Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast #80- Yoga Fusion – Yoga in Cameroon with Sten Kadji

Welcome to Episode #80 of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast! My conversation with Sten Kadji, a yoga teacher from Cameroon, was so bright and beautiful as we looked at yoga as a union of spheres, a fusion of many practices. I hope that this conversation made you curious about how yoga is a journey, and what yoga is for you can change, grow, and transform at any moment and it likely will throughout your life.

If you’re looking to tune into a podcast episode that is all about being open to change, and being flexible with yourself and with life, then this is the conversation for you.

Tell me more about Sten Kadji

Sten Kadji opened the first yoga studio in Cameroon, Studio Ark Yoga, at the end of 2019. While he began practicing yoga in 2015, he received his yoga teacher training certification with the Africa Yoga Project in Kenya, and was actually in the same graduating class as Rama Saeed from Ghana, a previous guest on the Wild Yoga Tribe podcast. Sten teaches various types of meditations and Power Vinyasa Yoga at his studio in Douala, Cameroon.

What to expect in the Yoga In Cameroon episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast

While Sten Kadji is from Cameroon, he first came to yoga while attending university in Florida. Upon returning to Cameroon, he knew he wanted to bring all that he had learned to his community. He sought out a yoga teacher training with the Africa Yoga Project in Kenya, and opened the first studio in Cameroon shortly after in his mother’s art gallery. As Sten says, “It was a no-brainer how art and yoga associate.”

Our conversation veered off into many beautiful directions, including how Sten defines yoga, the gifts that yoga has given him, and all that yoga has brought into his life. His mother lost her battle with cancer a few years ago, and Sten credits yoga for helping him to heal.

It was fascinating to hear how being the first yoga studio in Cameroon has given required him to shoulder more responsibilities surrounding yoga. As Sten says, “In Cameroon, we do have a lot of preconceived ideas that people who associate yoga to religious affiliation or sometimes it’s very mystified and we take a lot of pride in dismantling these ideas or these myths around yoga. Through practices like meditation and breath work and even different workshops like around the yamas and niyamas and different philosophy around the practice, we try to share with our community around us.”

If you’re curious about yoga in Cameroon or what Cameroon is like— then tune in! This is the Wild Yoga Tribe episode for you!

Favorite Quote From Sten Kadji

“Yoga practice has shown that we are able to live a more blissful and happy life by some simple tricks. I call these tricks, just like sitting in silence allows us to listen to ourselves more, be more present taking the time to move, things that seem very mundane and almost innate. Yoga reminds us that, it really takes time. And there there’s definitely virtues of yoga, like hard work and pushing, but also knowing when to let go. So I think all these little lessons that we learned on and off on the mat are so crucial to us today globally because it’s accessible to everybody.”

Connect with Sten Kadji

https://www.instagram.com/ark_yoga/

https://www.facebook.com/studioarkyoga

Art Gallery: https://www.instagram.com/anniekadji.art/

Support the podcast:

https://www.patreon.com/wildyogatribe

Want more?

https://wildyogatribe.com/thepodcast/

Everything you need is just one click away! Check out all the resources here: https://linktr.ee/wildyogatribe

Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast Episode#80 – Yoga in Cameroon with Sten Kadji Transcription

[00:00:00] Lily Allen-Duenas: Namaste family and welcome back to the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast. Today I am so excited to welcome Sten Kadji onto the show today. He’s a yoga teacher from Cameroon and he’s actually the owner and founder of the first yoga studio in Cameroon, which is amazing. It’s called Ark Yoga, and he opened that at the end of 2019 and he actually received his yoga teacher training certification with the Africa Yoga Project in Kenya and was in the same graduating class as Rama Saeed from Ghana, a previous guest on the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast.

So I think that’s so exciting. They have the same connection and were in the same. Graduating class. Love that. So Sten teaches various types of meditations and power of Vinyasa yoga at his studio in Cameroon. So, thank you so much, Sten, for being with us today.

[00:00:53] Sten Kadji: Thank you, Lily. Thank you for having me. Very excited.

[00:00:57] Lily Allen-Duenas: Me too. So just to kick off the conversation, I would love to hear your story. How did yoga come into your life? How did you first find out about yoga? And what about yoga intrigued you and got you to start practicing and then want to become a teacher?

How Did Yoga Come into Your Life? 

