Hi Almaviva! Can you share a bit about yourself?
Hello! My name is Almaviva, and you can call me Nyanya. I live in Bandung, and I work as a visual merchandiser.
Since when did you start becoming a yoga instructor? What made you want to start as a yoga instructor?
Oh, it started in March 2021. It was a long story, actually 😆 At first, I planned to go back to school but then life went another route and there was a point I felt down and wondered why things went like… you know, things. It wasn’t long until a good friend of mine who happened to be a yoga instructor told me about becoming a yoga instructor and nudged me to join yoga teacher training. My husband supported my decision as well, so here I am!
I became interested in yoga as I started seeing it as part of my life needs. I felt better and happier whenever I finished the routine, which I found important, and I want to cherish it.
Not only offline classes, you also open online classes for your yoga classes ✨ How did it start? And more importantly, how did you ensure the routine quality through Zoom calls?
It started from the pandemic back in 2020-2021 😆 Remember how we were on the height of pandemic in 2021? Yeah, that was when I finished my yoga teacher training and Zoom was all in the rage at that time — everyone is talking about Zoom at that time! Then, we saw the rise of online classes and courses as people finding ways to spend time and upskill during the quarantine and lockdown, including classes and courses in health and exercises.
Doing yoga through online classes/Zoom can be tricky, yes. The main reason is that there are a lot of distractions where they are located which caused them unable to focus — but it’s actually pretty normal for online classes. On my classes, I always give instructions as detailed and as clear as possible, be it using cues or demonstrating the poses.
Also, a tip for doing yoga via online classes: Use/wear headphones! It will help you stay focus and able to hear instructions clearly.
What’s your most favorite and most challenging yoga pose?
A lot 😆 Our bodies change conditions every day, and a pose that was comfortable today might feel different tomorrow. My favorite pose usually follows how my body responds at that time.
The same goes with challenging poses. A pose that might look and feel challenging today might feel easy on a different day.
That said, speaking about advanced and intermediate-level poses, definitely arm balance and inversion-related poses. It’s really fun and challenging to learn about these poses, and it involves techniques that we must master.
Your latest event, “Bend, Bloom, and Brunch”, was a hit! Who had the idea of having such event?
I have always wanted to hold a yoga event but make it special and fun for everyone who joins. I am privileged to have friends from diverse backgrounds with unique hobbies, and I wanted a yoga event where my friends can join and contribute too! Thinking about it now, I feel we can call it a collaboration 😄 One of them is a florist, and one of them is really good in cooking, so we combined both with yoga exercise where the participants had yoga retreat, vegetable bouquet workshop, and enjoying Palestinian dish culinary in the heart of Manglayang Mountain, Bandung.
What is your favorite part/aspect of yoga as a whole?
Yoga is not a mere exercise or sport for people to feel better—in a way, it has become a way of life. OK, it can feel too serious and tricky to explain here, especially in writing, haha, but most definitely, give yoga a try, and you will see what I mean. Never feel that you are too novice to try! We all start from somewhere, and as we go through the process, we will feel the benefits for our body, mind, and soul.
What advice would you share with a teenager who wanted to be a yoga instructor?
Don’t think too much about it and go go go, just do it! 😆 I’m serious: Join the teacher training and work your way to be a yoga instructor. The experience since the training will be something that you will cherish as part of your growth and journey. I used to think that doing the teacher training to be a yoga instructor would only end up at myself — but then, I found that sharing our knowledge and skill with others is something beautiful and something that we need in this world.
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