Ninie Ahmad: Off her yoga mat.

(continued from I tell people I do yoga to be.. and I maintain my health in this body as it is THE vehicle that contains my spirit, soul and wisdom to experience the wonderful short journey in this lifetime, on this earth – before I meet my Maker)

..while I DO YOGA everyday (among other activities) as it is the only sports / workout that:

• works every muscle in my body
• makes me discover new sensations, feelings and awareness
• heals my existing illness / prevents new injury
• does not make me compete with others
• lets me break my record everytime I stretch / stand on my head or hands
• lets me be my own judge & cheerleader at the same time
• I don’t need any other gear ( racket / shoes / machine / gloves / Olympic size swimming pool / precision timer / etc) but my breath and willpower
• makes me more energized after I finish (practicing / teaching)
• I know I can still do when I turn 50, 70 or even 90 years old

If you have been to a (good) yoga class, you would know that you are in a cult – to look, to live and to know better.

Some day you will die.

Lying on your sick bed

about to breathe your last,

you will be assailed by every kind of pain.

Your mind will be filled with fears and anxieties

and you will not know what to do or where to go.

Only then you realise you have NOT practised well.

The skhandas / aggreagates (matters, sensations, conceptions, impulses and conciousness)

and the four elements in you will quickly disintegrate,

your conciousness will be pulled wheever your ancient,

twisted karma leads it.

Impermanence – does not hesitate.

Death – does not wait.

You will not be able to extend your life by even a second.

How many thousand more times

will you have to pass through

the gates of birth and death.

If these words are challenging,

even insulting,

let them be an encouragement for you to change.

Practice heroically.

Do not accumulate unnecessary possesions.

Don’t give up.

Still your mind,

end wrong perceptions,

concentrate and

- do not run after the object of your senses.

Practice diligently.

Be determined not to let your days and months pass by wastefully.

~ Zen Master GUISHAN

Love, encouragement and enlightenment.

I forgive those who just don’t understand whilst,

most girls’ wish list & dreams are to have a walk-in wardrobe, another LV Speedy 25 and to have 3 kids & still have the body & style of Victoria Beckham,

and some boys’ work like no tomorrow to own VW Scirocco in Shadow Blue and to be financially independant to not have to work for someone else anymore,

.. MY short-term plan is to go to India further studying Ashtanga, Vedanta & Ayurveda, leaving no debts and no one depending on me back at home – hopefully before I hit 30,

and dare I say, my lifelong dream is to know exactly when I will leave my body and breathe my last breath – with no painful illness, no gory injury, absolute no hatred and no desire to want or feel anything anymore. Hopefully in a knowing sleep after having finished another round of chanting Holy Al’ Quran.

That is why everyday I wake up, everything I put in my body, every drop of sweat, every word I say to anyone, every affirmation I pray here – is heading to the way and to the dreams I live my life to realise.

So if my last day in this lifetime is tomorrow, I know I have no regret for I would have returned this body He lent me and have served Him with full responsibility.

God willing.

Guess which footballer still rocks and scores at an impressive 36 years old?

Baddha Konasana?

Guess what is his secret to stretching the life of his career?

Yoga-ta check this out to believe me.

The hottest, fittest and most inspiring Brits that are rocking the field and stage have found their path to yoga – I hope ours will too.

Love and Malaysian (Footballers & Rockers) Boleh!

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.

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.

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

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 prepared myself for the recent adidas FA Beijing with a lot of backbend exercises thinking I was in for ra’Yoka Level Green: Opening, errr.. by not exactly preparing as I know backbends have always been my favourites.

Little did I know, instead of traveling up the chakra chart, it shot down to Level Orange: Detoxification that I know will require deep twists and out-of-the-world painful hip openers, something like Yin Yoga Teacher Training Certification (TTC).

Our hips are the biggest joints in the body.

Toxins are mostly stuck at any joints of our body so our hips are biggest garbage pails in the body especially if we don’t detox, fast, cry / laugh (these are forms of emotional toxins’ releases as well) often.

For a yoga instructor, I am not proud to share that my hips openings are not as impressive as I would like them to be. That was why I got stuck for years at Ashtanga Primary Series for I was not able to do Turtle Pose (Kurmasana) without assistance until recently.

