Laila Nayamuth : An Instructor Demystifying Myths about Yoga

Laila Nayamuth’s career as a yoga instructor spans over a period of fifteen years now. Her goal is not only to maintain a healthy lifestyle but also to teach others how to practise the same. She has taught hundreds of students how to breathe properly and tune their bodies with the right postures.

Yoga is a discipline that has been practiced for eons and today, its popularity and the health benefits associated with it have not waned. Instead, its adherents are growing.  Often seen as a gentle and spiritual activity, this discipline can also be physical. Laila Nayamuth believes that physical exercises are an integral part to maintain a healthy lifestyle. “Most people go to the gym for work-outs, but yoga can be of great help in achieving a great body and mind,” says Laila Nayamuth.  As she sees it, Yoga can be practiced almost everywhere, with a minimum of equipment. 

People tend to believe that yoga is a religious practice. It is a myth that Laila wants to eradicate. “Yoga has nothing to do with any particular religious belief.  It is simply the connection of the breath to the body and mind,” she advances. She explains that it is a practice where you learn to use your breathing and your mind to delve within yourself and touch the inner core of your essence. Furthermore, she points out that many people think breathing is a simple task which we are doing every moment. “Are people really breathing properly? Are they even aware of the breath which travels in and out of their nostrils?” she questions.  She elucidates that the body breathes for us, actually about 23,000 breaths a day and we take no notice.  Each breath brings fresh oxygenated blood flowing through our body, reaching organs, muscles, tissue and we just sit back, chill out and forget about it. For her, people who have a low opinion of yoga are the ones who probably never tried it in the first place and any exposure or knowledge they have about it has been obtained through social media.

According to the yoga instructor, if we start to really become aware and start to feel our breath filling our belly, lungs and chest completely through the right techniques, extra rich-oxygenated blood will flow through our bodies. “How many among us realize that without breathing, there is no existence?” she asks. She advises us to think hard about breathing; we must be grateful for each and every breath which comes in and goes out, which is at the very source of life.

Another misconception about yoga is that it is strenuous or is practiced by people who can twist their body with all kinds of moves. To that, Laila asserts the contrary. Yoga is very light and easy to do. In her own experience as a yoga instructor, she has encountered numerous people who complain that it is harder than it looks. Laila explains: “A position requires that you must hold your breath for about 30 seconds or more; it is obvious that this is a challenge. The reality behind it is that you are making your muscles work and in this context, you end up getting a very profound workout and your muscles are strengthened.”

Reminiscing her first yoga experience when she was a beginner fifteen years ago, Laila narrates that despite the fact that the first session was devoted to warming up, she found it very difficult. However, with the encouragement of her two instructors Mohsin and Sarita, she completed her three months to yoga initiation. She was so impressed that she decided to take an Advanced Certificate course. Later, she volunteered with one of her neighbours for more than a year. With the help of a friend, Laila founded an NGO in Quatre Bornes, where they help people regain their peace of mind through yoga.

Yoga helps

Yoga is beneficial both for the body and the mind. According to Laila, Yoga is a complete sport in itself. Along with balancing the body, it helps to calm and strengthen our minds to cope with the stress of daily life. “The connection of body, mind and breathing helps to direct attention inward, to become more aware of the experience from moment to moment. It is the discipline of the mind to train in the attitude of gratitude,” she points out. Whether we call it yoga or body balance, according to her, it's the easiest way to stay fit and healthy and it is a practice that she recommends to people of all age groups. In her opinion, Yoga should be introduced in every school as well as at work to maintain the social well-being of the society. “Yoga is not based solely on posture, but also on the benefits we get by practicing it for 10 to 15 minutes on a daily basis,” concludes Laila Nayamuth.

Her experience in Kuwait as yoga instructor

In 2014, Laila Nayamuth got the opportunity to teach yoga to two Kuwaitis who ran a hotel in Kuwait. Impressed by her yoga sessions, they offered her to come to work in their hotel as a yoga therapist. She accepted the offer and stayed two and a half years in Kuwait. “It was really an amazing experience,” says Laila. In Kuwait, she taught yoga only to women because it was a hotel run according to the principles of Islamic laws. “Most of them were Muslims practising yoga for the first time. They have mostly heard about yoga, but have never tried it before. I obtained a lot of positive feedback from them,” she recalls. After she returned to Mauritius, she became a yoga instructor to people of all walks of life at the Fitness Gym at Curepipe. She also works with Alzheimer patients in a private senior citizen home in Beau Bassin and gives prenatal private classes to pregnant women.