brand you represent cannot be more important than your humility.
But don’t beat yourself up for making mistakes. I do not have any
regrets: my path is my path, and my destiny is my destiny, I was not
meant to know it then and I am happy I know it now.What do you do when you’re not doing yoga
This is an interesting question for yogis and the answer to it depends
on their state of mind. In the spiritual sense when are we not doing
yoga? Once you have a deeper understanding of yoga you will
realise that yoga is in everything we do, because yogic approach is
a part of our momentum thought process. Writing, planning, eating,
drinking, washing, playing, having sex: it’s all yoga to us simply
because the way we breathe requires a yogic approach.Any tips for incorporating yoga into ordinary life
See the humour in all things, breathe life into all things that you
do. Again, be thankful as often as you can. Stop...look and listen...
like a cat.and an acknowledgement of their presence.
I have also lectured on yoga and mindfulness, and how yoga
can be used for conlict resolution, at a number of high proile
conferences and events in Africa.
Before becoming a yoga teacher I was also a conceptual artist.
One of my major pieces of artwork ‘Black Angels’ is featured in
Key Stage 3 of the English National Curriculum, meaning students
studying for their art GCSE are recommended to explore my work
based on identity formation.
What are your yoga plans now and going forward
There are no plans as such, only desires. This year my only plan is to go
with the low. In past years I kept on planning and life keeps on changing
them. As I mature I realise that my purpose is to low with life and the
universe itself. I desire that my book is re-published this year and to
tour. I am here to teach so I will teach wherever I am and in whatever
capacity life allows. My other desire is to continue training others to
teach Tama-re Smai Taui Afrikan Yoga in Africa and around the world
and to run my yoga retreats in Morocco and bring more people to
experience the Nile River in Egypt through The Niles New Wave retreats
and wherever I am required to go and simply be a joyful better human
being. I’ve always prided myself on being real and diferent, I guess this
will continue.
Any yoga tips for new teachers
I wish I’d kept my day job while I built a larger and loyal student
base before I went ‘all in’ teaching Afrikan Yoga as a mission 100%
and simply became a ‘poor, righteous teacher’. I didn’t realise
teaching yoga can be seasonal, in the sense that summer and
winter are the most bleak times for teachers especially for a person
who is pioneering a completely unique and diferent system to
the household names already out there. If a new teacher does not
have a solid marketing plan and creating other forms of income
for themselves, then it’s quite challenging to maintain and your
conviction has to be strong.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start
I built a team but sadly they saw me as a visionary guru and father
igure, so when I lost my brother, father, aunty and uncle within six
months and my marriage was breaking down I became a boy that
needed comfort and support and that was a burst to the bubble that
was created or projected onto me and around me.
Also, cultivate compassion for all people. Calling yourself a yoga
teacher because you have completed 200hrs or 500hrs of training
doesn’t make you a non-judgemental compassionate one, nor does
it make you spiritual. Instead, it’s your willingness to remain open,
to be vulnerable and look at your mistakes and admit them; your
willingness to be a vessel of love no matter who you teach and
retain your respect and loyalty to your teachers who brought you up
along the way regardless of their failings. The style of yoga and what
“My particular teaching style has been
described as natural, user friendly,
spiritual and fun. My general focus is to
assists practitioners in body awareness,
listening to the body, and breathing
into a psycho-spiritual state to come
to a deeper understanding of self and
connect to the source.”AFRIKAN YOGA
Afrikan Yoga is a form of yoga known for its use of
rhythmic movements to the beat of drums, which aids in
heating up the body. There is an emphasis on elemental
body awareness and breath and the development of
lexibility, mobility strength, and endurance through dance
and postures. It is a fun and luid form of yoga to bring you
back to your core and reconnect you: with the source.
Find out more about Pablo Imani at pabloimani.comPhoto: Moud Imhotep