Meenakshi Sud is a highly acclaimed Yoga practitioner who has devoted her entire life to learning and teaching this ancient science. From a very high lineage of Yoga masters, she devotes all her time to teaching, healing and curing ailments which has made her close to a household name in the Tricity. Roopam Singh caught up with her and captured her views in these difficult times of Corona.
Q: Tell us about your journey as a yoga practitioner and teacher ?
A: For the last 32 years, I have been a practitioner and teacher of the ancient science of yoga. Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari initiated me into yoga in his ashram, at Manali. I then continued my deep and in-depth education with BKS Iyengar in Pune, soon after teaching Hath Yoga through asana, pranayama, mudra and bandha. After a decade or so, there was a gradual shift and I made no attempt to categorize yoga in my teaching practice. It has now evolved into an emphasis on becoming comfortable with the body. I balance the physical, mental, emotional, intellectual and spiritual by teaching people how to reclaim the body. My practice has led me to find that yoga is the doorway to ascension and the vehicle for that is the body. It is an invitation to learn how joyous life can be, once you ‘KNOW YOUR BODY’.
Q: How does this knowledge of the body help people overcome ailments?
A: The only way to know joy is through our body, but this awareness evades us because we have no connection with the body. We do not know that the body is alive, aware and forms according to the script that we feed it with. The only thing we know of is judgment: categorizing the body as weak, fat, toxic or ill. The irony is, once people liberate themselves from judgment, we use them as vehicles of creation. The body is constantly changing and people who are learning from me can then rest in the knowledge that the body will never be the same again. When we judge the body, we lock it into solidity. We need to understand that the body inherently has the ability to heal and liberate.
Q: Can you tell us about some memorable experiences with ‘body’ and people?
A: I can tell you about a few students and their experiences. Ginni, who is working as a head nurse, came to me with rheumatoid arthritis. She had been in immense pain for a period of two years and her problem was said to be hereditary. Honey had similar problems. Her pain was so intense that it was difficult for her to get off the bed. Karan, suffered from a brain aneurysm and as a result, became completely paralyzed on the left side of his body. My own mother, Urmila, who is now 92, fell from the balcony at the age of 88, resulting in her femur snapping in two places, a broken thigh bone, a broken foot and internal bleeding. Post-surgery she was immobile and left with a titanium rod in her leg. It is through the work I do on the body that each one of my students is now healthy and has resumed daily life. They no longer suffer from these problems and this is due to the fact that they were receptive to healing their bodies with my help.
Q: What about general health and wellness in the times of coronavirus?
A: Once we know that the body is intelligent and trustworthy, we do not have to depend on anyone or anything to help us heal. The body KNOWS and we have to attune ourselves to KNOWING THE BODY. Then, we overcome the fear of illness. The faster we do this, we realize that time is just a concept and the body can change instantly. With the stress of life, exaggerated with the fear of the current pandemic, I am eager to get this idea of comfort and ease with the body out. I hold people’s hands and guide them through the process of de-stressing and thus, de-solidifying their bodies. I want people to ask their bodies questions, to know the body and to hasten this process through constant expansion and awareness.
(The interviewer has two decades of experience in cultural critique and French language training in India, France and Bangladesh. She gives online tutorials and can be reached at inboxroopam@gmail.com)