Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast Episode #12 – The Art of Living and Sri Sri Yoga – Yoga in Suriname with Arti Abhelakh 

Welcome to Episode #12 of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast! This week, I welcome Arti Abhelakh onto the show. She is a yoga teacher from Suriname, and is the owner of Yoga Peetha Happiness Center in Paramaribo, Suriname.

Arti is a Bhakta, which means a true devotee. She has a Guru that she is devoted to, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who is the founder of The Art of Living foundation which has reached over 160 countries world-wide with their knowledge, techniques, and their wisdom. The yogic practices of the Art of Living are called Sri Sri Yoga, and it is a particular type of Hatha Yoga developed to be accessible to all and to also put happiness at the forefront of your practice. As Arti says, when practicing Sri Sri Yoga, “you will have a constant smile on your face.” 

This conversation is truly a deep dive— we talk about her Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the Art of Living, Sri Sri Yoga, the Vashtu Principles, and we define Seva, Satsang, and Sadhana. We also will hear Arti’s stories about meeting her Guru, and about her personal practice, and about Yoga Peetha Happiness Center in Suriname.

Get ready for a beautiful conversation coming your way!

Tell me more about Arti…

Arti Abhelakh is a yoga teacher and studio owner from Parimaribo, Suriname. She completed her first 200hr yoga training in 2012 in North Carolina at the Sri Sri school of yoga. Ever since, she has been teaching. She has also completed  trainings in India, in Bangalore: kids yoga teacher training, a 350H Yoga Quality certificate India(QCI), a300H Advanced teacher training, and a pre- and Post natal Teachers training. She is also an Art of Living Teacher, and teaches the Sudarshan Kriya technique. She completed her Art of Living training in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Now, she owns the Yoga Peetha Happiness Centre in Paramaribo, and has built it according to all the Vastu Principles, and it has been blessed by Guruji Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Arti’s yoga center incorporates all spiritual activities like Seva, Satsang and Sadhana.

What to expect in Episode #12 of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast

Say hello to yoga in Suriname! Have you heard of Suriname before? Go ahead! Be honest! Suriname is the only country in South America that speaks Dutch! Suriname is sandwiched between French Guiana and Guiana. Brazil is on Suriname’s southern border and the Atlantic Ocean is to the North. And there are five big cultures living in Suriname— India, China, Indonesia, Africa, and Europe. All these cultures coexist and live together in Suriname. Arti herself has ancestral ties to India. When I asked Arti to talk about Suriname and yoga in Suriname, Arti shares that how the cultures live side by side and celebrate each other. She feels that they are one big family.

In this episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe podcast, Arti and I take a deep dive into her yogic path. She is a Bhakta, which means a true devotee of a guru. Her Guru is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who is still alive today. He is the founder of the Art of Living Foundation, in which Arti is also a devoted practitioner and teacher. Her daily sadhana, her daily practice, includes all of the pillars of the Art of Living and Sri Sri Yoga— the Hatha yoga sequence of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s lineage. Her daily practice includes not just sadhana, but also Seva and Satsang.

Wondering what Seva, Satsang, and Sadhana are? Let’s give a bit of context.

Seva means to do things for the benefits of other without seeking anything in return— not even a compliment or acknowledgement of your actions. In Sanskrit, “sat” means true and “sang” means being in the company of. So, Satsang means being in the company of the truth. Satsang  is coming together with others to sing mantras, meditation, and to read knowledge. You feel energized and uplifted, because the spirit is being filled with only positive vibration. Lastly, sadhana is nothing more than your spiritual practice— whether that’s meditation, pranayama, or asana practice.

In fact, Arti was first introduced to yoga during a four-day yoga class put on by the Art of Living in Suriname. She fell in love with yoga from the very first minute on the map. Over the rest of the course, Arti brought her pen and her notebook and took tons of notes on the yoga sequence. Arti then continued to practice that same sequence for 20 years! She never turned to YouTube, nor sought out other styles or yoga or other teachings, Arti knew in her heart that this sequence was her path. She has been a devotee of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and involved in the Art of Living foundation ever since.