[00:01:11] Sten Kadji: So I started my yoga journey around 2014, 2015 in the US. I used to live in Miami; I lived in Miami for around six to seven years of my life, going to university there. I got introduced to yoga there; obviously the yoga community is pretty vibrant in Miami, as vibrant as [00:01:30] you can imagine the city.

So, it was very welcoming, very… it was a good workout for me at first. So, I got introduced to hot yoga. I started it with my, with two of my brothers who are both athletes and it’s actually a back injury that brought me to yoga. It was very welcomed from the first class. It was a big, “Whoa!”Loved it. 

Kept on practicing different types of yoga, just out of curiosity, but also living with my mom at the time who was fighting a cancer. She was making a shift to very holistic alternatives. We started practices like meditation and, that was also in 2015; so, really got introduced to yoga and meditation in a very organic manner. Four years later in 2019, I… I had moved back to Cameroon at first and I went along to get my certification in Nairobi in 2019. And ever since, I’ve been teaching and I’ve been practicing every day.

[00:02:24] Lily Allen-Duenas: Amazing. That’s so cool that you just dove headfirst to get certified and then to open your studio in the same year, or within the span of 12 months, we’ll say, I just think that’s so brave. What, made you feel like you were ready or how did you go about it? Or, I would love to hear more about what that was like to open the first yoga studio in Cameroon.

What was it Like to Open the First Yoga Studio in Cameroon?

[00:02:47] Sten Kadji: It was definitely a challenge and it still is. We are a young studio about to celebrate our fourth year in September. But it was definitely a challenge, yet again, it still felt very natural. Our studio is [00:03:00] inside an art gallery that was launched by my mom in 2004.

I also took over the management of the art gallery in 2018. So again, I was lucky and blessed enough to have this physical space that existed. In my opinion, it was a no-brainer- the way art and yoga just associate. I had started off, again, I moved back in 2018, before I got my certification, I was just giving some classes to some friends at the gallery and, they kinda grew into the idea of, “Wait this space is huge. We can definitely find a way to dedicate a small space for yoga and meditation!” 

And the community just merged itself like that.. and I was lucky enough to find another yoga teacher in the area and my partner at the time was also a yoga teacher, so it was a nice team effort… and other things that fell in place, like the space being there and being available for us already and really recognizing also the need in Douala, the population… 70% or 80% of the population is under 35.

People are very active. People love working out, love moving. It kinda aligns with with the needs and wants of the community here. You know, it happened. We have been open and operating since then and [are] very happy with what we’ve built.

[00:04:20] Lily Allen-Duenas: Aw, I’m so happy you are. And it does sound like there is a need in your community. If there’s so many young people and active people, they probably are looking for more [00:04:30] classes and in the physical asana, practice and style. And do you feel like there’s any need in community for more of the spiritual elements of it, or the emotional or mental or, all of the layers to yoga that aren’t just the power Asana poses? Is there more of that need or that calling or people responding to that? Or is that not something you really infuse in your studio and your classes?

The Spiritual Side of Yoga in Cameroon

[00:04:56] Sten Kadji: So that, I would say that is the more tricky part on our end. Being the first yoga studio in Cameroon that opened means we are exposed to people who have no background or no experience in yoga at all with that comes a whole bunch of preconceived ideas, preconceived notions.

So we have, we also have this job of educating. We’ve been embracing, but yes, we absolutely try to incorporate the spiritual, mental, and even emotional aspect of it because I think it all encompasses, it all falls under this umbrella of yoga. So, sometimes it’s been a challenge.

In Cameroon, we do have a lot of preconceived ideas of people who associate yoga to religious affiliation, or sometimes it’s very mystified… and we take a lot of pride in dismantling these ideas or these myths around yoga through practices like meditation and breathwork and even different workshops, like around the yamas and niyamas, and different philosophy around the [00:06:00] practice, we try to share with our community around us.

[00:06:05] Lily Allen-Duenas: Amazing. I love that you’re teaching workshops on the yamas and different aspects and elements of yoga philosophy! I think that’s such a gift to offer those courses as well as the asana, meditation, or pranayama practice because that’s… I feel like that’s rare to offer that. Was that just a passion for you and you said, “I really want to make sure we’re dismantling these myths and teaching some of the core roots of the path of yoga.” How did that come about and how are your students responding to it?

