Who is Ninie Ahmad?

(SOURCE: http://beyoga.my)

Ninie Ahmad is easily Malaysia’s celebrity yoga instructor. Currently ranked Top 5 Female Bloggers in Malaysia (by Nuffnang) with over 15,000 readers a week – Ninie has graced a number of magazine covers, endless magazine pages as yoga personality / fitness model and also no stranger to local TV as she has been featured as special guest in most talk shows.

Just like anybody else, Ninie was literally dragged to her very first yoga class in 1999. She was a record-holder athlete and hockey player for her high school (Sekolah Tun Fatimah, Johor Bahru) and university (Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Bangi) but with chronic asthma problem that prevented her from participating in long-training / tournaments. After only 6 months of attending yoga classes religiously, her respiratory problem completely disappeared. She also found that the new flexibility and patience she gained from yoga helped her ‘outperform’ and focus better in her sports training. That was when she chose to ‘join the cult’ and teach yoga to share the wonderful gift of  stretching one’s limit to others.

Today – at only 27 years old, Ninie has been in the yoga industry in Malaysia for almost 10 years and has been teaching yoga in Kuala Lumpur for more than 8 years. Ninie has also published two yoga magazines under her belt of which, her self-published magazine ‘Hati Yoga‘ (2006) was Malaysia’s very first yoga magazine. She has personally interviewed and been trained by world’s most renowned yoga masters namely Sri Dharma Mittra, Max Strom, Rainbeau Mars, Simon Borg-Olivier, John Scott, Lance Schuler and Swami Kali Ray. In 2006, Ninie turned vegetarian to be a more compassionate teacher and to contribute more in helping save the environment and Mother Earth.

A big fan of arms-balancing heavily influenced by Ashtanga Vinyasa style, Ninie is often described as the small, hip and not-your-typical-saffron-wearing yoga teacher. Her small figure executing ‘Impossible Is Nothing‘ complex poses, her long & very public journey of sharing her knowledge & love for yoga and her ‘walking example of a living yogi’ quality, – inspire her students and friends.

Ninie believes that ‘one does not have to be able to do Headstand (Sirsasana) to get the benefits of yoga. She keeps stressing that – by simply appreciating our breaths, keeping our postures correct, honouring our body and being kind to others; are already if not more YOGA than the complicated poses (asana)’.

Her big personality, long list of credentials and a decade experience in yoga have landed her the title of Official Yoga Ambassador for adidas Malaysia since year 2006.

In May 2009, Ninie launched her very own yoga sanctuary, BE Yoga located in the heart of Damansara Perdana,  PJ: Malaysia for yoga practitioners in KL & PJ to begin or resume their practice with Malaysia’s best yoga teachers in Ninie’s chosen industrial-minimalist ambience & eco-friendly environment.