For the skimmers – What’s in the Yoga in Suriname episode?

• The Art of Living
• What Is Sri Sri Yoga?
• The Grace of the Guru Moving Through You
• What It’s Like To Meet Your Guru
• Arti’s Daily Personal Practice
• Seva, Satsang, and Sadhana
• What are the Vashtu Principles?

Favorite Quote From Arti Abhelakh

“How to be balanced when things go wrong. That is yoga. How to talk to people and how to implement, that is yoga!” And “Yoga is also being in a state of balance, totally balanced, nothing can shake you. I always tell people, what we do on our yoga mat, is exactly what yoga is supposed to be in your daily life.”

Connect with Arti Abhelakh

https://www.facebook.com/ssysur

https://www.facebook.com/yogapeethahc

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxfKU-3zFSXtSOdkByGxAmA/featured

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 #12 – The Art of Living and Sri Sri Yoga – Yoga in Suriname with Arti Abhelakh 

 

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:00:04

Welcome, welcome, welcome, to the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast. I’m your host, Lily Allen-Duenas. Together we’ll talk about the world of yoga and we’ll talk to people from around the world. Join us for authentic conversations about the global yoga ecosystem, and we’ll cover yoga philosophies and methodologies along the way. Inhale, exhale, we’re about to dive in. 

 

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:00:39

Welcome, welcome, welcome, to this episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast. Today, I’m joined by Arti Abhelak, a yoga teacher and studio owner from Paramaribo Suriname. She completed her first 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2012, in North Carolina at the Sri Sri School of yoga. Ever since then, she has been teaching. She also completed teacher training in India, in Bangalore, including kids’ yoga teacher training, a 350-hour yoga quality certificate in India called the QCI, and then a 300-hour advanced teacher training course as well. She is prenatal and postnatal certified and she is also an Art of Living teacher, which she completed that training in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. She now owns the Yoga Peetha Happiness Center in Paramaribo, and is built according to the Vastu principles, and it has been blessed by Guru-ji Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Arti’s center incorporates all spiritual activities including Seva Satsang, and Sadhana. So please join me in welcoming Arti on to the show. Thank you so much for being here Arti. 

Arti Abhelakh: 00:01:54

Oh, thank you very much for asking me, Lily. I feel very, very honored. 

What brought yoga into your life?

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:02:00

Thank you. So just for starters, Arti, could you tell us a little bit about your story, how you first got drawn to yoga, what brought yoga into your life?

Arti Abhelakh: 00:02:12

Actually, when I first went to a yoga session, I had never heard of the word yoga before. So I was actually joining a friend of mine who was going through this course, which was organized by the Art of Living Organization, and there was a teacher from India, here. So, this friend of mine told me, “Come let’s go to this course” so I said, “Alright, let’s go” and I stepped in, in the hall, and I looked at the teacher, she was a lady, and she looked very strict, the first impression. And I was like, “Oh, where am I, what am I doing here?”But I took off my yoga mat, I sat down on my yoga mat, and then the board started, and Militia Gosh started till the end of this course. I thought I was somewhere else, somewhere, I don’t know where. I was not on my yoga mat, although I was on my yoga mat. I don’t know what happened to me but I fell so in love with yoga on that very first day. And it was a course of four days. I remember bringing my notebook, and my bed, along with me. All the other three days, writing down everything she was saying. So not to forget anything about the Asanas and pranayama, she was teaching us. I wrote everything out in sequence just to keep it for myself because I know when this lady goes, I am on my own. So I have written down everything in my notebook just to keep practicing. And since that day, I never stopped practicing yoga and I’m talking about 20 years now, and I just kept practicing and doing the same sequences, over and over, and doing now some variations of course. And I’m doing some advanced courses again along with it, but the basics that I learned on the first day of that course. That is still accidental. That’s how I fell in love with yoga.

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:04:25

I love that story. I’d love that, this one teacher came into your life so accidentally, serendipitously. And then, because of that one teacher, and all the notes you took, you were able to translate that into a daily practice. That’s really amazing. A lot of people I think turn them to YouTube or they try to seek other external sources but the fact that you used all those notes to continue practicing, I think is really inspiring to Arti.

