It’s been a year, a whole year since I took a leap into my passion and left Dubai for good. Well, it was precisely 22nd April 2016, when I flew out to London to start my journey and be a Certified Personal Trainer. With dreams in my eyes, passion to follow and believe in the destiny that was waiting to be unfolded, I crossed the borders.
What do I remember of those days? My first drive to Premier Training Institute near Finsbury Park with my brother on a weekend, to check out the place and connectivity. On the map it showed that there is a tube station and bus stop next door, rightfully so it was well connected. One thing about London I always enjoy is that you can feel so independent, one app on your phone and the place is yours. How to get where, how much time, alternative routes, time for the next bus or tube, it was all on the phone app (few years ago I would have said ‘print map’ instead).
Then came the official day when we were to start at 9am our first day at this centre into a 6-week course, as usual I was the first one arriving at 8-30am waiting for the day to start. Once it was time, I went to the room assigned to our batch and chose a seat and eventually one by one, the others came through and chose to sit where they felt like. During our first break, some of us chatted and connected on our way to Starbucks (yes! one opposite the road next to a salad place where you could choose what you want and make your own salad, ideal for lunch). By the end of the day, we knew who we connected well with, and in the coming days some swapped places as well. It reminded me of school, where you have those kids who ‘know it all’, to ‘I want to learn’ and ‘I want to have fun’; except here the age group was varied, from 24 years old to almost 45 years old, from a student to a chef; everyone had a story to tell. As we got to chatting in the coming days, our groups were set and we had our gym buddies. Whenever there was a theory paper, we studied together, when there were practicals in the gym, we made sure we had a good chemistry with the buddy, after all who wants to be an unhappy instructor or trainee. We all were learning not only from the qualified teachers but also the others in the class – the culture, lifestyle, journey and dreams. One thing was common though, we all wanted to rule our world in our own ways.
After 6-weeks and no weekends as we continued studying, I learnt more about life, while I left my career and came here, a friend left her child with family to do this course, some others flew in from other parts of the world, one guy we discovered was a singer so good that he even participated in American Idol and yes he met Simon 🙂 I still remember the day someone played the video in the class and even though he was not there, we all saw it with so much interest that we sent him messages, by then we had our own small what’s app group! Come a test, in the evening few of us would question the other on what’s app to brush our learning and question the other to test their understanding. It was fun in it’s own way with an educational level we couldn’t fall from. My routine was to come home, cook dinner and go back to studying, weekends were no different, I would go out for a run or exercise at home and then study. It was all about studying after 15 years of no education, this was challenging as we had to score 70%, moreover we wanted to learn, it was all about committing to what we want in life and wanting just that. When in gym, we tried to lift more weights to prove to ourselves more to ourselves than the others that we can do it, while some others simply showed off their six packs, yes yes it was intimidating at times. When it was exam time, we all were early at the Institute with a coffee in hand and papers to read again. When a discussion started, all of us would look at the other, one doubtful answer would cause a stir. Then the day of the finals came and we all did our best and got what we deserved in theory and practical. With heavy hearts, big hugs, exchange of contact details, certificates and group pictures, we followed the others at an after party and then said bye promising to stay in touch and guess what, some of us are still in touch while the others are a what’s app or messenger note away. I decided to stay on with 2 more additional courses – Advanced Nutrition for Weight Management and TRX Suspended Training. In both of these one-day courses, I met people who had something more to share and something more for me to learn from.
Post that, I went to Tyrol in Austria for a one-month long yoga course in Sivananda Vedanta Yoga Centre, one of the most ancient ones in September 2016. Let me take you through my next experience … I was in Geneva with family when this decision happened and before I knew, I was packing stuff as per the list they gave as well as what I needed. They told us that in that one month we would be offered lacto-vegetarian meals with no tea or coffee or even alcohol. Who knew life existed beyond our fish, meat and drinks? I reached Munich in the afternoon and after collecting my luggage, I went to the counter that was assigned to drop us off to Tyrol, with a 2-hour car ride away. I was anxious and excited for this journey as this place had no connection to either a family member or a friend or even an acquaintance. This was me at this mountain place, all by myself with very limited connectivity, I literally mean 5 minutes of wifi access in the day. In the car, there were 4 of us, two guys and two ladies including me, I didn’t know who’s going where, who speaks English and who’s interested in a chat so we often smiled at each other and I picked up some conversation from the two guys sitting behind us, that one of them was heading to the same place as I was. In the end, three of us landed at the entrance of the Vedanta Centre and took our stuff out, inquiring where we were meant to go. It was 6pm and that was the assigned dinner time, we could see people holding hands and praying, then serving themselves and finding a spot to eat & mingle. The kind lady at the reception showed us our rooms, asked us to leave the stuff there and come back for dinner. I was staying in a dorm sharing with 7 others, some beds were already occupied so I chose mine, kept the sheets and suitcase, then left for dinner. When I met my newly found friend, we sat to eat and started finally chatting. And soon enough, I was approached by an Indian lady who was so pleased to see me, as it seemed we were 2 out of 47 people in the batch who were Indians. Soon we became friends and exchanged notes of our journey. After dinner, we went to the shop in the vicinity where we bought what was left from the list, and soon it became a place we started calling home atleast for the next one month. Next day was our first day and we had a ritual where each of us were called in front by our teachers who handed over our sets of clothes, what they call uniforms so can all be ‘uniform’ and wished us the very best for the journey ahead. Yellow t-shirts symbolized teachers who are learners themselves whereas white trousers was for purity. How simple was this!
