In conversation with Orentsani Suzen Kikon

Orentsani Suzen Kikon

Trained yoga instructor & founder of Loli Yoga Training Centre

Akangchila Longchar
Morung Express Feature

Orentsani Suzen Kikon is a yoga instructor from Dimapur, who at the young age of 18 decided to pursue the art of yoga. 21 now, Suzen (as her friends know her) had finished her Higher Secondary levels from Sophia’s College, Mumbai, and dived straight into learning Yoga and eventually mastered several styles. She already has several credentials to her name, having learned and taught yoga at renowned institutes like The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, The Yoga Institute, Heart of Modern  Yoga Renaissance, and The Artistic Yoga. Yoga teachers in the Mainland and in the West are given much credence and even reach the status of celebrities. The Morung Express held an exclusive tête-à-tête with the youngster. Here are the excerpts:

MEx: How did you discover yoga? 

Orentsani: Initially, I did not even know what yoga was. From the time I was a kid, I was into athletics and also loved dancing very much. My sister had taken classes from Bharat Thakur Yoga Centre at Mumbai and recommended that I look it up. I had just completed my twelfth from Sophia’s College Mumbai. At first I was not keen at all and thought Yoga was just simple exercises. But my mom encouraged me and said that I could be the first person to be a trained instructor in Nagaland. She made me realize that I love dancing and athletic, but I was not interested since I was 18. I was also the youngest trainee at the centre.

MEx: How long have you been practicing Yoga? 

Orentsani: It has been four years now. My Yoga journey has taken me from Mumbai, Kerala, Chennai, Kodaikanal, Delhi and it has brought me home also. From here I take off for Bangalore.

MEx: Do your family and friends support your career? What was their initial reaction? 

Orentsani: I get teased by my friends a lot. They remark, ‘Oh you are a disciple of Baba Ram Dev’. (She smiles and adds that her friends mean it in good fun because they have always been great support to her.)

MEx: What do you think you would be doing right now if you weren’t teaching Yoga?

Orentsani: I would have certainly taken up fashion designing or dancing.

MEx: How important is practicing Yoga? 

Orentsani: Yoga is the culture of consciousness, and it is the way of a better life. Because of stress- sickness comes. There is a huge need for yoga. There is a need for lots of change in our society and yoga would be helpful.  

MEx: What is Yoga to you?

Orentsani: Yoga is not just about practicing asana in a studio or extremely necessary to use a mat, but one can practice yoga while sitting in a chair or even while travelling. One can also stress relief exercises while in office. But there are also many yoga postures that one should take up only after preparing the mind first.

MEx: What has Yoga taught you?

Orentsani: To be confident, be calm, ability to concentrate and adjust myself to any kind of situation and maintain inner and outer balance mind. I highly recommend that each and every individual should know basic yoga because it not only gives you peaceful mind but frees you from stress, cures health problems, weight loss and also makes you calmer and disciplined.

MEx: Besides Yoga what else do you do to take care of your mind and body?

Orentsani: I love to dance a lot. It has forever been a passion to me.

MEx: What is your source of motivation? 

Orentsani: I am inspired by my family as they always keep motivating me and pushing me forward. My Dad - who is my role model, who always keeps strengthening me when I am down and motivates me. I have learnt a lot through him about how to face life and to overcome obstacles. My Mom - from whom I have learnt many things about how to manage and handle things whether it’s inner or outer. My Brothers and Sisters - who are always there for me whenever I need them and my friends, who support me and always being there when I needed.  My most respected Yoga teachers in the Training Institutes/Schools of Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Kodiakanal (Kerala), Chennai and Bengaluru.      

MEx: What is a common misconception people have about Yoga? 

Orentsani: Preaching spirituality/philosophy through yoga is not my motive. Especially not in Nagaland. Yoga is actually next to doctor. It’s not just fitness. People think yoga is just asanas and meditation but that’s not it. It’s a way of life.