Arti Abhelakh: 00:04:58

Yes, Lily. This is very strange that you’re saying this because, now only, I noticed this, that I never went looking for more on YouTube or any other social media. I just thought about my notes from that only teacher, and I waited till another version from the Art of Living to follow. This is very, I never stood still by this thing that you just mentioned. No, I never went on YouTube to search for more about yoga. This was actually so fulfilling and so full of advice, going through my whole body, this little sequence or this version this lady gave us doing this for the course, it was amazing. And this is the same sequence I teach my students right now, also.

Can you speak more about this sequence and about what the Art of Living is?

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:05:56

Wow, so it’s one sequence with the Art of Living. I’m actually not very familiar with it too, so I would love for you to speak more about this sequence and about what the Art of Living is?

Arti Abhelakh: 00:06:07

The Art of Living, to start with it, it’s a very big organization, it’s the Art of Living Organization Worldwide They have reached over 160 countries already, with their knowledge, and their techniques, and their wisdom, and they have reached almost 400 million people around the world globally with other techniques and their knowledge and the founder of this organization is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. And we have this one mission, and that is to create one world family. And this does by teaching people. His primary core knowledge, and that is the Sudarshan Kriya, and that is also all other courses comes along, like this is yoga for example, this one of the courses CPF. So there are a lot of courses given by the Art of Living Organization, and today’s video is one of them, and what makes Sri Sri yoga actually different from any other yoga style. It is hot yoga or yoga or how do you want to pronounce it. But the difference is that Sri Sri yoga is made, the sequence is made very simple. So, all ages can do the sequence— young, old, not flexible, very flexible, very advanced people but also the beginners, they can all jump into one flesh and do their sequence. Because it is a sequence that will take you from top to toe, all the muscles we attend to, all the joints we attend to, and the sequence is very simple. Also Sri Sri yoga is different from other schools. Besides that, it’s simple, it’s also fun. And that’s what we like to have in the class, we would like to have fun because Yoga is not a very serious business. It’s to be very natural and have that constant smile on your face, and a sport, a very important point, instead. Every teacher that teaches Sri Sri yoga has the Grace of the Guru with him or her with her whenever she sits on her yoga mat, and then grace is being felt by the students when they do Sri Sri Yoga. [unintelligible 00:08:45]

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:08:49

It sounds like Sri Sri Yoga is a part of the Art of Living. So it’s just one of the branches or one of the arms, is that correct?

Artin Abhelakh: 00:08:57

It’s one of the courses from the Art of Living Organization, yep.

Student experience with Sri Sri yoga 

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:09:02

Okay, and you said that the Grace of the Guru flows through the student during the practice, which I thought was so beautifully said. Does every single yoga student who’s doing Sri Sri yoga, do they go to meet the guru and receive Darshan, is that what you mean by the grace flowing through or is it more of an unspoken kind of spiritual energy that’s connecting?

Arti Abhelakh: 00:09:29

The second one, an unspoken energy that they can feel. They feel that there is something more present than just sitting there in front of them. And there is, everyone, each one of them, experiences, and this is not because I’m saying it but because they have told me this. You know, Lily, this is very nice. If we talk about this because she just mentioned that, “Oh, wow, Arti, you never went looking on the internet and all that”. So it’s nice to know that learning from books, or internet, will only give you the knowledge of, “I know”, but learning yoga on their master will make you recognize your true nature, because we will make you experience the knowledge, and that is exactly what happens with all the teacher should Sri Sri yoga, and all the students who follow this teacher. They experience knowledge about yoga. They’re not there standing and doing some Asanas and some poses, they go deep within them to find their true self, to find the peace, the balance, the rest, the peaceful. That is what happened, and that is beautiful to observe.

You have been around your Guru Ji, correct? What is that like for you when you’re in his presence?

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:10:52

So I love how you said Arti, when you don’t learn from books and you don’t learn from the internet, you’re learning about your own essence and your own nature. It’s a more internal investigation or what is that word, you investigate yourself, and by going inwards and by having an actual Guru to awaken things in you energetically or through words and teachings, I think you’re right it’s a completely special experience. So I’m pretty sure you have been around your Guru Ji, correct? What is that like for you when you’re in his presence?

