SHENAYOGA

My practice of yoga started in 2010 and I begun teaching in 2015. Through having faith and consistently showing up, humbled by life which is our greatest teacher, being discerning in studying what speaks to my heart and curiosity, and by the grace of teachers before us—my practice evolved from simply keeping fit to one of stillness within. Slow strokes. Intention movements. Present breath. Invisible shifts. Being with feelings. Strolling inwards.

The practice of asana to me, is still as beautiful as the less fancy yoga practices such as pranayama, silent sitting, even tongue scraping. My greatest joy is offering accessible yoga to anyone and everyone. To meet you as you are with loving kindness.

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How I was before yoga found me

For many years I was easily and overly excitable. Fleeting. Constantly over-thinking. People-pleasing and chronic fixer. Too externally gratified by people’s opinions and swayed by others’ emotions. I felt good making people happy, but there was a bit of an emptiness inside and I didn’t know why. It just was natural and necessary. It’s almost second nature but my nervous system was wrecked! Today as I look back, I can find appreciation, and have enjoyed every bit of life experiences. But I’m glad that something told me then, that it wasn’t a healthy state to be in forever.

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Why did I go for a teacher training?

2015 was a long time ago, but knowing why we start and seeing how life has shifted is important to me for staying pure and on the path of my heart.

Without intending to become a yoga teacher, I signed up for Emily Kuser’s 200Hr High Vibe Yoga Teacher Training in Ubud, Bali. It was an excuse to take a “long” trip without others thinking that I was being lazy in life. Look how others’ judgements mattered so much to me before.

All I knew then was that I needed to be somewhere by myself. I was growing sick of the nature of my writing job that I used to enjoy so much. I was growing tired of the labels I’ve accumulated in 29 years, and yet so helpless in defining my true self. I was growing apart from this blessed, lovely life that seems to fit others but not me, and I wondered if there is something very wrong with me.

Death of the self and old identities was something I was curious about. So I this was an opportunity to cast aside everything safe and secure that I have for just awhile, just to see what surfaces after the letting go. It wasn’t easy, I’m sure you can resonate. Quit a stable job, leave loved ones behind, and “destroy” this idea of self that took years to carve and define. Being “irresponsible and selfish”. Choosing to “kill my identity”, to wipe out deeply ingrained labels, to recreate “me” and to not care about what others think.

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My first yoga teacher training

By a stroke of luck and affinity, I choose Emily’s YTT with a gut feel. Back then, there was only one photo of Emily I could google for online. I was never at Yoga Barn before. I had never even heard of Yoga Barn before! Her smile and closed eyes comforted me. With a leap of faith I quit my corporate job and booked a two-month trip to Bali.

The first day of the YTT, I didn’t know who to be. What to be. And so I questioned me, I became many forms of me — the overly excited and friendly, the quiet pensive, the emotional. And I met more of me. The self that wants to held, to be vulnerable, to be courageous, to speak up, to not fear judgement. The self that has been suppressed. Old pains floated to the surface, healing happened, and samskaras were released. There were more tears than sweat. More opening of the heart than I ever thought possible.

If an inward journey is what you seek for your YTT, I recommend you to consider Emily’s training that focuses not on the asanas, but on heart matters.

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The now

I wasn’t entirely cleansed, shiny and brand new in one training, of course. I realised very quickly that this will be a lifelong journey. This is the turning point of my life.

What was once yoga to me shifted. Yoga is still physically beneficial to my body, but yoga became more so a powerful healing, peace-giving tool. I’m still me when I came home, after every teacher training and course I take. But less reactive, more contemplative, and consciously seeing love in everything and everyone — including myself.

My practice is now consistently shifting inwards. The breath took over almost everything, on and off the mat. I’ve read that Tara Stiles wrote, “A successful tree pose probably won’t change your life. Learning how to keep your breath easy, long, and deep no matter what the circumstance? That absolutely will.”

As the breath became the focus on my practice, no matter the asanas strong or simple, or if meditation is practised in sitting, walking, swimming, diving, or slicing apples… I do my best to breathe well and be present. And so, when I have the chance to guide your practice as a yoga teacher, I wish to share this simple connection with breath with you too.

“If you can breathe, you can do yoga.” – Krishnamacharya

1Love x
Shena

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CERTIFICATIONS

Some amazing yoga programmes I’ve attended and will recommend:

• 6-months Somatic Woman: Embrace and Transform Your Menopause with Yoga with Judith Hanson Lasater, Mary Richards, and Lizzie Lasater
• 100-hour Rewild the Feminine Yoga Therapy Teacher Training with Bex Tyrer at Yoga Barn, Bali on menstrual cycle awareness, the art of women’s circle, women’s anatomy and women in yoga history
• 85-hour Embodied Woman: Prenatal and Postpartum Yoga Teacher Training with Amber Sawyer, in Singapore at Hom Yoga
• 65-hour Yin Yoga Teacher Training on Chinese Medicine, Meridian Nidra and Hip Anatomy with Jo Phee, Yinspiration in Singapore at Hom Yoga
• 50-hour Restorative Yoga Module with Anouk Aoun, accompanied by the study of pranayama and meditation in the lineage of Emil Wendel in Goa, India
• 50-hour Traditional Tantra Hatha with Octavio Salvador at The Practice in Canggu, Bali
• Intuitive Healing USUI Reiki Level 1 and 2 with Danielle Van De Velde
• 10-day Conversations in Yoga of history, philosophy and meditation by Emil Wendel and Anouk Aoun in Goa, India
• 27-hour Rainbow Kids Yoga Teacher Training with Bo Dhamarongrat in Singapore
• 10-day Vipassana Meditation in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin, as taught by S.N. Goenka in Auckland, New Zealand
• Unwinding the Feminine Workshop with Bex Tyrer in Ubud, Bali
• Yoga of Heart Workshop with Mark Whitwell in Ubud, Bali
• 200-hour Yoga Alliance: Hatha Yoga with refinements in meditation, pranayama, asana and philosophy with Emily Kuser in Ubud, Bali at The Yoga Barn