MEx: What style of Yoga do you practice?

Orentsani: I practice the Hatha style of Yoga. (Ha meaning "sun" and tha meaning "moon." Hatha Yoga is commonly translated as the yoga that brings union "of the pairs of opposites." Sometimes Hatha Yoga is also translated as the "forceful yoga", because it requires a lot of physical effort.)

MEx: What do you enjoy most about teaching yoga?

Orentsani: Teaching yoga do not cure naturally and fast but all we got to do is put our heart and soul into it and for me I enjoy while teaching, I love seeing a person transforming the mind and body and entering in a world of peace and harmony.

MEx: What qualities do you feel make a good yoga teacher?

Orentsani: Every work and art got different quality and every individual has own qualities lying within oneself. For me, I feel that a good yoga teacher needs the quality of understanding other person’s mentality, having patience and knowing their thoughts and moulding them strongly from inside, and also helping them to know and feel the inner peace and strength within them.

MEx: Is there any advice you would offer to aspiring yoga teacher? 

Orentsani: If you want to be really good at what you do, forget about how well you do or what other people think, or how it will be interpreted. Just propagate and share what you learned and love. Everything else will follow thereafter. When you love something, you will continue to study and practice and with that you will learn and grow and achieve far beyond what you thought you could not.

Life has its ups and downs. So, my advice for the aspiring yoga teachers will be, do not give up easily because it’s a never ending journey, the more we learn the more experience we gain. Yoga teachers need to work hard with dedication and sincerity and let the message reach out to everyone through yoga and transform more minds and souls into positivity growth.

MEx: What have been your biggest challenges in developing your teaching career and how did you overcome them? 

Orentsani: Some do not understand the basic concept of yoga and that it’s necessary to prepare the mind along with the body. It is a challenge to make people understand that preaching the philosophy of yoga is not my intention.

MEx: Share something with The Morung Express readers?

Orentsani: With a sincere and a regular practice, one can expect to get a slim body, fitness, beauty, light feeling, confidence, calmness etc; the ability to concentrate becomes better and helps to improve sensitivity. This sensitivity will help to adjust oneself to any kind of situation and maintain inner and outside balance.

The sensitivity that yoga gives is useful to avoid excess and to be economical on the physical and mental functions. It is therefore a good possibility to stay healthy and young for a long time.

Most of the Morung Express readers are found to be youths and middle-age persons and thus doing some simple yoga Asanas postures just after reading the newspaper in the morning will immensely benefit the mind and the body. 

Eating can also be considered a practice in which you seek universal balance. Like yoga, eating is a highly personal activity; you learn to adapt your needs to the many popular nutritional systems and diets. Developing a mindful eating practice can provide a ground that truly supports and nurtures your yoga. Therefore, I recommend wholesome balanced diet which includes lots of green organic vegetables, fruits, dry fruits/nuts, and never, never overeat.

I also listen to all kinds of good soothing music as it has its own kind of magic, working in our mind, soul and body.

Being involved in Yoga for four years, Suzen is still very modest about her accomplishment and said, “I don’t even know 5 % of yoga.  There are yet so many things to learn…” Recently Suzen underwent training in another form of yoga called ‘Power Yoga’ and will be leaving for Bangalore soon to work as a trainer. Wishing the best for this young, fiery, and spirited youngster for taking up an uncommon career and daring to follow her dreams. 

Orentsani shares important yoga tips

The most important things you'll need to get started - as they say-are a big heart and a small ego.

