Journeying through gentle strength and inner peace, Yogini Eugenia Hek is the perfect example of how ancient wisdom of yoga meets modern wellness, writes Esha Chaudhuri
Yoga, often perceived as mystical, ancient and timeless is in fact profoundly contemporary adapting to the modern way of life. As fast-paced lives have taken momentum, mindfulness and the art of slowing down has also never seemed more dire. As the world celebrates International Yoga Day on June 21, Sunday Shillong interacts with maestro instructor and yogini, Eugenia Hek to dive into her world of yoga and what the Shillong edition of Yoga encapsulates.
Yoga, a way of life
Yoga has been hailed as a discipline and a philosophy that is practised to achieve the end goal of harmony and balance between the mind, body and soul. This in turn results in peace and inner centering that is amiss in the hustle of the grind. While a booming trend all over, its popularity has also begun to surge in Shillong. Hek acknowledges and says, “I completely agree. As a girl from Shillong, my first ever yoga practice was at the age of 27 during lockdown! Now as a yoga instructor, people are slowly getting drawn to it. One reason could be attributed to work stress. People have become more conscious of managing it and the other reason is also because of the awareness about Yoga on international yoga day.”
For the past three years, Hek has been conducting sessions at different government offices and educational institutions for a lot of people and for most of them it’s their first time ever doing yoga. Now, she gets bulk enrollments from offices and hospital staff after their introduction to it on yoga day.
Asking how and why yoga stands apart from other forms of workout, Hek answers, “Yoga involves a holistic approach which not only helps the body physically but also mentally and spiritually. The different breathing techniques we use in yoga helps with being mindful, calms the nervous system, reduces stress, detoxifies the body, improves skin health, and regulates hormones.”
As a yogini, herself, yoga has touched her soul in myriad ways. She explains “Yoga has transformed my entire life. My perspective about life has completely changed.
It gave me a sense of belonging and oneness with the Universe. It helped me find my inner peace and live a mindful life. Yoga has helped me enhance my spiritual connection and pushes me everyday to give back to society.”
In a way, Hek has been personifying the theme for this year, which is “Yoga for One Earth, One Health”.
Stretches for all
The poses and stretches in the world of yoga are light, improve flexibility and balance by encouraging mindful movement while also being attuned with one’s body. Hek concurs, “Yoga is for everybody! There are lots of misconceptions that yoga is only for flexible and young people. But it is for every type of body, every age and gender. If you think about it, we living beings have been doing yoga right from the moment we were born. By taking our first breath we were already doing yoga. Just by breathing consciously and mindfully we are practicing yoga. The correct posture of sitting, standing, walking, sleeping is also part of yoga.”
She adds, “But the problem in our modern world is that we have forgotten the correct way to breathe. Due to a sedentary lifestyle of sitting, standing and even sleeping, our postures have deteriorated. You might notice that at times, that a young boy, aged 10 has a hunched back, and this is all because of our lifestyle. For this reason yoga is meant for all ages.”
About seniors and elders, Hek says, “Getting to yoga for the elderly is a very safe form of exercise that helps them from health issues like insomnia and dementia. Most elderly people require movement and exercise which is gentle that does not cause them further pain or discomfort. For this reason yoga is the best for them. In fact, therapy yoga is also helpful when it comes to paralysed patients, patients with heart conditions, and other patients with many other complications.”
The list does not end here. Yoga has been proven beneficial especially for women during pregnancy too. Hek answers in affirmative as a pregnant yogini herself. “Absolutely! Currently I’m in my 39th week of pregnancy and I can vouch that Yoga really helped me all these past months. I’ve been practising yoga right from the day I got to know I was pregnant, after I received an okay from my obstetrician. However, in other cases it’s recommended to start yoga by the 2nd trimester after the treating obstetrician approves. Yoga during pregnancy helps physically with back pain issues which are very common during the period, along with issues like swollen feet, joint pain, digestion issues and morning sickness.”
She further adds, “During pregnancy there are a lot of changes in the hormones which cause mood swings or make the pregnant woman extremely emotional, irritated or vulnerable. All these feelings can be managed with the simple practice of pre-natal yoga. Pranayama and breathing techniques used during a pre-natal class helps calm the mind, reduces stress, regulates hormones and helps with maintaining blood pressure.”
Hek has had many clients over the years and all of them were glad to have practised during their pregnancy. Yoga helps connect with the unborn child in the womb as well as the mother having a positive birth experience.
When asked about some common misconceptions about yoga that she as a yogini would like to bust, Hek answers, “Some misconceptions especially here in Shillong are that a lot of people think it’s a practice of a particular religion like Hinduism or Buddhism. There is no doubt a practice that roots back to ancient India but it can be embraced by anyone regardless of their religious belief. It is a holistic system focused on harmonising the mind, body, and spirit, and its techniques can be utilised by people of any faith. While some yoga teachers make you do chantings like “Om” and other practices, these can be adapted or approached from a non-religious perspective and if not comfortable one can simply deny doing it.”
Another common false notion that people have about yoga is having a certain body type that Hek clears out. She says, “Many think yoga is only for flexible and young people. Yoga is for everybody. Especially for people who are not flexible. If you feel your body has been too stiff or there’s a lot of tightness in any body part, that’s when you know you need yoga. Regardless of your age, yoga is essential for the body, mind and soul.”
Studio and beyond
Having launched Escape Yoga Studio on International Yoga Day, 21st June 2022,
Hek wanted others to also experience how yoga changed her life. “My first student was my mother and aunt. We practiced in an under-construction studio and in about 2 weeks a few of the neighbours also joined. In just about a month I had close to 10 students.” she recalls.
Presently closed for renovation, but prior to that there were about 60 clients for group classes and 10 private clients with 2 instructors. Ranging from Ashtanga yoga, Hatha yoga, Yin yoga, Restorative yoga, Kriya yoga, Therapy yoga, Fertility yoga, Pre-natal and post-natal yoga, and Kids yoga, Escape Studio under Hek has been doing it all.
Hek who was initially drawn to yoga on Youtube for one and a half years of self-practice, later formalised her training after she joined a 200 hour course in Mysore, Yogadarshanam. Even though she follows many yoga gurus, she’s been particularly drawn towards the teachings of Guru B.K.S. Iyengar (was one of the earliest students of Guru Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who is often referred to as “the father of modern yoga”), a renowned Indian yoga teacher and an author who founded Iyengar Yoga. This is a style of yoga that emphasises on alignment with the use of props like blocks, straps, blankets, cushions, chairs and ropes to support practitioners of all levels in achieving proper alignment.
With innate complexities of modern living, yoga’s pathbreaking essence may positively impact one’s mental, physical and spiritual well-being owing to its therapeutic characteristics. As Hek says, “Everything is better with yoga.”