My introduction to yoga in my late 20s helped me to manage my life path to this day as I approach 77 (I teach yoga – its appropriation by the white wellness industry is a form of colonialism, but we can move on, 3 January). Marrying, moving to South Africa and starting a business unfamiliar to me caused high stress levels. With luck I was recommended to an ashram offering classes. That 75 minutes of calm, yoga postures and gentle music just once a week saved me from burnout.
The philosophy of yoga by Swami Venkatesananda and Swami Sivananda taught to the founder members exemplified original integral yoga. Volunteers are always on hand to make sandwiches for the undernourished, and teachers regularly go into informal settlements to demonstrate breathing exercises and basic yogic asanas to help asthmatics and generally show a way to better health with movement. They also run a programme for disadvantaged children. Today, having moved away from Cape Town, I have still been able to find a teacher from that original ashram. They have teachers and students from every background. To me, the teachings signified the true nature of yoga and the eight limbs.
Christine Schmid
Plettenberg Bay, Western Cape, South Africa