True enough, I was suffering in most of the poses especially Seated One Legged Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Kapotasana) and Revolved Side Angle Pose (Parivrtta Parsvakonasana) that are deemed pain-free even by some beginners to yoga ‘_’

After 16-hours of repeating ra’Yoka Level Orange that consists a lot of Uddiyana Bandhas

whose benefits include

• Massages abdominal viscera, the solar plexus, the heart and lungs
• Increases gastric fire; improves digestion, assimilation and elimination; and purifies the digestive tract of toxins
• Stimulates blood circulation in the abdomen and blood flow to the brain

(Source: YogaJournal.com)

and all possible Warrior (Virabhadrasana) variations and twists,

which work magic to

(Source: YogaJournal.com)

PLUS after undergoing fruit + veggie (with no sugar, no caffeine) diet for seven days, we started to feel lethargic and if it’s not too demotivating – shitty.

Prior to the ra’Yoka TTC, we have been warned that this Level Orange: Detoxification (or pretty much ANY detox) will only work if we get one of these post-detox effects (PDE):

• Fever (the only way organ and body cells get to regenerate and be reproduced)
• Breakouts (to discharge chemical toxins that our digestive system is not able to release)
• Depression (some people hardly get angry or scream at others so this effect might be expected)

God knows how we all prayed hard to not get the first two PDEs as:

1. We’ll definitely get quarantined at our home airport and we can’t really say, “Don’t worry, Officer. We just got back from a Detox TTC!” can we?
2. Some of the girls are the faces of adidas billboards throughout Asia so they can’t afford breakouts either.

Although, it takes as simple as one processed food / any chemical agent to break our hardworked detox.

As expected, I felt even more lethargic as I touched down KL.

I locked myself in my room for two days, refused to see or talk to anyone and just fed myself with clear water & fruits throughout.

But I was not used to feeling that low and I did not feel good, of course.

For that 48 hours I hid under my blanket, I kept hearing “Get rid of my possession that made me unhappy and has been burdening me a lot” – MY HAIR.

So, a week before Beijing, I had hair (well, ‘almost’) this long

and shortly after Beijing, I chose to let it go.

All the perming / straightening / colouring / highlighting / chemical treatments my hair went through, are being put a stop to. And I have never felt better.

When I was ready to start teaching at BE Yoga again, a couple of fellow yoga instructors shared that they felt exactly the same (depressed, sad, suicidal) after their Yin Yoga TTC.

We might not break out in acne (as most yogis choose meat / caffeine / sugar-FREE & organic diet), we might not get sick as often (an hour of yoga class everyday produces enough heat to regenerate body cells which is to 1- why drinking water in yoga class is not encouraged 2- after every yoga class, you’ll feel instantly rejuvenated, almost post-fever feeling with no fever, of course) but you’d be surprised of the amount of emotional toxins the yoga instructors held trapped inside the hips joints.

The unpleasant experience post-detox is a surprisingly sore reminder that we are all humans afterall.

For those of you interested to experience an hour of Detox Yoga, BE Yoga and I are holding another Karma Yoga class (F.O.C Class For Public) on Merdeka eve, 10.15pm to 11.30pm at BE Yoga, Damansara Perdana.

This Detox Yoga held on the eve of Merdeka Day is an alternative for yogis who choose NOT to validate Independence Day in form of meaningless noise, unhealthy substance and conventional celebration. Detox / Merdeka Eve Karma Yoga class will consist of poses / 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).

P.S. If you are worried you’ll breakout, fall sick with fever or get depressed, fret not as an hour of yoga a year IS NOT ENOUGH to release all the physical / chemical / emotional toxins completely especially if you’ve never done it before / eat steak everyday / been indulging preservatives and sweeteners for the past 20 or 30 years of living in this body.

So I say, do whatever it is you need to do to let go of things that make you unhappy be it – badly treated hair, toxic friends, unhealthy relationship or even negative-vibed blog as keeping them in our system will only turn them cancerous one day.

Let’s all have a Meatless Monday and an organic week ahead!

Love and light.