Australian Yoga Journal – July 2019

76

july 2019

yogajournal.com.au

PHOTO: RAY RUI/UNSPLASH

ByPuravijoshi

TWOYEARSAGO,asI wasnearing30,I

foundmyselfcompletelylost,outofa job

afternearly 10 yearsinanindustrythatI

had(forthemostpart)loved.I’dbeen

bulliedoutofmycorporatejobbymy

boss,a manwhotoldmeI wasa

distractionwhenI walkedacrossthe

tradingfloorbecauseofhowI lookedand

dressed.Theentireordealleftmewith

severeanxiety,panicattacks,and

insomnia.I knewI shouldtakesome

timeout.SoI bookeda one-wayflightto

AustraliaanddecidedI’djustgowiththe

flow.

Aftertravellingformonthsthrough

AustraliaandBali,Ifinallylandedin

SiemReap,Cambodia.ImmediatelyI

feltanunexplainablepeace.Peoplewere

charmingandfriendly;thechildren

weresofullofwonder;thescenerywas

mesmerising.I revelledinmeandering

alongsoftdirtroads,discoveringsecrets

keptinhiddenshopsandcosycafes.It

feltsafe.

MostpeoplevisitSiemReaptosee

AngkorWat– a hugecomplexof

ancienttemplesspanning 160 hectares,

builtintheearly12thcenturybythe

KhmerkingSuryavarmanII,and

dedicatedtoVishnu,theHindugodof

preservation.I boughta three-daypass

andgotlostinthelabyrinth.Roaming

throughmagnificenttemples,

witnessingBuddhistmonkssilently

pray,I allowedmyselftobegintoheal.

Likethebygonepagodasthatwere

slowlybeingreclaimedbymassivetrees

andgnarledvines,I realisedthatmy

LESSONS FROM

traumawaspartofmyjourney,tohelp

megrowandchange.What’smeantto

happenwillalwayshappen,I thought,

reflectingonthebeautifullymorphed

landscape.It wasthefirsttimein

monthsthatI wasabletorelaxandlet

go.Asmymindsettledandmyanxiety

loosened,I begantoprocessmytrauma

andmoveforward.

SiemReapgavemebacka partof

myselfthatI thoughtI’dlost.Afterjust

threedays,I feltlighterandhappier.I

hadbeenplanningtoattendyoga

teachertraininginthecomingmonths,

butthegleefulchildrenofSiemReap

revealedmydesiretoworkwithkids.

Likeme,howwouldtheycopewith

stressandtrauma?I wantedtohelp.

Today,I teachyogaandmindfulness

toyoungpeopleinpreschoolsand

primaryandsecondaryschoolsacross

London,offeringthemtoolstocopewith

anxiety,stress,andtraumaina holistic

way.I amAmbassadoroftheGirls

Network,mentoringgirlsaged14–19,

andempoweringthemwithself-

confidencethroughyoga.AngkorWat’s

templeshavewithstoodtheevolutionof

centuries:wars,weather,vegetation—yet

theystillstandstrong.It reflectedmy

ownstrengthbacktome.Inthe#MeToo

era,I standfirmlyinmystrengthasI

helpliftfuturegenerations.

ANCIENT

TEMPLES

After walking away from a career in banking, one

yoga teacher found her footing at Angkor Wat.

Puravi joshi is an ex-banker turned yoga

teacher who leads hatha, vinyasa, and

restorative yoga classes in London. She also

teaches yoga and mindfulness to children.

Learn more at puravijoshi.com.