the month. For example, collection for the month of May and June had been proceeded to Rumah Hope, PJ and we have selected MERCY Malaysia to receive our collection for the month of July and August.”

Ninie who also is one of Malaysia’s top female bloggers and has ‘pretzel-ed’ local celebrities namely Ida Nerina, Atilia, Ning Baizura, Jehan Miskin, Norazlina Redzuan, Wan Zaleha Radzi, Kavita Kaur and many more adds, “The best part about Karma Yoga class at beyoga is, although it is a free class, it is also the only class where we teach themed yoga.”

“Since all Mother’s Day and Father’s Day fall on Sundays, we did encourage public to bring their mothers and fathers those two Sundays. Instead of normal light stretches to warm-up, that Karma Yoga classes started with the teacher choosing a couple of participants to share what their mothers or fathers have sacrificed for them to raise them up.”

“Since 70% of the beyoga ‘s Karma Yoga participants are women, you could expect tears and overwhelming emotions filled the room!”

“We first conducted the Karma Yoga class during Earth Hour 2009 where participants practiced yoga poses surrounded by tealight candles and be asked to take care of Mother Earth as much as we take care of our body and family.”

Ninie also shares, “For the past two months, I have been conducting my Karma Yoga slots with yoga therapy and poses that can help boost immunity system to fight airborne virus and common cold especially with the current H1N1 pandemic scare.”

“While we are all bound to suffer from occasional flu, yoga practitioners are less likely to come down with sniffles and when we do, we tend to have much faster recovery rate due to yoga’s known abilities to regulate the immune system, keeping it strong to withstand infection.”

“Yoga’s stress-reducing ability is a primary reason to why yoga helps prevent if not cure common cold. Stress is a major contributing factor to catching a cold or flu as stress hormones cause the thymus to shrink in size causing it to poorly-function as a producer of immune cells.”

“For the Merdeka Eve Karma Yoga however, I plan to teach the class with yoga poses and flow that will help ‘free’ chemical, physical, emotional toxins that have been colonized and trapped in our system throughout our lives – in true spirit of ‘Merdeka’ (Independence), and maybe wear Jalur Gemilang coloured yoga attire that night!”

The Merdeka Eve Karma Yoga commenced 10.15pm until 11.30pm August 30th, 2009 (Merdeka Eve) and beyoga conducts Karma Yoga (free class for public) every Sunday 10.15am. For more information on beyoga’s other Karma Yoga classes, visit beyoga’s website http://beyoga.my or contact beyoga at 03-7728 6182 / 03-7729 6182.

(All photos courtesy of Erica Wong)

I celebrate being here in this country. Being here in this body.

How do we lead a family, company or rule our country if we don’t have total control of our own health, breath and body?

A gentle (and national) reminder that BE Yoga is having a Karma Yoga (FOC) class tonight (Merdeka Eve) from 10.15pm to 11.30pm.

This *Merdeka Eve Yoga is a healthy alternative for yogis who choose NOT to validate Independence Day in form of meaningless noise, harmful substance and conventional celebration.

I will be conducting this Merdeka Eve yoga class and will be sharing adidas & Rainbeau Mars’ ra’Yoka Level Orange: Detoxification that consists plenty of deep twists & hips openers that will help ‘free’ chemical, physical, emotional toxins that have ­­­­been colonized and trapped in our system throughout our lives – in true spirit of ‘Merdeka’ (Independence).

If more people embrace yoga & its values (non-harm & non-violence to self and others, truthfulness), I believe this country and this world will be a happier place for us all to live in – anyway.

(*Merdeka = Independent)

Since it is an FOC class, entrance is strictly by reservation to prevent overcrowding as space is limited to 30 yoga mats (online waiting list is enabled). RSVP your independence by booking your own space at http://beyoga.my or by calling us at 03 7728 6182 / 03 7729 6182 before 5pm today (Sunday, August 30) to check availability of space.

Merdekakan diri dari hasad dengki, busuk hati dan tekanan persekitaran yang memakan diri (free ourselves from toxic feelings, hatred and peer pressure that do not contribute in making anyone better).