Dismantling the Myths Surrounding Yoga

[00:06:38] Sten Kadji: I’ll definitely say, for me, it’s also a discovery, because like I told you, I… I grew up a big part of my life in the U.S. I was exposed to, and quote unquote, “the western version of yoga, the westernized yoga.” and we all know the booming western world with yoga and, the yoga studios that open and, the healthy lifestyle that goes around it.

Sometimes, what’s overlooked is the–the spiritual, the cultural practice to it, and coming back to Cameroon, it’s something I was very happy to discover because when I came back to Cameroon, I already had a background in yoga, but going to the Africa Yoga project they made, they had such focus on philosophy and the spiritual aspect of it. And I’m not sure if Rama mentioned it, I felt like just that movement getting closer to the eastern world and coming on the continent, on the motherland [00:07:30] in Africa, there’s more of a cultural connection, whether it’s to myself and to roots, or even the way my relationship with the practice evolved. Yeah, I would say it’s definitely start, it started during my teacher training in 2019, and we recently offered a teacher training last year for six students here where we worked in close relationship with the studio in Australia.

Have yoga studio. Awesome! Hi Duncan, if you’re listening. And he was also, his program was also very focused on, I like to call it the roots of yoga really the scriptures and the philosophy that goes around it. As much as the teacher training was very physical, we stil put a very hard focus on this spiritual aspect and… and I don’t know, I think, that’s really where the magic happens because yes, as much as the asana practice can be physical and we discover ourselves, when this inner change of spike happens, sometimes through this spiritual and emotional aspect that yoga brings [inaudible] that is very subtle.

And when we discover that I feel like the true magic sometimes happens. So I would say, yeah, it’s definitely my both teacher trainings that kinda moved me towards this very spiritual approach of the practice.

[00:08:46] Lily Allen-Duenas: Yeah. Yeah. It takes more learning. It takes the right teacher. That spark also inside of you of curiosity, of wanting to know, okay, there’s more to this . Cause I feel like a lot of students [00:09:00] do come to the practice. I’m based in the U.S. And definitely have that, westernized booming industry here as well. And students are coming for a workout. They’re coming to stretch cuz they’re sore from running. That’s the gateway.

The Gateway to Yoga

[00:09:14] Sten Kadji: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And we still have that, I think with the majority of our community, they want to unroll their mat and move for 50, 60, 90 minutes. And then you have, those, you know those few who are really there and want to dig a little deeper. Like I said, I’m a student myself. I feel like this passion for the off the math aspect of the practice has recently been growing. And I try to read a lot, document myself around it. And yeah, I would say the teachers in the studio also big facilitators of this.

I work with a Canadian lady; her name is Melanie. She’s very focused on the spiritual side. Everybody kinda brings their own little touch in the mix. And it added a nice little energy.

[00:09:59] Lily Allen-Duenas: yeah, every teacher does have that different, different gift to offer. And I like hearing that you’re mentioning, Melanie and Duncan and some of your teachers by name. So, we’ll try to get their information and put ’em in the show notes too, so the shout out can live on as a link! Sten too, I just love that you and Rama were in the same program, and in the same year and in the same class. Tell us more about your teacher training. Obviously it was so impactful for you. I’d love to hear a little bit more about that.

Yoga Teacher Training with the Africa Yoga Project

[00:10:30] Sten Kadji: Yeah. Wow. It was… it was such a moment from the first day to the last. It really is engraved in my memory. I think I also saw the notes you had around, around the chat with Rama, and I know how she mentioned how she met her second family, her yoga family, and I would like to say she’s absolutely right, like it was such a powerful experience in, in every way.

The people I’ve met are friends for life. Confidants. I feel like I really do have a family through the Africa Yoga Project. I randomly found the association. I was living in Cameroon, again fresh from moving back from the U.S., so I was practicing already and I wanted to really just take the step, take that leap where I was stepping from just a practitioner to really stepping into my power and becoming a teacher. Got on the computer, did a little bit of research, found this beautiful, wonderful association called the Africa Yoga Project based in Nairobi in Kenya, which is, by the way, completely the other end of the continent, compared to Cameroon. So, I would have to fly across across the continent, find a way to pay for this program, because unlike Rama, I did not get a scholarship. 

So, I paid out of pocket, but I was determined. I did it; I took the leap. I called one of my aunts. I remember at the airport, I hadn’t told anybody I was going, I hadn’t told my dad, but I called my aunt. I was like, “Hey, I’m going for this teacher training,” and she encouraged me.

