Yoga: My Journey Within

Despite having many Hindostani friends, I always thought that Yoga was only meant for Asians who wanted to withdraw from the world and spend their lives in a Himalayan cave. To me Yoga was incompatible with a hectic Western lifestyle.

I was born and raised in the multicultural South American country of Suriname and my parents were of Chinese/Creole origin. In 1990 I moved to the Netherlands. In my neighborhood there were people hailing from ancestors from India (Hindus and Muslims ¹¹), Indonesia (Javanese), China (Chinese) and Africa (Creole). I felt an immediate connection with my Hindostani neighbors and I was privileged to be welcome to participate in their daily lives and celebrations. Every year I especially looked forward to their colorful Holi Phagwa, a Hindu festival that welcomes the spring and celebrates new life of the season as well as the triumph of good over evil. My friends in school were all Hindostani and we played and enjoyed meals together every single day. The familiarity with their cuisine, language and music was striking and I could sing along with all the songs I heard from their radio, even though I could not speak Hindi. I was fascinated by their wedding ceremonies and pujas (prayer service ritual) and this touched my heart on many occasions. I visited Indian cinemas with my friends once a week and my room was decorated with pictures of Bollywood (Indian film industry based in Mumbai) heroes and heroines. During those years I was too young to understand and grasp the deeper meaning of Hinduism but I was touched by the beauty of what I saw and learned from my Hindostani neighbors and friends. 

Many years later,  I was searching for answers to life’s most existential questions: where  do we come from? What is our purpose? What happens after we die? Someone suggested studying and practicing Yoga.

Despite having many Hindostani friends, I always thought that Yoga was only meant for Asians who wanted to withdraw from the world and spend their lives in a Himalayan cave. To me Yoga was incompatible with a hectic Western lifestyle.

Obviously the experiences in my childhood with my neighbors and my affinity with Hindu rites, had laid a foundation which enabled me to open up to Yoga and enroll in a school run by the late Vera Kaffiludi. Within a short time I had to admit how prejudiced and ill-informed I was. I attended the school for 10 years.

The first book I read was “Yoga the Inward Path” by Ronald P. Beesley (Founder of the College of Psycho-Therapeutics). This line from his book triggered my curiosity: “Every human being has the ability to cure himself through spiritual development, awakening and the aim to become one with the divine source”.

Looking back, I am very grateful that I opened myself up and started to read more about and practice Hatha Yoga. It really shaped my life and I experienced that, especially in our hectic Western society, Yoga is very beneficial in finding peace and calming the mind. I noticed that the calmer I was, the better equipped I was to cope with the ever-changing and hectic society around me.

I practiced various disciplines of Yoga and found out that Yoga is not a goal in itself. Its purpose is not to “reach” a destination or to “arrive” somewhere. Yoga is a way of life. It is being constantly AWARE and RESPONSIBLE. Yoga taught me that to discover who you really are, you have to go within and it made me aware of the importance of prana, the essence of existence. In working with children, it is also very beneficial. Often a simple pranayama exercise (regulation of the breath through certain techniques) has helped me to create calmness in a classroom. When the children are hyperactive or overexcited, I ask them to close their eyes and concentrate on their breath for a few minutes. I do not mention the term Yoga. Within a few minutes, the classroom environment becomes peaceful. Also during these uncertain times due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, this simple breathing technique can help calm feelings of anxiety.

On this International Yoga day, I wish that we all live with great awareness so that we can positively contribute to the collective energy of the universe to help raise our vibration to a higher level. We receive what we give out:

“we can only drink from a glass, what we ourselves have poured into it.”

I would like to end with a short meditation inspired by R. Beesly:

“Let us give thanks to the universal ocean of purveyance since it is our privilege to pour from this divine source. Let’s be very selective and pour only that which is pure, so that we can build a solid divine temple within our body, mind and soul.”