Celebrate being a Malaysian by choosing to have a healthy body, heart and mentality.

Happy National Day, Malaysians. I will always believe in the kindness in us.

Peace, love and light.

I am happy with all I have. (Albeit) I can be happier with less.

I have always been big on ‘if I can live without buying it, don’t buy it’, ‘if I breathe fine without it, don’t use it’, ‘if I can not throw it, use it again’ and in my yoga classes, I always preach, ‘if you don’t need to use the yoga block, don’t’ (no disrespect to BKS Iyengar though) and ‘if you don’t need to use the wall for Headstand (Shirsasana) then don’t’.

Having said that though, there are some yoga accessories that help me outperform myself when I am on my mat:

• adidas yoga socks

Aren’t they the prettiest thing to be wrapped around our feet while we yoga?

(To avoid disappointments, these yoga socks are no longer sold in stores and they were not sold separately. They came together with a pair of adidas yoga shoes five seasons ago, if I’m not mistaken).

I first wore them in public for a Partner Yoga performance at Berjaya Times Square last July. Paired together, we caused quite a stir 8)

(Top and pants from adidas Techfit Powerweb)

(Azmi: Pants from adidas Techfit Powerweb, Ninie: Top from adidas by Stella McCartney, pants from adidas Techfit Powerweb)

They are also the same pair seen in this adidas Play Yoga campaign featuring adidas’ Global Yoga Ambassador and my personal mentor, Rainbeau Mars.

• Yogitoes®

Yogitoes is a super-absorbent towel with Skidless® technology silicone beads on one side to provide a hygienic layer between us and the yoga mat or any exercise equipment. Skidless® Yogitoes® is patented and designed to prevent slipping while practicing or stretching and I tell you now – not only it works, it is a must-have yoga thingamajig!

I personally use Yogitoes for drishti (focus point; each Yogitoes is equipped with a visible focal point at the top centre of the towel) and hygiene purposes (I mind lying down on other people’s dried sweat). When you have Yogitoes, you don’t need to bring your own yoga mat to practice providing your yoga centre / gym provides yoga mat (I used to teach at a famous gym that does not provide suitable mats for their yoga classes!).

Yogitoes come in many irresistible colours to choose from, and many is an understatement.

If you check out their (funky!) website, they have all seven Chakra colours (root, sacrum, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye, crown), four Earth colours (moss, sand, stone, loam), five Chinese Elements colours (water, fire, earth, wood, metal), selected Deity colours (limited edition: black, red, brown, gold and turqoise with gold thread) and even exclusive Breast Cancer and Rape Awareness Yogitoes!

I always kid around before my classes start that – I judge my students according to the colour of their Yogitoes almost like Taekwando belts; to why I make sure BE Yoga teachers use Limited Edition Black Yogitoes!

Azmi & I on Crown (Chakra) and Kali Ma (Deity) Yogitoes respectively during Earth Hour 2009

For someone who is ‘on the mat’ o n a highly-regular basis and will never be seen wearing yoga gears that are not colour-coordinated, I had fooled myself into buying and collecting these Yogitoes in as many colours as I can – to match my yoga outfits (and don’t get me started on how extensive and colourful my yoga outfit wardrobe is)!

Orange Yogitoes from Chakra collection representing Sacrum (Detoxification) helps me stay focused during hips openers & deep twists that extend my creativity and keep my reproductive system healthy

It doesn’t help me that BE Yoga is the only yoga centre in KL & PJ that sells Yogitoes in almost every colour, collection and fairly priced!

And yes, good things don’t come free, or even cheap for that matter. These Yogitoes are priced between RM238 to RM288 each (they are available at Yogitoes website too, priced between USD60 to USD66 each – not including shipping fee, of course. Kindly compare the prices online to understand why it costs a toe!).

So I have to eat my own words k-a-n?

‘If I can live without buying it, don’t buy it.’

‘If I breathe fine without it, don’t use it.’

Errr, I will settle for collecting all the Chakra-coloured (since I am undergoing Seven Chakra Levels of ra’Yoka TTC, yes?) Yogitoes on top of the ones I already have. For now 😉

Love, light and pretty yogi toes today.