ThatIndieRunner: Yoga

THAT INDIE TALK PODCAST EP 15: CALMIN VALENTINO

2021

Thursday, February 11, 2021
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x THE WMN : EVON

2020

ON YOU

My name is EVON and I am a Ugandan singer songwriter as well as a yoga teacher living in Kampala, the nation’s capital. I love music and art in all its forms, books on spirituality and my two little dogs.

I enjoy gardening, flowers. Roses are my favourite.Send me some :)

ON YOGA

I started yoga two years ago. I had always wanted to practice but felt it was for other people. Then I found a beginners Ashtanga yoga video on Youtube and started doing it every morning and never stopped because I loved the way I felt after doing it.

It was relaxing and also challenging, stretching my body and my mind, gradually beginning to do poses I thought I couldn’t do. I became much more aware of myself, my posture, where and how in the body I carry my emotions .I became present.

Then I signed up for a Yoga teacher training course in Nairobi, got in and had a wonderful experience meeting yogis from across Africa. I have been teaching privately and practicing ever since.

It has been my experience that as an African practicing yoga, I am perceived to be somewhat misguided and engaged in a culture that is not my own. There is also notion that it is a white and privilege practice. Of course, neither one of these assumptions is accurate. There is a vast and diverse array of Africans practicing yoga now .There are people like me holding space and a place for people who like me in the Yoga community. Yoga is for every single body.

ON BALANCE

Balancing between my professional life and physical activity was quite a challenge especially as a performing artist, scheduling practice when I was on the road. Now with COVID 19 , less bookings and gigs ,I practice at least every day.

I am also a yoga teacher, so when I have classes scheduled, I use those opportunities to get in as much physical practice (asanas) as I can.

I do daily mediation, pranayama (breathing) and the asanas as often as I can now.

My schedule is not as busy. I am starting to slow down and focus on what is important and what is most important is my wellbeing.

View this post on Instagram

It's really beautiful out here. Ready for #SautizaBusara In the meantime #Yoga.

A post shared by evon.uganda (@evonthesinger) on Feb 16, 2020 at 1:42am PST

ON WOMEN

I am so glad to be an African woman especially at a time such as this , where we ,connected as a global collective, are loudly and unapologetically calling out the structures of imbalance and injustices in patriarchal society.

I have great respect and admiration for the women who have gone before and even more so now for the women at the forefront . Sexual violence, income equality, employment opportunity inequity, racial and gender discrimination are issues we are consciously choosing to no longer be quiet about.

This is a very good thing. We are choosing to create a society that is broad and all inclusive, for our highest good as a collective recognizing that we are diverse in shapes, sizes, colours and creeds. This is a wonderful thing. Social media platforms continue to play a major role in this .I think that as we continue to use of these platforms to represent our stories authentically, uninhibited who we are, we give courage to others to do as well.

ON WOMEN IN SPORTS

I would certainly like to see more support of women in sport and not just when they have achieved a win and recognition. And also preferably that the success and recognition of African or black sports women is not trivialized and watered down just because they are black and female.

ON COVID – 19

Corona brought about a forced stillness, as Eckhart Tolle calls it, into my life

Before I was busy being busy .Didn’t have the time to actually sit down , look at my life and take stock. With the lock down and quarantine, came the time to evaluate , reconnect and centre myself, my life , the people I loved, what served me , what didn’t , what was important and was not. I had to face things for what they were, not what I was busy trying to make them out be. Facing life as it actually is.

It‘s a reality check on the vulnerability of my own existence. How everything can change at any moment. I recently lost a friend to COVID-19 and that has been jarring. Grateful for the quality of life he lived and definitely a quality of authenticity, love and kindness to others and to myself I now to emulate and practice.

Life as I used to know it has changed forever. I now make the daily conscious choice that this change is for the better.

ON THE NEW NORMAL

The New Normal I think ,is familial centred .I like to think so. We now are mostly working from home close to those who love and matter the most to our lives. The ideal is that our homes are serene and centred. I know the reality for some is different. New Normal living I think demands we look into our immediate relationships while we are distanced from the rest of the world. We are beginning to recognize we are all we have, family and friendships. We are becoming aware of the physical and emotional spaces we inhibit.

I am not thinking too far ahead .If there is anything I have learnt from all this is taking things one day at a time, living in the moment is the key. Life changes so quickly.

I am producing my music project called ‘Songs of Home’, working on my song writing skills, taking online yoga classes to keep my personal practice fresh and interesting.

FOR WOMEN

This section is for your special message for all women in South Africa, during women’s month.

My special message to all the women in South Africa during this women’s month is

Put yourself first. Make your mental and emotional wellbeing your top priority .From this springs all the goodness of life.

Other interesting reads for women's month feature the below women

- Refilwe Mokgosi , A cyclist, runner and future iron man finisher from Johannesburg, South Africa

- Ncumisa Pongoma , A vegan chartered accountant and fitness influencer from Johannesburg South Africa.

- Hasina Bharoochi , A teacher, mother and niqaabi runner from Johannesburg, South Africa. Who improved the condition of her autoimmune illness through consistent running and healthy eating.

- Roseline Eyenike , a yoga teacher and my sole mate from Lagos, Nigeria. Who recently ran 45km unprovoked during covid-19 times as part of a charity drive.

#RunRevolution.

Sunday, August 23, 2020
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x THE WMN : Anesu Mbizvo

2020

I drew parallels from my conversation with Anesu. Its almost always that I step into my Yoga class and I am the only black man in the space. Sure there are several factors that come into this conversation,

- The gym I am subscribed to is regarded as a premuim gym, often referred to as a hotel. I often joke that I need to buy towels before I can downgrade my membership. Now because of lockdown, I actually need to re evaluate my gym membership but this is not the blog post for that. If you have a swimming pool in your backyard, please invite me when we can be social again, a boy needs a dip in the water.

- Yoga is associated with white women, who have coffee at Starbucks after practice. That is the general stereotype and if you search on instagram and pinterest you can see how this is perpetuated.

- People go to gym to sweat and fall apart on the gym floor. The practice of yoga is not associated with physical duress. My mother thought it was just stretching until she saw me doing a headstand against the wall. Side Note, I still need to take her through her first practice.

So how do we diversify the yoga space?

Me and Anesu had a lengthy conversation around this topic, her experiences being a woman in business, creating vegan meals and adapting to our new world.

Another thing I learnt from this conversation is that "Running Is A Moving Meditation". The next time I am on the streets and things are not coming together. I need to stop beating myself up and accept where I am on that day. A tough, nonsense that leaves on the brink of crying is better than no run.

View my conversation with Anesu, links are below.

THAT INDIE TALK PODCAST EPISODE 7 Pt. 1

THAT INDIE TALK PODCAST EPISODE 7 Pt. 2

Other interesting reads for women's month feature the below women

- Ncumisa Pongoma , A vegan chartered accountant and fitness influencer from Johannesburg South Africa.

- Hasina Bharoochi , A teacher, mother and niqaabi runner from Johannesburg, South Africa. Who improved the condition of her autoimmune illness through consistent running and healthy eating.

- Roseline Eyenike , a yoga teacher and my sole mate from Lagos, Nigeria. Who recently ran 45km unprovoked during covid-19 times as part of a charity drive.

#RunRevolution