  • Always remember that you should begin with the easy postures and then proceed to the difficult ones. One must follow the graded steps of Yoga.
  • The time most suitable for Yoga is in the morning before breakfast when the mind is calm and fresh and the movements can be done with ease and vitality.
  • A person must seek a place of quietude, which is well ventilated, free from dust, insects, unpleasant smell, drought, and moisture. There should be no distraction whatsoever.
  • You must empty your bowels and bladder, clean your nostrils and throat of all mucus, consume a glass of lukewarm water and then begin the exercises after 15 minutes.
  • Yoga trainers recommend a balanced diet (sattwik). There should be an interval of 4 hours between meals.
  • Regarding the quantity of food, it should be moderate (mitahara), only that which satisfies one's appetite.
  • One should avoid overeating, fasting or eating once a day. Stale or non-nutritious food, you know, is harmful.
  • The clothing should be loose and as scanty as possible, because maximum amount of the skin should be exposed to air.
  • Form-fitting cotton/Lycra pants and shirts are the best.
  • The breathing should be long and deep. The mouth should be closed and inhale and exhale only through the nose.
  • Always take a mat of kusa or any other grass or hay for sitting postures.
  • For lying postures use a woolen carpet, and spread a clean sheet over it.

Advice to yoga beginners: 

  • Practice Journal: A spiral-bound blank book is a great place for recording thoughts about your practice, even if some of your insights turn out to be less than cosmic. Use your notebook to make observations about the classes you are taking, too. Compile lists of postures; the ones you know and the ones that you are learning. List new terms that you think you would like to remember. Write down questions that come up in meditation.
  • Become an Artist: Drawing stick figures is a great way to summarize information and remember the fine points about a posture. Highlight your drawing with arrows and important cues.
  • Make space at home: By practicing the same routine at home one can create a groove in one's mind.
  • Define your practice: The practice routine you create depends a good deal on you. Define the time you have available for practice, the technique you would like to focus on, and the balance among meditation, breathing, and asana practices.
  • Use proper yoga mat: This may seem like a minor matter, but the security that comes from firm footing is hard to overrate.
  • Build a small library of books and CDs: Yoga videos are invaluable. They offer experience with different styles of yoga as well as with different levels of practice. And audio recordings are a great way to internalize the relaxation and meditation practice of your choice.
  • Take breathing breaks: Breathing is a powerful tool for managing stress. And while a few moments of breath awareness can definitely short-circuit a fit of anger or a moment of anxiety, you might consider extending your breathing breaks and using them on a more regular basis-refreshing yourself for a few minutes or longer once or twice every day. During your break you can close your eyes and count your breaths, or you can simply relax the tensions that have crept into the respiratory muscles. You’ll find that a five-minute period of breath awareness will soothe the subtle strain of daily thinking and recharge your mind.
  • Quiet the critics: You know the ones-the voices in your head that tell you that you aren’t likely to accomplish much or that you’re really not suited for yoga. Everyone has some doubts about themselves. But if those doubts become a naysaying chorus, they’ve gone too far. Trust that your interest in and appreciation for yoga are really a kind of devotion; a sentiment of greater value than any technical skill you can muster.

The Benefits of yoga 
Any one can practice yoga and get its benefits which suit to every cultures and societies.

  • Yoga is an ancient system of exercises that has evolved over the millennium in India and practise the world over. Yoga uses breathing techniques, exercise and meditation. It claims to improve health and happiness. 
  • Yoga is not a physical exercise. Yoga is a spiritual practice which doesn't interfere in any religion or philosophy. Yoga aims for self improvement that leads to well being.
  • The harmonizing effects of yoga has been experienced by many people and documented in scientific studies.
  • Basic yoga is to improve one's vitality, to release the stress that appears through different kind of physical and mental tensions.
  • The practice of the particular postures (called ‘Asanas’) give to the body a repetition of tension and relaxation. It leads to physical fluidity and flexibility which influence positively the mind.
  • The use of breathing practices contribute to the unity of the body and the mind. Through the control of the respiration and the vital energy (called ‘Prana’), the self awareness will be brought to a higher level by expending and integrating better in to the environment.
  • For a more precise explanations and health benefits that Yoga can give for loosening weight, chronic disease, psychosomatic disease etc....it is advised to contact directly professional and trained yoga teacher.

 



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