Rebekah is a medical physician, Nike yoga instructor, 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 way of yoga courses, 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 way of my teenagers and early twenties, I went by means of many cycles of burnout and poor psychological well being. I’ve at all times labored exhausting, and I bought to a degree 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 every single day and diving deeper into facets 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 instructor coaching. I’ve been instructing for about 5 years now and have at all times beloved it.

What sort of yoga instructor would you say you’re?

I like to grasp and be taught the normal facets of yoga whereas bringing in a artistic factor to current them in my very own approach. I really like welcoming new individuals into yoga and creating an area the place they’ll really feel calm. That doesn’t at all times imply being nonetheless and quiet, however understanding which you can simply breathe and be your self, giggle, and check out new issues.

Has your individual observe modified on account of your instructor coaching?

Once I began practising yoga, it was very vinyasa-focused. I believe that’s much like many individuals in London as there’s a sense of at all times being in need of time and needing to slot in train the place you’ll be able to. The instructor coaching was the place I found a love for slower kinds of yoga comparable to yin and restorative. After a few weeks of normal yin observe, 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 observe.   

Have you ever enhanced your instructing 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 route of doing shorter trainings and workshops which are centered on my explicit areas of curiosity. This has included a course with The Good Life Yoga College exploring the facility of music in yoga, how you can greatest utilise it to boost a yoga observe and produce a combination for optimum breath management. I’ve additionally enhanced talent units comparable to bodily changes with brief coaching periods 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 necessary to proceed to develop as a instructor, nevertheless, it may possibly usually be costly. One of many key methods to develop your studying as a instructor is to recurrently attend yoga courses as a pupil. There’s a lot you’ll be able to be taught from different lecturers throughout a category, and having robust common observe as a instructor is one thing I at all times suggest. 

What has been your greatest problem as a yoga instructor?

I certified as a instructor 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 in a position to be bodily near individuals or usually depart the home in any respect. Certainly one of my greatest challenges was re-adjusting to instructing in studios and holding an area in particular person, after being conditioned to instructing 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 attempt it?

By way of my very own instructing and platform, I assumed, ‘How can I attain communities who might really feel yoga isn’t for them?’. I grew up listening to reggae so it felt very pure to include this in my observe – it’s one thing that helps me really feel calm. I created an occasion known 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 take pleasure in nature. We have now attendees of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities and talents – for many individuals it’s their first-ever yoga class. Many really feel snug coming as they resonate with the meals and music, and yoga is a further side they’ll attempt. It’s relaxed and enjoyable, which I believe is so necessary for serving to individuals come again once more.

What does a day within the lifetime of Rebekah appear to be?

I take pleasure in having range throughout my week so a lot of my days look fairly completely different. On a hospital day, I’m at work for an 8 am handover from the evening crew, then see a lot of sufferers throughout the day presenting with completely different situations. On different days I is perhaps doing a shoot or having conferences. A few of my favorite days are spent doing laptop computer work in a restaurant, ingesting tea and having fun with a lunchtime yoga class.

What’s your favorite quote or life motto?

“Really feel the worry and do it anyway”

What’s arising 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 means of retreats has turn out to be a beautiful providing for the neighborhood. We even have a web-based studio opening in Autumn 2023 so you’ll be able to observe from house.

Discover Dr Rebekah  

Private – @rebekahzeenajade

Web site – https://wearepana.com/ 

Instagram – @weare.pana