Arti Abhelakh: 00:11:33

When you sit and you read knowledge, and you look at something and you listen to the knowledge, it’s a totally different experience when you’re close to your master. Because when you’re close to your master, it’s beyond words. Because everything that actually was very deep and difficult to understand, becomes so easy when you sit close to your master because he’s words, they carry his energy and this energy that comes with grace and the deep meaning of all the words, of all the knowledge will reveal itself, as it is like that. You’ve suddenly opened and received knowledge on a whole different level. And that is exactly what happens when I’m close to my Guru Ji, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Sometimes I go there in front of him and I have millions of questions to ask him but the minute I stand there in front of him, I’m totally speechless. No question arises in my mind, my mind is completely peaceful and in balance, and they’re amazing. Wonderful thing that happens is that without talking, all my questions are being answered. And that is how I experience every time when I am in front of him. I have been with him, four to five times, or maybe seven times already. And this is an amazing experience. And he can hear each one of us, and that is also so amazing. I can remember if I have time to tell a little Guru story that I have. Can I tell a little Guru story?

A guru story…

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:13:33

I would love that. Yes.

Arti Abhelakh: 00:13:36

So I remember that I wanted to see him, Lily, because he was also in the ashram in Pole, North Carolina, and that is where he comes every July. In the village of Guru Purnima, he comes there to celebrate Guru Purnima. So I also went there to see him. That was my first time. And I so wanted to see him, but there were like, thousands, ten-thousands of people were there. And they were, you know, they were there to see him and I was like, “How will I ever come in front of him, or see him or speak, or look into his eyes if I have to go through all these people”. So, I was just sitting there in the Ashram Membone, it’s very nice. Ashram is long, it has a lot of stairs going up to reach Ashram and I was just sitting on the stairs and I remember that he was coming, and all of these people were running down the stairs going in the direction of where they expected him to come with his car. And then I thought to myself, I will not run, I will not go because this is useless how will I go through the crowd. So I stayed back, and I sat on the stairs. And I was like, “I so wish I could be”. And while I was sitting there, out of nowhere, he suddenly came from the right side, somewhere I don’t know where, but not at all from downstairs where the crowd was awaiting him, he came there with a few people around him. And he just came in to go quickly in the hall and I was sitting right on his back. And then I stood up and I said, Guru-ji you fooled all those people down there by coming this way. And he was like, “Yes, but you wanted to see me, right?”. And I was totally quiet and silent because I knew he knew what I wanted. And this is just one good story. A lot of more happened to me in my life but also to a lot of people, actually all the people who have been in the Art of Living Organizations. It’s just amazing how he hears you and listens to you. That was my little Guru story. 

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:15:56

Thank you, Arti for sharing that, that’s so sweet and special and I’m really happy that it happened to you. What an amazing, amazing experience just to feel so seen and heard and to feel that you got that chance, that you were not fooled. 

Arti Abhelakh: 00:16:14

Yeah. 

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:16:15

So, Arti, I was wondering about your personal practice. So, what do you do every day? What does your personal practice look like, because you said you don’t miss a day, so I would love to hear about it? 

What is your personal practice like?

Arti Abhelakh: 00:16:28     

So, every day, my personal practice, I’ll start with time. When I wake up, I do one hour of Asana as well as pranayama. And every day that is different. It’s not like a fixed sequence that every day I have a one-hour sequence of Pranayama and Asana. After that, I [unintelligible 00:16:52] for a couple of minutes, and then I get up and do my Sudarshan Kriya. Sudarshan Kriya is a very beautiful technique that I learned from the Art of Living Organization. It’s a technique with various kinds of rhythmic breathing, new brain harmonies, all the different layers in your body. I do that. And after that, I finished. I do my Sahaj meditation, which is also part of the Art of Living Organization. It’s a special meditation where you take your personal mantra in a way different from other meditation. In the fact that other medications, they will give you rest and peace, and you feel very energized after that. The Sahaj meditation is a special meditation where you go into all the impressions of your body and clean your impression. So there is my daily sequence, and I have more time. I also do my Japa chanting. And if I have more more time, I also do my open ayan, it’s some also special protein from the Art of Living from [unintelligible 00:18:22]

Yoga Peetha Happiness Center was built according to the Vastu principles

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:18:24

What a beautiful personal practice. Thank you for sharing that with us, Arti, I appreciate it. And I would love to hear, you mentioned in your bio or I mentioned when I read your bio that the Yoga Peetha Happiness Center was built according to the Vastu principles, could you explain what that means and what the principles are? 

