Yogi #11 Niru and Yogi #12
YOGI: Alister
AGE: 62
RESIDE: East Victoria Park WA
Ethnic background: Celtic
STUDENT: Very intermittently over 30 years
YOUR STUDIO: Yoga tent
FAVOURITE STYLE OF YOGA:
Restorative Yoga, Yoga Nidra
How often do you practice asana?
• 2 times
How often do you meditate?
Never
What did you think of yoga before you tried it for yourself?
Always had respect for yoga as a tradition
Why do you LOVE practicing yoga now?
Improves my lifestyle, after a serious spinal injury as a young man stretching gives me great relief. I love the calmness it instils in me.
Do you think yoga has changed you in anyway (yes or no) if yes ... WHY?
Yes, it has helped me with both physical and psychological health
What do you believe are the long term benefits of practicing yoga?
Relieves stress, encourages mindfulness and improves physical health.
Niru Perera
In my childhood, the practice of yoga was something that I associated with India and Hinduism. And then, as a young adult, I started seeing these new schmick yoga studios opening up in hip locations in Sydney - attended by very fit-looking people with taught bodies like ballet dancers. I thought yoga would be out of my reach. I wasn't svelte, I felt clumsy and uncoordinated. Yoga looked too hard and like it required years of practice to contort the body into perhaps unnatural ways. But yoga has changed so much in our lifetimes and it's moved all around the world now.
Yoga's been ebbing and flowing my life for decades, but I think the few years I have been living in Perth, it has become essential to my wellbeing. I moved to East Victoria Park from Cairns by myself in 2019. Before I arrived, I had already researched yoga studios online, thinking that would be a good way to get settled into a new city. Straight away Kim's yoga stood out to me because it was full of positivity and had a photo of her spinning vinyl!
At the time I started coming to the Yogi Tent there was another student, Simone, who would be there often with her two daughters. I remember her asking me, "why don't you come more than once a week?" It was a revelation! I was used to yoga only being a once a week thing, but then I realised, there was nothing to stop me from doing it more often. From that point Kim's tent became my second home. I loved making it part of my everyday life, and then having the chance to do special things like live music meditation with Pat, and restorative yoga with Syari and her amazing head massages, and anything with essential oils! I love the mood of yoga - the dim lights, the music and the scents. I love doing flow, yin, pretty much anything except hot! And I love what it does for me - not only my physical strength, but my physical balance, the calming effect, the flexibility, the breathing.
Lastly, I love that yoga is pretty accessible to people - you can take it easy or go hard core, you can do it anywhere, even without a mat, and you can look however you want. All you need is your body.