She had a bunch of nice words, which kinda [00:12:00] ramped me up. And yeah, I got to Nairobi and the program was around two and a half weeks, three weeks. It happened so fast. It was such an enriching experience where, again, I think it was very powerful from just being in beautiful Kenya.

For me personally, day again is a power of just being back home on this continent, who is so beautiful geographically and the people are very warm. So, it was an awesome experience. The organization is great. It’s been functioning for more than 10 plus years, maybe even more. And it was one of my first travels within Africa. So, discovering Kenya but also practicing and seeing this idea or this project that kept on growing throughout the years gave me the courage to launch my own initiative.

And, at the same time, I got to make friends. Like I said, I met my previous partner over there and it was just that sensation of belonging and being in a tribe that is priceless. There were over a hundred people, so every practice was very powerful as far as energy, people from all walks of life. Very grateful for AYP  and I got certified and, they’re very focused on power vinyasa yoga, so that is my go-to style. It was just lovely overall, very enriching.

[00:13:28] Lily Allen-Duenas: Oh, I’m so happy to hear [00:13:30] that and I can really hear it in your words. Like the energy of your words is translating really beautifully how impactful and powerful this experience was. And I have had a few other guests from the Africa Yoga Project who’ve been certified by them as well. And it’s always the same.

Everyone loves it and it’s been such a beautiful gift and a powerful experience, and I just am in awe of all that they are doing. So I’m glad we get to spotlight their work a little bit together here. So it’s maybe an question to reflect on, I do ask it to every guest, but what is your personal definition of yoga?

What is Your Personal Definition of Yoga? 

[00:14:08] Sten Kadji: I guess for all of us, you included, it’s so personal. It touches you on such a personal level, this practice, this way of life.

I like to think of yoga as a fusion of multiple physical, mental, emotional, physiological practices… or I don’t know if there’s a word, like just maybe just hyphenating all those words in between? Yoga is just this amazing, obviously this amazing, union of all these spheres including your emotional, your psychological, your physical, your mental state, really just mushing everything up. Obviously, it goes beyond your mat. It’s a way of life. It’s a way to carry yourself. It’s a way to care for the welfare of others, including yourself. [00:15:00] It’s something that you radiate. It’s a way of living your life. It’s a commitment. It’s love. It’s sacrifice. Yoga is just a whole bunch of things that come together to bring you to this magical state, but… it’s gonna sound a little cheesy, but it’s really a journey.

It’s really something that’s ongoing. It’s something that doesn’t stop. It’s an energy that flows through you, through others. 

[00:15:28] Lily Allen-Duenas: That was beautiful. Not cheesy. Don’t call it.

[00:15:31] Sten Kadji: Ok. Ok. Yeah. I think it, it changes all the time. It changes all the time. What yoga was for you maybe 10 years ago is not the same as it was today. What yoga was for me anyway, before I became a teacher, or became certified, was definitely not what it was for me before. So is this ever changing, ever growing phenomenon, that occurs.

What Yoga is Can Change for You.

[00:15:51] Lily Allen-Duenas: Yeah, and I love allowing the grace for change. As you said, we can look backwards and say, “Yeah, yoga used to be this for me. And obviously it’s not, obviously I’ve gotten smarter, I’ve learned more, or I’ve gotten more spiritual,” whatever you wanna infuse with that, it’s easy in the rear view to say, “Oh yeah, it’s changed.”

But to have that grace to look forward and say, “Yeah! It could change.” I love that. It’s so important to have that humility, and that understanding that things aren’t like locked into place. They’re not stiff and stagnant and static. They are fluid. [00:16:30] And as yoga teachers, as yoga’s students, as anyone on the path of wellness… It’s so interesting, the word flexibility, because everyone thinks, oh, “I can’t do yoga. I’m not flexible,” or they’re saying, “I’m doing yoga to get more flexible,” or, “I can’t wait to get my feet behind my head and be more flexible!” 

There’s so much focus on flexible, but really for me and from my heart, I feel that yoga is so much about flexibility- yes, yes! But not in the body. It’s flexibility in the mind and in your emotions, and in having more space to be flexible to say, “Okay, can things not be as rigid and tightly clenched emotionally?” Not in our muscles, but I guess they all compliment each other, right?