Arti Abhelakh: 00:18:44

So, there are a lot of principles, it’s not to tell in a few minutes, but to tell it in a nutshell to a person who doesn’t even know what was to is, I would say, the Vastu principles, or the last Vashtu knowledge is all about the energies, and it talks about in which directions or the good energy and directions of the negative energy. So when you look at the East and the North, they are considered to be the good energy, they give positive energy, positive vibrations. While the West and the South are considered to be the negative energy. So, this building, the Peetha Happiness Center, was built according to these techniques. 

So the front gate is totally located in the East, so all the positive energy can come in. The doors are both located in such a view that all the positive energy can come in. If you look at, for instance, the toilets, they are totally in the south, where all the negative, all the waste comes out. The walls on the South side of the building, there is no window in it. So no negative light comes in. Also, the windows are built according to the, so the amount of window should have been built that way, but also the paint, the roof, how the roof should be built so that the positive energy comes in and the negative energy also there. And also the plants that are being planted are according to the Vastu principles. The kitchen and the place where the fire should be, they have a little kitchen. If you have a coffee break or something. So, the kitchen is also in the right direction. We have the water element in the North direction. The fire element is in the South East direction, so all the elements that we know whether Fire, Earth, with all these elements are, according to Vastu principles, are placed in the right direction and this building is built. So when somebody enters near the center, they immediately feel this fight of positive energy coming to them. And that is what makes it more, and the experience, even nicer when you are coming there for any kind of Seva, Satsang or Sadhana. 

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:21:35

Yes, that sounds a lot like Feng Shui. I know I always mispronounce that word but it sounds very similar.

Arti Abhelakh: 00:21:44

It is similar. But it goes much deeper than Feng Shui, but it’s the same thoughts, yes. 

What are Seva, Satsang and Sadhana?

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:21:53

Just in case our listeners haven’t heard before, what Seva, Satsang and Sadhana are, would you just briefly touch on what each of those mean?

Arti Abhelakh: 00:22:05

You read my mind, Lily. Because while I was saying it, I was thinking to myself, “Should I explain this?”. So, Seva in such a way is, when you do all kinds of actions without expecting something in return, and this is all called Karma Yoga, is one of the types of yoga. And then, doing any kind of action, it’s all about the action that you’re thinking, “I need to get a compliment for this”, what I did, or I need to get something there because people need to see you. So anything that you do without wanting something that is to help others, just to make sure the well-being of others are being taken care of, there is yoga. And that is what we also [unintelligible 00:23:03] sometimes we make a thought for the very poor people and we start dividing the poor to very poor people in the country, but also people from all over, they come back to yoga, and they do Seva, they start cleaning all the windows, it has a lot of windows and a lot of doors. We don’t want something, they just want to do Seva for the center. Let’s also Seva, so all kinds of Seva.  

And then we have Satsang. The word Satsang itself means you can divide it into two sets [unintelligible 00:23:42] of being together with people. So Satsang is in the company of the truth. You should ask now, what is true. So, when you go to a birthday party or a barbecue party or beach party or whatever party. It’s also nice that you’re in the company of people that bring you good luck to your house. After the party, you usually feel tired, or you’re usually not fully energized, but then you go to a Satsang and gathering where there is meditation where we’ve seen mantras, where we speak knowledge, maybe or, all in one positive, positive vibration. Where there is no place for rumor, or gossip, or talking about negative things but only positive things. When you go home from the Satsang, you feel energized, during the Satsang you feel energized. You feel optimistic because the spirit, the soul is being filled with all the positive vibration. So that is Satsang, you come together, you feel the beat using all kinds of mantras, the mediting, filled with knowledge, and we just enjoy being there in this positive vibration. And then you have Seva, Satsang, and Sadhana. You asked me what my daily Sadhana looks like. Sadhana is nothing more than your spiritual practice. Everything that you do. It has to do with spiritual practice, it can be just meditating in your asana, whatever is your spiritual practice, it is called Sadhana. 

