Name: Bindu Ann Joseph
Profession: CFO
Other interests: whatever my inner child says she wants to do
How long have you been practicing yoga?
On and off for 20 years but I started a more dedicated practice in 2019. Then did my 200 Hour YTT in 2020 and in Jan 2021 I started my Ashtanga Mysore practice at Nilaya house.
What classes at Nilaya house do you attend?
Ashtanga, Mysore primarily. Love Yoga Nidra as well
Why do you practice yoga? What benefits does it bring to you?
I practice Ashtanga because it has become a cornerstone in terms of how I want to take care of my physical and mental health. Honestly, the benefits are so abstract to explain because this practice is unlike anything I have experienced before but if I am to put it into words it gives me a sense of inner peace and a direction to place my focus on.
What is your favorite posture and why?
Marichyasana D! I love the feeling of being so squished. Like you are giving your internal organs one big tight hug.
What’s your advice for people wanting to start yoga?
20 years ago, I had walked into Gems of Yoga on Sheikh Zayed Road to sign up for a yoga class package and I recall the lady I met to sign up looked at me and said “You are not ready “. I looked at her confused and she proceeded to tell me something that was so profound that it is something I still remember two decades later “Yoga will come to you when you are ready. It will come to you and stick with you when you need it the most”. That day I walked away mumbling … “this can’t be good for business!”
In 2019 as series of events got me to a mental and physical state where I had no space for anything except a daily Yin yoga practice in the evenings after work. In many ways it saved me and true to the words of that random stranger a form of yoga practice has stuck with me ever since.
We get so lost in the list of things society, culture, tradition demands of us so I won’t say “ Try Yoga – it just might change you “ but more than anything I would say listen to the little whispers that come to you in the most random of forms. They hold much wisdom.