[00:17:16] Sten Kadji: Yeah. Yeah. The concept of flexibility. I laugh because, I think that’s the first thing when people who don’t know, who haven’t had an experience, you know goes like, “No, I’m not flexible enough. Oh, no, I can’t do this.” It’s it’s kind it’s funny, like you hear it a lot, but it’s no, just have a flexible heart, flexible mind, and it’ll be okay.

[00:17:37] Lily Allen-Duenas: Yes. And so do you feel like there’s a really powerful lesson that yoga has taught you or a gift that yoga has given?

A Powerful Lesson that Yoga has Taught or a Gift that Yoga has Given?

[00:17:47] Sten Kadji: Yoga definitely gave me so many gifts and it keeps on giving. As I mentioned in 2014, 2015 when I was practicing yoga with my mom, she was battling a cancer, a battle that she lost a year [00:18:00] later. But I know deeply for her and me this practice such as meditation even, practices like letting go and accepting really helped us moving on.

Yoga taught me healing. It’s taught me to really sit down and listen to myself. Yoga taught me to prioritize the welfare of my loved ones and others. And we just recently talked about change and the different… the rollercoaster of life, yoga definitely taught me how to deal with this.

Before yoga, I dealt with a lot of anxiety. Through meditation, I’m able to be more aware and more conscious of it. Yoga just taught me to be open to, to change, open to new opportunities, and just being open while being patient. Being patient as far as like not rushing things. 

But yes, definitely patience, acceptance, and boundaries and different tools to heal during difficult moments in life.

[00:19:03] Lily Allen-Duenas: Absolutely Sten. I really agree. And these are some of the hardest lessons and biggest lessons, like forgiveness and patience and flexibility and healing. It is amazing that this is the gift that the practice of yoga gives and people who think Warrior One or a handstand is what they’re learning in yoga.

They’re learning a handstand, but really they’re learning patience and they’re learning how to heal, [00:19:30] and they’re learning how to be more present and to be okay with those vulnerabilities and with what arises. So, thank you for sharing that part of your story with us, Sten. 

I’m really passionate, about yoga around the world and about connecting yoga teachers and connecting with them and having these conversations. So, I’d love to hear your thoughts on why do you think it’s important that yoga is all over the world now?

Why is it Important that Yoga is All Over the World?

[00:19:57] Sten Kadji: I think it’s crucial. I think one, this is a practice that is meant to be shared, first and foremost. I don’t think it’s for a specific group, socioeconomic group of people. I don’t think it should be limited to a certain physical space. I think it’s a practice that is meant to be shared in the context of humanity.

I think we are in a desperate time where we need it. I think what you do really is amazing. Just everything you do around wellness. I think us as humans, today, with the style of lives we live, we crucially need to take care of ourselves for us, for the next generation, for the ones that come after us. And practices like yoga has shown to us, whether it’s scientifically or within different cultures, yoga practice has shown that we are able to live a more blissful and happy life by some simple tricks. I call these tricks, [00:21:00] just like sitting in silence allows us to listen to ourselves more, being more present, taking the time to move, things that seem very mundane and almost innate. 

Yoga reminds us that it really takes time. And there there’s definitely virtues in yoga, like hard work and pushing, but also knowing when to let go. So I think all these little lessons that we learned on and off on mat are so crucial to us today globally because it’s accessible to everybody.

I think we can do it no matter what background or walk of life were in. This is something Africa Yoga taught me. They had projects that helped handicap people… who allowed handicap people to gain access to information and become certified. So, I think just on a personal note, we need it globally and in different communities just to alleviate so much pain. Yeah, so much hurt. Whether it’s physical, emotional, or mental, yoga is the perfect tool for it!

[00:22:00] Lily Allen-Duenas: Sten, that was so well said. I echo everything you said and as we’re talking about yoga around the world, I’d love to hear too about yoga in Cameroon. I know that you opened the first yoga studio there. You’re about to celebrate that four year anniversary this year.

And I’d love to hear just a little bit more, is there more yoga studios popping up? Or anything else you’d like to share about yoga and Cameroon.

Yoga in Cameroon

[00:22:28] Sten Kadji: So we have [00:22:30] two yoga studios opening this year. Woo! In in a few months, which is great. I’m so excited. I know a lot of people will tell you, “But hey, Sten, competition!” But, I’m very much of a community person, so I’m just like, it’s, this is awesome for the city of Douala, this is awesome for people. More space, more safe space, more little niche to come and take care of yourself in every sense of the word.