What is your definition of yoga?

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:25:41

Thank you so much, Arti. I think you described those also beautifully and I know my listeners, and me as well. We all appreciate having those definitions with us. So Arti, I asked this question to almost every guest, and I’d love to ask you as well. What is your definition of yoga? So if I say the phrase yoga is, you know. How would you say that sentence or so?

Arti Abhelakh: 00:26:07

You see giving a definition of yoga, what yoga is, that is actually not possible. Because yoga can be divine from all kinds of angles [unintelligible 00:26:22] yoga is bringing all the thoughts, complete, calm, in such a way that you feel balanced with your body and mind, with your breath. You can also say, yoga, [unintelligible 00:26:44] it gives another definition of yoga, and that is yoga is being skillful in action. Yoga is not about doing the Asanas, yoga is not about doing your pranayama, but yoga is being in your day to day life. Practicing what you learn on your yoga mat, implementing it in your daily life. It’s the skill of how you deal with people, when you’re involved with situations around you and how situations around you involve you. So it’s the skill to go further in your day to day life, that is yoga. 

But yoga is also being in a state of balance, totally balanced. Nothing can shake it. So I always tell people what we do on our yoga mat, is exactly what yoga is supposed to be in our daily life. When I asked you to stand on your yoga mat in a difficult position. There is exactly, and you need to find your balance, that’s exactly what we need to do in our day to day life as a yogi. You have to go through difficult situations in your day to day life, you will face them. Each one of them, you face a difficult situation. But how to find your balance in between that difficult situation, there is yoga. That is being a yogi, that is what yoga defines me. How to be balanced when things go wrong, that is yoga. How to talk to people and implement yoga. So yoga for me is much more than one definition. I can never say yoga is this for me, yoga is everything for me.

Everything I teach, everything I do, there is yoga. You know, my teacher once asked me, do you want to be a yogi, or do you want to be a yoga teacher. That was the first question I had on teacher training. And by that time, I just wanted to be a yoga teacher, who cares to be a yogi. So, I want to be a yoga teacher. But the moment I started practicing my Asanas, and the more I started teaching, the more the knowledge started on me, the more I realized that I want to be a yogi, because a true yogi, that is what is a yoga. The more you want to become a yogi, the more it will set you free. The more you surrender, the more you will feel the freedom, the peace within you. And the more you see that everything around you will start happening, and the teaching itself will happen. So yoga is an amazing, amazing experience, and not only Asana and Pranayama, and doing Sadhana every day. But yoga is also experiencing that true knowledge and implementing the true knowledge that you gain from your yoga practice in your day to day life. That is yoga for me. 

What would you say to someone who wants to be more of a yogi?

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:30:15

Powerful definition or pack of definition. To say that yoga encompasses everything. I think that Arti was beautiful. Thank you for sharing and definitely inspiring. To think about whether you want to be a yoga teacher, or a yogi. I love that question and I’ve never been asked it before, and I think that it’s a great one to reflect on and then also to see how that changes over time because of course in the beginning. Yeah, you want to be a yoga teacher, you want to pass on a lot of the amazing things that you have felt from yoga yourself. The benefits, the peace of mind, or even just how light your body feels and your mind could feel, you want to translate that and teach that. But I do think that being a yogi, for me has always seemed to claim that term, it seems almost intimidating. Like, I’m not a yogi yet you know like, “Oh, I’m not far enough on the path” or “I’m not practiced enough to say I’m a yogi”. How do you respond to that, to someone feeling that way or if someone wants to start feeling more like yogi, what advice do you give or I’d love it if you could shed some light on that Arti?

