"Mat & Beyond - Yoga Studio" was founded by Shailaja Menon in Malaysia. Shailaja hails from Coimbatore and her grandfather Dr. M.N. Menon was a military doctor in Burma prior to the second world war.
Shailaja Menon is the founder of the renowned “Mat & Beyond - Yoga Studio” in Malaysia. She is also the author of the book Yoga Shakti and is one of the popular trainers across the yoga spectrum. Though she lives and practices in Malaysia, she hails from Coimbatore and has done all her studies here. She did her studies in Avila Convent and St. Joseph’s School and Nirmala College for Women. More importantly she did her yoga training in Integral Yoga Training Institute in RS Puram.
We sat down with her to discuss about her journey as a yoga practitioner, instructor and now the author of Yoga Shakti.
Early Life
"I did a course on meditation to get rid of tension headaches while in college. Always felt that I had to deal with stress and related issues. I somehow knew that meditation and yoga would show me the path. I stayed in India for sometime after the birth of my first son and used the opportunity to learn Yoga at the Integral Yoga Centre. It was here that I met this really incredible Swami Mata Divyananda. I really feel that she impacted my yoga journey in a big way.
She inspired me with her own warm and loving personality. I came back the next year and was encouraged to do a teacher training programme by her. This set me up as a teacher. In Malaysia I felt the need to learn more in order to deepen my understanding. I began to learn with Manoj Kaimal - Founder, Manasa Yoga. I liked his approach and style. His grandparents were yoga teachers and therefore he had picked up yoga philosophy at an early age. He integrated philosophy in Asana practise besides the anatomy and bio mechanical part. That made it really transformative and I was inspired to teach in that manner.
My work in yoga was thus shaped by these two teachers. I have been teaching and learning as well over the last 18 years. Being a student helps one to open to knowledge. My studio is called "Mat & Beyond - Yoga Studio" because yoga is more than what you do on the mat and you take it back with you into your everyday life." spoke Shailaja from her ancestral residence in RS Puram. Today Yoga is well ensconced in Malaysia, thanks to its pioneering practitioners who had made it popular.
The author of Yoga Shakti
"Yoga Shakti - Awaken your own power" by Shailaja Menon has been published by Niyogi Books and is priced at Rs. 495. Shashi Tharoor has given the Foreword for the book and the Preface is by Manoj Kaimal. Shailaja wants the reader / practitioner to experience the transformative power of yoga through self-realisation.
The book has been strongly recommended by Shirley Telles, Director - Patanjali Research Foundation and Tunku Halim, Malaysian novelist, short story, non fiction writer & lawyer. The book is spread over 179 pages and is divided into 12 chapters. Every chapter is divided into a number of parts . Say the chapter 'Aham Brahmasmi: I am that', talks about how as adults we give our power away. The fact that we are just made to follow with the emphasis on the outside world is well brought out by the author. Teaching is more important than the teacher.
Expectations are set and how life is predetermined is explained as well. The author talks about her own quest in life for she was trying to figure out the cliched 'meaning and purpose' of life. She is pretty frank with her admissions based on awareness and experiences. This well learnt lesson is sure to be a good eye opener for the reader. The chapter also contains a poetic verse by Buddha and the Asanas are given in lovely pictures accompanied with explanations. The ' Practice ' portion of each chapter tells us how to condition ourselves or prepare for practising yoga in a complete manner. There is an interogatory part in each chapter and it is embellished with an appropriate answer. The book contains a number of quotes, poems and verses which play a supplementary role. The 'References' given at the rear would surely assist the reader who wishes to jump and swim in the world of yoga.
"Please see your mind, see where it is and consciously bring it to the place where the body is. If we bring it to the present, everything becomes better and deeper. Otherwise life is superficial. When we concentrate on the person or the situation, your everything is enhanced with its depth. The depth we get from the experience. You begin by creating shapes and then you make a progression. Then you connect with the mind and move forward. I wish to state here that the teaching is more important than the teacher" spoke Shailaja while sharing her thoughts based on her experiences.
Shailaja Menon was quick to state that her book was much more than processes or procedures for its purpose is to make a person be fit completely. "Be aware of your mind. Know its attachments. Learn to witness it objectively. Just as how you sit back and watch a movie, sit back and watch your mind. This exercise will help you to undergo a marvellous transformation. You can get your mind out of depression. One can come out of obsessive patterns. In order to survive well, we need to know our mind fully. Thats precisely why the first part of my class is mental work. Most people do not think that they can direct the mind. That we have the power to transform our own minds is not known to people. "
The Highlights
The photographs, the do's and donts, the Sanskrit verses which are of enlightening nature are sure to make the book endearing. The instructions are really lucid and will surely encourage the reader to understand yoga in a better perspective. Of course it goes without saying that the layman reader will be induced to take up yoga. The book the relevant shlokhas and focuses on Asanas based on the needs of the person. The book talks about Yogacharya Tirumalai Krishnamacharya who is considered to be the ' Father of Modern Yoga '. Shailaja shares snippets connected with Indra Devi, often called ' The First Lady of Yoga ' who was Russian by birth.
According to Padmashri awardee P.R. Krishnakumar Warrier, "Shailaja is a true Yogini. I have read the book cover to cover and I must say that this is the best one on yoga. The book is simply unputdownable and I have been recommending this book to everyone. Shailaja has beautifully combined spirituality, philosophy and yoga in her work. One would say that it is an effortless effort by her for she is an enlightened person. I am sure she follows Krishnamacharya's famous maxim - Teach what is within you. Not as it applies to you, but as it applies to the one in front of you. I am literally impressed with her intellectual magnanimity for she has listed every other popular yoga mentor found in the pages of history. This book will be useful for people who do not do yoga too."
Shailaja has taken pains to explain every Asana in detail with photographs while also focusing on the physical and spiritual aspect behind the same. She states that, "Years of consistent yoga practice brings a consciousness, a sensitivity, to our relationship with ourselves - our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual states, and to our relationship with the world around us. We become more conscious of what we are eating, what we are thinking, what our intentions are, what we are talking about, to who we are speaking, our exercise and lifestyle patters, our emotions and the way we feel, the manner in which we react, our ability or inability to focus our energy levels before and after conversations with different people, in different situations. We begin to naturally become conscious of it all." The Asanas and the preparations associated with each one of them along with the spiritual power that they confer on the practitioner have been brought out amazingly well.
The author focuses on awareness from the beginning. The Asanas are dealt with in a fabulous manner and the book is sure to add value to the life of the reader for its a complete work. The reader is made to understand that philosophy is the key. " The book is based on my experience and exposure to human lives and minds. Its a privilege to learn and observe so much. I understood that its the individual perspective of stress which harms for it puts out the power. Stress can be a learning experience for everyone. Yoga will surely give an opportunity to change the mind for good. Yoga gives the ability to shift the lens of the perspective for everyone. This book is a journey of my experience and I earnestly hope that it will help the reader / practitioner to become more conscious of both the mind and body while in the process of making life better and happier. Welcome to the world of YOGA SHAKTI ', stated Shailaja Menon whose mission in life is to make the power of yoga available to one and all.
