Rebekah is a medical physician, Nike yoga trainer, wellness entrepreneur and a board member of the Yoga for Healthcare Alliance. She is the founding father of Pana, a platform and neighborhood that intersects wellbeing and tradition centring the African diaspora. After going through her personal challenges with psychological well being, she discovered the worth of slowing down and fascinating with mind-body practices. By means of yoga lessons, retreats and occasions, she creates inclusive areas for individuals to nourish their wellbeing and reconnect with themselves and people round them.
Inform us about your yoga journey
By means of my teenagers and early twenties, I went by way of many cycles of burnout and poor psychological well being. I’ve all the time labored exhausting, and I bought to some extent after 4 years of medical college the place I wanted a break.
I ended up on an island off the coast of Panama volunteering in a seaside hostel and residing with yoga lecturers for 2 months. I began practising yoga day by day and diving deeper into elements comparable to chakras and the eight limbs. Slowly however certainly, yoga grew to become an integral a part of my routine and wellbeing, and I made a decision to take the leap to do my trainer coaching. I’ve been educating for about 5 years now and have all the time cherished it.
What sort of yoga trainer would you say you might be?
I like to know and be taught the standard elements of yoga whereas bringing in a artistic ingredient to current them in my very own method. I like welcoming new individuals into yoga and creating an area the place they’ll really feel calm. That doesn’t all the time imply being nonetheless and quiet, however understanding which you can simply breathe and be your self, giggle, and check out new issues.
Has your personal follow modified on account of your trainer coaching?
Once I began practising yoga, it was very vinyasa-focused. I feel that’s just like many individuals in London as there’s a sense of all the time being wanting time and needing to slot in train the place you’ll be able to. The trainer coaching was the place I found a love for slower kinds of yoga comparable to yin and restorative. After a few weeks of standard yin follow, I found a brand new set level of calm in my physique and thoughts which I forgot existed. It confirmed me the transformational energy of incorporating these slower kinds into my follow.
Have you ever enhanced your educating with any particular coaching or programs?
After contemplating doing a 300-hour coaching for a very long time, I made a decision to go within the path of doing shorter trainings and workshops which can be targeted on my explicit areas of curiosity. This has included a course with The Good Life Yoga College exploring the ability of music in yoga, the best way to finest utilise it to boost a yoga follow and produce a combination for optimum breath management. I’ve additionally enhanced ability units comparable to bodily changes with quick coaching classes at Mission E1. Throughout the 12 months, I’ve been to workshops that dive deeper into pranayama and yin yoga to deepen my understanding of those areas.
Additional coaching is essential to proceed to develop as a trainer, nonetheless, it may possibly typically be costly. One of many key methods to develop your studying as a trainer is to frequently attend yoga lessons as a scholar. There’s a lot you’ll be able to be taught from different lecturers throughout a category, and having sturdy common follow as a trainer is one thing I all the time suggest.
What has been your largest problem as a yoga trainer?
I certified as a trainer shortly earlier than the pandemic began. This meant over the previous 4 years, an enormous portion of that was throughout COVID the place we weren’t capable of be bodily near individuals or typically go away the home in any respect. One in every of my largest challenges was re-adjusting to educating in studios and holding an area in individual, after being conditioned to educating on-line for thus lengthy.
It’s great to be that one who will get to introduce yoga to somebody. How do you go about getting new individuals to strive it?
By means of my very own educating and platform, I believed, ‘How can I attain communities who might really feel yoga will not be for them?’. I grew up listening to reggae so it felt very pure to include this in my follow – it’s one thing that helps me really feel calm. I created an occasion referred to as Dub Backyard Yoga & Picnic the place we do yoga to reggae and have wholesome Caribbean meals after class. I educate it within the park which makes it extra accessible and reasonably priced, in addition to permitting us to get pleasure from nature. We have now attendees of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities and skills – for many individuals it’s their first-ever yoga class. Many really feel comfy coming as they resonate with the meals and music, and yoga is an extra facet they’ll strive. It’s relaxed and enjoyable, which I feel is so essential for serving to individuals come again once more.
What does a day within the lifetime of Rebekah appear to be?
I get pleasure from having range throughout my week so lots of my days look fairly completely different. On a hospital day, I’m at work for an 8 am handover from the night time workforce, then see numerous sufferers throughout the day presenting with completely different circumstances. On different days I may be doing a shoot or having conferences. A few of my favorite days are spent doing laptop computer work in a restaurant, consuming tea and having fun with a lunchtime yoga class.
What’s your favorite quote or life motto?
“Really feel the concern and do it anyway”
What’s developing for you and Pana?
I’m actually enthusiastic about just a few issues on the horizon. We’re heading to The Gambia in April 2024 for a retreat – exploring Africa and the Caribbean by way of retreats has develop into a beautiful providing for the neighborhood. We even have an internet studio opening in Autumn 2023 so you’ll be able to follow from residence.
Discover Dr Rebekah
Private – @rebekahzeenajade
Web site – https://wearepana.com/
Instagram – @weare.pana