Arti Abhelakh: 00:31:30

I would just say just be yourself, at the right moment because if you want to try to be something, the more you’re afraid, the more you will fail. So I would say just go with the flow and just surrender. They never really do something difficult on your back. Just be yourself, and it will automatically zone upon you. Try to live the knowledge and you see, to experience being a yogi, there is actually to experience the freedom within yourself. And once you surrender and let go, freedom comes. And once freedom comes, peace can be felt. The moment you merge with the divine in you. You connect automatically with all the people in the environment around you yourself. You start feeling peace in every cell in your body, and every cell you will feel the love and the devotion for the, for the divine already raised down upon you. And this is exactly what will happen if we just let go, let go of your Asanas, but let go of your day to day struggling, and it’s easier said than done of course, but this is where yoga practice helps you. So do not fight with yourself to become a yogi, it will happen on its own. It does not happen with me from yesterday, it happened to me over the years, during the year, I start changing. But do your practice every day, do not stop. That is very important. And when you do this, you will automatically see the changes and you will be able to reflect on how I was a few years ago and how I am now. If you’re another vegetarian, don’t struggle with it, don’t think I can never be a yogi because I love to eat meat and all that, it will happen automatically, because the more yoga let the knowledge shone upon you, the more you surrender, the more you meditate, it automatically will happen that you will become and start feeling one with the nature, with the animal. And eating meat, it will automatically dissolve. So do not struggle and force yourself into something, but slowly and progressively, just go with the flow and it will happen automatically. That’s my advice.

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:34:14

Arti, you sound like a true Bhakta, you definitely have the Bhakta yoga strong in your heart, my dear. Wow, yeah. It is easier said than done and to surrender and to let go and to just allow yourself to merge with the divine inside of you. As you said, it’s really inspiring to hear how true those words are, you know, it carries through your voice Arti, how you live, what you say.

Arti Abhelakh: 00:34:46

Yeah, it’s actually not my voice, it’s my Guru during hearing, I keep believing in that. 

If someone wants to come visit or do training, what are your offerings?

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:34:54

So, I also would love to ask here, Arti, about your Yoga Shala, about Yoga Peeth Happiness Center in Paramaribo. If someone wants to come visit or do training, what are your offerings? I know right now with COVID; things might be a little different. So if you have any online offerings or in the future when things resume back to normal, what can people expect to find when they come?

Arti Abhelakh: 00:35:25

Actually Lily, we’ve been open again for one month now. So people do come for their normal classes and courses are being held, with of course having COVID protocols in mind. But before that we were giving courses online, and I was just re-using the hall-ish as my…to sit there to give online classes. But no, the hall is open so people can come and do courses, again, in the hall comfort system. Of course, we do take registrations because we can have a certain number of people there, because of the COVID. But actually, they can just give me a call. I don’t know if you can see my number or the website of Yoga Peetha Happiness Center or the Facebook page, they can see which courses are coming up, what we have, what kind of events we have, but everyday their classes, for sure.

How would you describe Suriname and how would you explain the yoga scene in Suriname?

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:36:30

Oh, that’s great news and yes I’ll definitely link your website and your social media here in the show notes. So wherever our listeners are tuning in on whatever platform, the links will be in the show notes as well as on my website, wildyogatribe.com. So, I am glad you shared those and they’ll be linked which is great. So also Arti, before we close our episode together, I would love it if we could pretend that somebody had never heard of Suriname. For just one minute, just pretend that it’s a country they’re completely unfamiliar with. How would you describe Suriname and how would you explain the yoga scene in Suriname?

Arti Abhelakh: 00:37:12

Well Lily, this is for me a very easy question, because every day I meet people who have never heard of Suriname, then I need to explain to them where Suriname is. So I’ve been doing this actually quite often. So, Suriname is a country in South America, we belong to the South America, and we are the only Dutch speaking country in South America because every country in South America, they speak Spanish, except for Suriname, and our neighbor in Guiana, will speak English and our other neighbors, French Guiana who speak French. So we’re the only three countries who are not Spanish. So we’re in the south of South America. In between, Guiana, French Guiana, and Brazil, those are my neighbors. And in the North, I have the Atlantic Ocean. 