Our schedules also included doing a Karma Yoga meaning a voluntary task that we can choose, I opted for roll call as I am always ahead of time everywhere. Did I tell you out of 47 people in the class, 16 were English speaking and the rest were Germans including the teachers? It was amazing to see that they had given up their life for teaching the others and stayed so close to life and its elements. We learnt so much from them as our day started at 6am with meditation, 8am yoga, 10am breakfast, then some studies until later, 4pm another yoga class that later became a teaching class. In this class, we all got our turns and were grown into fine yoga teachers, 6pm dinner and 8pm meditation – 6 times a week, if we were lucky we managed to fit in a snooze for 15 minutes in the afternoon. On the one day off (Friday), some of us would walk on the top of the mountain and do some yoga and mostly take pictures, it was beautiful and peaceful. Once back, we mostly studied as it was a lot, a lot of new concepts, words, sanskrit phrases, as well we did one out of the two yoga classes in the day; as we connected with guests. In this place, you can be a student or even a tourist and choose to stay for as long as you want, attend either or both of the two yoga classes in the day, eat the 2 meals in the hotel and go on excursions with the team, it is a retreat. Over that one month, we had silent walks for hours, morning or evening, sleeping sessions under the sun, bonding with others over breakfast, chatting with the teachers, knowing about their experience and inspiration, even their real names as everyone had a traditional Indian name. Sometimes we simply walked into the mountains with no time in hand and no agenda in mind. This was a completely different experience where time stopped, we barely accessed our phone. I had the good fortune to celebrate my birthday with them and they surprised me with an Ayurveda cake, my family couldn’t believe what it was when I shared some pictures, they all wanted the recipe. One of the toughest things to do was a headstand as I had never attempted it in my life. While few in the class made it look so simple, the others joined me in attempting and falling, one among the other things that I took from this experience was that I CAN AND I WILL. Once back in Dubai, after 3 months of falls and determination, one fine evening I felt I was ready for it and guess what I did it! Now, I can hold it for almost 2 minutes in fact, play with the style too like twisting legs etc. What’s next? Handstand, then – something else and then – something else. Never stop trying 🙂
One month flew by, then came the date for our exam but before that; we attended every ceremony that was held in the place from Vishnunaam to watching a traditional Indian classical dancer perform, irrespective of who was from where; we all came together as one family. Some of us even got names and mantras for life, I was named Ganga which means a form of water -Put it in a glass and it takes the form of a glass, put it in a cup it takes the form of a cup, water is formless and we should be like water my friend (that’s what Bruce Lee said while explaining water in one of his motivational videos)! Then the time came to write our papers, the duration was 3.5 hours and if that doesn’t say how much there was to read, remember and write then nothing else does. On the same day our results were announced and we all hugged each other as our names were announced and we came to the front to collect our certificates. Some were in tears and some were ready to leave for home where their families, husband or kids waited for their mother to come back, their loved ones to join them again and likewise for me as well as I was going back to Geneva to spend some more time with family before returning to Dubai. I remember our pick-up was scheduled at 7-30am coincidentally with one of the same guys I came with and it was raining that morning, it was beautiful. This time, we spoke a lot until we departed at the airport. It’s amazing how people come together for one common journey and there is so much to learn from them and to share as well.
Then the last stop was Kerala, India in November 2016; a very different experience as I hadn’t been to India in years. To the south I went, to learn about Ayurveda Nutrition in a family setting, it was a semi-private class for a week, where I met another lady from France who had been traveling in India more than I had seen. We connected very well and in fact for one night we went to Kanyakumari via train, as we were so close to the scenic tourist spot. This journey opened my mind a lot as even though meeting new people was always my thing, meeting new people in a new setting was no doubt very new to me, where you have to connect and the best part is you do find ways to connect.
Yes I am reminiscing, I am thinking and remembering all the people who touched my life in this one year, who are still a part of my life even though we don’t talk as much, even though we don’t share so much, even though we are not in the same country. YOU ARE IN MY THOUGHTS!
Once I returned from Austria, I became Vegetarian, with no tea or coffee; out of choice and since then, I have managed to maintain it. It has been 8 months now, I often get questioned on how far I will go? Well it depends on the people I might offend around me 🙂 I have to say – taking one meal at a time and one day at a time has helped me a lot in keeping it strong and become emotionally stronger by controlling my mind. I try to maintain my calm in all situations. Since my return full time, I practice Yoga at home 4-5 times a week, train others on weekends too, head to the gym for PT sessions or work out on my own, often go for runs to catch up with my running buddies and overall feel even better and fitter.
How one decision can change your life, one step towards your dream can make it a reality and how everyone comes into your life for a reason, it is all about the choices we make. I believe in destiny, I believe in the process and I believe in me.