So we have two yoga studio opening up by two awesome teachers that I happened to work with, to have worked with in the past. We already have a plan of coexisting and really working together. Yoga in Cameroon, it’s very exciting can be very exciting. It can also be very confusing.

It’s… yoga is a very new concept in the country. So I don’t know if you can picture Cameroon, but right… Picturing the African continent, we’re right in the pit. I like to tell my fellow Floridians that all the hurricane that end up there kinda starts off the coast of Cameroon. So yeah, like just being there, a very beautiful country. It’s nickname is “African Miniature” because you can find all kinds of different climates, all kinds of different regions, over a hundred different dialects.

So it’s really a rich, diverse country. Douala is the economic capital, so it’s very vibrant, very young, as I mentioned. So as far as the demographics, you really [00:24:00] have everything. You have a big expat population that live and work here. So, sometimes we have, I would like to say they constitute about 50% of our clientele, but then, the rest, the other 50% is very random. We have the young university students who maybe just heard of yoga or doesn’t have any experience, and it’s coming really with an open heart and wants to discover it. We have maybe young employed people who are looking for an alternative to compensate their gym practice.

So we really have a bunch of a wide spectrum of people, again, who come with an open heart, ready to discover. And, sometimes we also do a lot of outreach events to kinda, not only wait for these people to come to us, but bring yoga to others. So it’s a mix but there’s still a lot of… there’s a big educational aspect of it, really breaking down the myth and the preconceived idea around around the practice.

And, we just try to keep an open doorm being open to everybody. We give community classes, one community class a month free, and just trying to reel as much practitioners as we can.

[00:25:12] Lily Allen-Duenas: Beautiful. I love offering community classes and I’m glad that’s something you do as well. And Sten, I know you did share a little bit about Cameroon in general, but is there anything else you’d like to highlight about your country for the listeners who would like to learn more or maybe [00:25:30] don’t even know where Cameroon is quite on the map.

What is Cameroon like? 

[00:25:33] Sten Kadji: So, Cameroon, again, picturing Africa right in the pit. I like to call it like right in the armpit, where there’s a little country shaped like a chicken. That’s Cameroon. Very beautiful country. I travel a lot, when I’m not doing yoga, I traveled around the country a lot. We have beautiful beaches and in the North it’s very dry, so you can have beautiful savannahs.

And in the east, we have the Congo Basin, which is the second biggest rain rainforest that kinda overlaps into Cameroon. So you really have these beautiful geographical locations with waterfalls and mountains and beaches, really everything. It’s also beautiful because Cameroon is one of the only countries in the region that is bilingual. So people speak English and French, which I think is a beautiful thing. 

What else can I mention about the country? People are very warm. People are funny and we have two seasons. We’re right in the middle of hot season. It’s either hot season or warm season, and then during the summertime, it’s rainy season.

Two seasons, either it rains a lot, either it’s very hot. In Douala anyway. And yeah, I would encourage everybody to come visit. There is a lot to see, a lot to do. Yeah, that’s about it. 

[00:26:49] Lily Allen-Duenas: Yeah. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing with us. Just gorgeous and I can picture Cameroon on a map. I love geography. Since I do so much international work, I really like to know where things are, but I’ve never [00:27:00] noticed it was in the shape of a chicken and I just pulled up the map too and I was like, “Let me double check that!”

[00:27:07] Sten Kadji: It does look like a chicken, right? And also, this is like a recent discovery! I was like, “Wait…”

[00:27:11] Lily Allen-Duenas: I see the chicken! It has the beak and it has kinda that rooster type, thing on their head. It’s ah, I get it. Yeah, and it’s great you have some coastline too! It’s… do you… I can’t picture where Douala is though. Is that closer to the coast?

More About Cameroon

[00:27:24] Sten Kadji: It’s closer to the coast. It’s like in the bottom left. So we’re one hour, one hour away from a beautiful beach called, the beach is in Limbe. It’s… there’s a volcano there, so, it’s has black sand from the ashes. It is gorgeous. Yeah, Atlantic Ocean, same ocean as the U.S. East Coast. So yeah, warm waters and very tropical. 

[00:27:46] Lily Allen-Duenas: Well, Thank you Sten, for sharing. And so for all of our listeners who maybe have a question or are curious, I’m definitely going to link your Instagram and your Facebook account here in the shownotes. So, wherever anyone’s listening, you can just scroll, open it, click on a link, and you’ll be connected to Sten and to Ark Yoga and also these links as well as a transcript of this podcast episode, so if you wanna go back, find a quote or reread something, that’s all available at wildyogatribe.com/yogainCameroon. 