 

Suriname is a beautiful country; we do not have winter or summer; if it’s Suriname, it’s only when the sun, or the rain it’s the sun or the rain, and now it’s the sun, and it’s very much in Suriname. The temperature is 34 degrees and we have five big cultures living in Suriname. So we have the people from India over and Ancestors came from India. I myself, and second generation of Indian grandparents. We have people from China. We have people from Indonesia. We have people from Africa, and of course we have people from Europe, living in Suriname. So five have five big, big, cultures, and all these cultures are living together, so I know how to make Chinese food, Indonesian food. The Chinese people know how to make Roti and all the Indian dishes. So we know each other. And what’s unique is from this country is that; the mosque and the Synagogue from the Jewish people, and the mosque are together, they are built together and they do their prayers together that’s one big, big very thing that we say about Suriname, and how the coaches live side by side, celebrating each other’s national holidays. 

 

So people in Suriname, you can see on Diwali that all the other cultures, they have respect for Diwali, that’s where we [unintelligible 00:39:47] So you will see that all the other soldiers, they will celebrate it too. But when it’s something from the Chinese people, you will see us celebrating that too, wearing their clothes too. So this is one uniqueness that we all understand about Suriname. How the different cultures live together, and access one of them. And that is the nice thing of course about Suriname. And of course we have these amazing tropical forests, and we actually have a very big forest, and they have all these wooden buildings in all this shipping from the 1800s. It’s a very historical city. We have influences here from the Dutch, but also from England. Although we speak Dutch, we drive on the left side, according to England, the English people, so you will see all kinds of influences in Suriname, and that makes it a very nice country. They’re very open and when somebody comes to us, we always like, “yes you can stay at my house, we will cook for you”, so we are very open to everybody and that is how every Suriname people is. 

 

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:41:17

Oh, that’s beautiful you describe that. For a while, you make me want to book a plane ticket tomorrow. 

 

Arti Abhelakh: 00:41:23

Oh please come to Lily, it would be very nice.

 

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:41:27

I will one day, I know. It’s so wonderful to meet you and to get to learn more from you Arti. I think as I said you’re a true Bhakta and I feel very grateful to have met you and to have gotten the chance to interview you here on the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today.

 

Arti Abhelakh: 00:41:46

Oh, Lily, I’m the one who feels honored that you called me because I don’t know where you found me but I’m like, “Wow, she found me and she wants to even interview”. I’ve been telling it to my own family and all my friends. I’m having a podcast interview with this lady and I was so proud of it. So thank you very much.

 

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:42:06

Thank you. I’m excited to see where our friendship takes us in the future. Thank you again Arti. 

 

Arti Abhelakh: 00:42:14

Thank you. 

 

Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast Outro

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:42:20

Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of The Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast with Arti from Paramaribo Suriname. She is, as I’ve said during this episode, she seems to be a true Bhakta and her devotion to her Guru Ji Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is so gorgeous, and the way that she feels her Guru is speaking through her as she was transmitting these two beautiful words of wisdom and insight on the path of yoga, and on the Art of Living. So I hope you found this informational and inspiring and touching and make sure to reach out to Arti on her website or social media channels linked here below. Thank you again, I know your time is precious. I am so grateful you spent this time with us today. Thank you again and be well. 

 

[Music Outro 00:43:10]

Lily Allen-Duenas: 00:43:13

Feel like getting social connect with me, and the Wild Yoga Tribe on social media, on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Head on over to the wildyogatribe.com to tap into some pretty awesome resources. Meditate with me on Insight Timer, a free app on Apple and Android devices, and join me for a yoga class on YouTube. Jazz up your week and get a bit of yoga in your life. Remember to hit subscribe so that you never miss an episode. And if you feel called, please share this episode with someone that you think could benefit from it. Leaving a review would also be so appreciated. Thank you again, dear listener for being with me. May your day be light and bright. May you be peaceful and happy, and lead on the right path, free of suffering and free of sorrow. Be Well dear one, be well. 

 

[End Transcription 00:44:04]

[Music Outro 00:44:04]

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