So, Sten, do you want verbally here on the show today though, to say what your Instagram and Facebook are?

[00:28:24] Sten Kadji: Yeah, I’ll go ahead. My Instagram is  [00:28:30] @ark_yoga, so @ark_yoga, and my Facebook page is @StudioArkYoga. So pretty straight, pretty straightforward. My personal Instagram is @Skadji12, so follow me, would love to connect. And again, Lily, thank you so much for having me.

[00:28:53] Lily Allen-Duenas: Thank you, Stan. It’s been a gift to be with.

[00:28:56] Sten Kadji: Thank you very much. 

Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast Outro

[00:28:59] Lily Allen-Duenas: Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast. My conversation with Sten Kadji, a yoga teacher from Cameroon, was so bright and beautiful as we looked at yoga as a union of spheres, a fusion of many practices. And I hope that this conversation made you curious about how yoga is a journey and what yoga is for you can change, grow, and transform at any moment, and it likely will throughout your life. If you’re looking to tune into an episode that is all about being open to change, and being flexible with yourself and with your life, then this is the conversation for you. Thank you for listening to the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast. Be well. 

Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast #80- Yoga Fusion – Yoga in Cameroon with Sten Kadji

Welcome to Episode #80 of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast! My conversation with Sten Kadji, a yoga teacher from Cameroon, was so bright and beautiful as we looked at yoga as a union of spheres, a fusion of many practices. I hope that this conversation made you curious about how yoga is a journey, and what yoga is for you can change, grow, and transform at any moment and it likely will throughout your life.

If you’re looking to tune into a podcast episode that is all about being open to change, and being flexible with yourself and with life, then this is the conversation for you.

Tell me more about Sten Kadji

Sten Kadji opened the first yoga studio in Cameroon, Studio Ark Yoga, at the end of 2019. While he began practicing yoga in 2015, he received his yoga teacher training certification with the Africa Yoga Project in Kenya, and was actually in the same graduating class as Rama Saeed from Ghana, a previous guest on the Wild Yoga Tribe podcast. Sten teaches various types of meditations and Power Vinyasa Yoga at his studio in Douala, Cameroon.

What to expect in the Yoga In Cameroon episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast

While Sten Kadji is from Cameroon, he first came to yoga while attending university in Florida. Upon returning to Cameroon, he knew he wanted to bring all that he had learned to his community. He sought out a yoga teacher training with the Africa Yoga Project in Kenya, and opened the first studio in Cameroon shortly after in his mother’s art gallery. As Sten says, “It was a no-brainer how art and yoga associate.”

Our conversation veered off into many beautiful directions, including how Sten defines yoga, the gifts that yoga has given him, and all that yoga has brought into his life. His mother lost her battle with cancer a few years ago, and Sten credits yoga for helping him to heal.

It was fascinating to hear how being the first yoga studio in Cameroon has given required him to shoulder more responsibilities surrounding yoga. As Sten says, “In Cameroon, we do have a lot of preconceived ideas that people who associate yoga to religious affiliation or sometimes it’s very mystified and we take a lot of pride in dismantling these ideas or these myths around yoga. Through practices like meditation and breath work and even different workshops like around the yamas and niyamas and different philosophy around the practice, we try to share with our community around us.”

If you’re curious about yoga in Cameroon or what Cameroon is like— then tune in! This is the Wild Yoga Tribe episode for you!

For the skimmers – What’s in the yoga in Cameroon episode?

• Opening Cameroon’s first yoga studio in an art gallery
• Dismantling the myths around yoga
• The powerful training experience with the Africa Yoga Project
• Yoga is a journey that is ongoing, a flow that doesn’t stop
• Yoga is a practice meant to be shared

Favorite Quote From Sten Kadji

“Yoga practice has shown that we are able to live a more blissful and happy life by some simple tricks. I call these tricks, just like sitting in silence allows us to listen to ourselves more, be more present taking the time to move, things that seem very mundane and almost innate. Yoga reminds us that, it really takes time. And there there’s definitely virtues of yoga, like hard work and pushing, but also knowing when to let go. So I think all these little lessons that we learned on and off on the mat are so crucial to us today globally because it’s accessible to everybody.”

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