INTERVIEWER: MAHMOUD MANSI
EDITOR: NOHA ALY SLEME
About Areej Elmasry:
A Yoga Instructor with an educational background in English Literature. After Areej graduated from the Faculty and Arts, Alexandria University. Areej hewed a very interesting and diverse career in Egypt and in USA, besides her excellence in sports. She won several awards in triathlon and she has been an active member in ALEX RUNNERS, Train For Aim, and The TriFactory Alexandria.
A couple of months ago Areej arrived from India after having an excessive one month Yoga course there. She is seriously dedicated to being a Yoga Instructor right now as a professional career. She is currently giving Yoga classes in Planet Gym Kafr Abdo.
THE INTERVIEW
1-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: When did your passion for Yoga start, and why Yoga specifically?
Areej Elmasry: My passion for yoga started 3 years ago, when I lived in the USA. I was always infatuated by what yoga does to our bodies. I started going to classes, tried different types of Yoga and I just fell in love with it. Every time I finished a class, my mind was so clear and my body so energetic and strong yet relaxed. I loved how it made me attentive, made me aware of my body listening to its comforts and discomforts. It’s funny, that it made me realize that sometimes I forgot to breathe, this long comforting breath! It made me learn that breathing itself is an art.
In physiology, respiration is defined as the transport of oxygen from outside air to the cells within tissues, and the transport of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction. When we inhale, the diaphragm contracts, resulting in negative pressure and this negative pressure generates airflow because of the pressure difference between the atmosphere and alveolus. Thus, air enters inflating the lung through the nose or the mouth into the pharynx (throat) and the trachea before entering the alveoli. When we exhale, the diaphragm relaxes and forces you to expel the air. During forced exhalation, as when we blow out a candle, expiratory muscles including the abdominal muscles and internal inter-coastal muscles generate abdominal and thoracic pressure which forces the air out of the lungs.
Also Yoga Exercises improve circulation, stimulate the abdominal organs, and put pressure on the glandular system of the body, which can generally result to better health.
It helps you detox your body, helps you to be focused and to cleanse! I loved how every posture helps your body to build strength and stamina.
I chose yoga because Yoga is for anyone who is willing to learn its ways and ideas. It does not actually require any special equipment or clothing. What it requires is your will to have a healthier, stress-free self.
2-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: As a Literature graduate, why haven’t you chosen an easier career path?
Areej Elmasry: I studied literature because you know how our educational system works in Egypt. I can’t say I did not love literature, that’s why I studied it. However, it was one of my interests, and I learnt a lot from studying literature and of course it helped me big time to be able to teach. It’s ironic though how I was trying to escape teaching in schools yet I’m teaching yoga now.
3-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: Was your decision traveling to India to learn more about yoga a difficult one?
Areej Elmasry: I didn’t hesitate at all deciding to travel. I had some difficulties though to convince my mother. And as a caring mom, she was worried to let me travel alone for a long period of time.
4-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: Are you willing to rely on your income as being a yoga instructor your entire life? What will you do if an accident happened to you, and you are not able to be an instructor anymore? What backup plan do you have in mind for your career?
Areej Elmasry: I am willing to do my utmost to TEACH yoga, regardless the income it brings; what’s more important to me is to deliver Yoga awareness to the people here. And if I ever had an accident I will fight to heal myself, because one of the benefits of yoga is to fix injuries if you do it the right way.
5-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: Apart from knowledge or experience, what is the difference between yoga instructors in Egypt and in India?
Areej Elmasry: My teachers in India were of different nationalities. There were two British teachers, a Spanish teacher and the other one was Indian, who taught the other three. They were all so amazing, generous and passionate. The only difference is that Indians have gurus (yoga masters) who teach them since they were young kids. So eventually they have been practicing more and more than others. Yet all of them were profoundly qualified and amazing teachers.
6-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: What was the utmost challenge you faced there? And how did you overcome it?
Areej Elmasry: My utmost challenge was that I got injured in the first week I was there. I pulled my hamstring which resulted in an inflammation in the biceps femoris tendon that connects the hamstring to the tibia bone, an injury that has put me in huge pain and has prevented me from practicing for about 3 days. Yet this helped me a lot to observe what I couldn’t see while practicing. Then I decided that I will have to endure the pain and started practicing again, taking painkillers to help me go on with my practice.
7-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: From your point of view, what is the best technique to brand yourself, and what is the best way to reach out for students?
Areej Elmasry: The best way to reach out for your students is by practicing what you preach. For me there is no rule for that. Being yourself is the most important thing. A yoga teacher should be an example for self-love. It’s also important to teach the Yamas, the ways in which we interact with each other in the world without being enslaved to our likes and dislikes. Those five Yamas are: to be truthful, not to be violent, not to steal, not to be excessive, and not to be possessive.
8-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: What kind of message do you believe you are delivering through your work?
Areej Elmasry: My aim is to deliver the true meaning of Yoga. Many people think that yoga is just a physical practice and others believe it’s just this state of meditation where you sit crossed legged, eyes closed and your thumb and index fingers touching. Yoga is a lot more than that. It could be interpreted differently from one person to another. But what’s more important is to help delivering your knowledge in order to get a clear understanding. For me Yoga is realizing the true beauty of your innersole, the beauty of your body with self-love. Yoga is balance, a physical and a mind balance.
Ancient Yogis had a belief that in order for man to be in harmony with himself and his environment, he has to integrate the body, the mind, and the spirit. For these three to be integrated, emotion, action, and intelligence must be in balance. The Yogis formulated a way to achieve and maintain this balance and it is done through exercise, breathing, and Meditation – the three main Yoga structures.
9-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: Through your career life after graduation you had several different jobs. Can you please share with us each job and how did each of those jobs add to your personality and what you are doing now?
Areej Elmasry: When I first graduated I worked as a teacher in a school, then as a translator in a company, then I worked as a sterilization technician in a dental office in the United States, and last but not least a Principal Assistant in an international school here in Egypt. All these routine jobs simply made me realize that that’s not what I want to do in my life. They lit the path for finding my passion for Yoga. Of course anything you do in your life benefits you in a way, even the people you meet in your life add something to you whether it was a good or a bad. As we all know the famous saying “No pain, no Gain”.
10-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: If you were a manager in a company, would you offer your employees yoga sessions? How would you sell them the idea?
Areej Elmasry: I would sure offer yoga sessions at least once a week to my employees. In a magical way, yoga helps the body and the mind to relax. You may first approach Yoga as a way to achieve a great body or to keep fit and that is perfectly alright. But what Yoga really does is that it helps in improving your health for stretching which can tone your muscles and exercise your spine and your entire skeletal system. Yoga encourages you to reflect on yourself and to find your inner peace. It exercises not just your body but your mind as well. With a healthy body and mind, you’re on your way to a more fulfilling life and eventually a more productive work. First I would help enlighten them for the true meaning of yoga and encourage them to try and do my best to make them love it.
11-HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: How were you introduced to the 5 Yamas and how can they be oriented to employees at work?
Areej Elmasry: Throughout my life I was taught many things. Some of which are to be truthful, to have compassion for others and not to hurt people, to let go of the jealousy, not to steal, to have self control by being a moderate person and last but not least is to only fulfill my needs.
Later, I learned that these things are the 5 Yamas of yoga…
I believe that Organizational performance can be attributed to a number of factors. However, there are certain organizational factors, the presence or absence of which can determine the success or failure of the organization. There are different ways in which organizations try to improve their performance in an attempt to find out whether adoption of the Yoga Way of Life by managers can have a positive impact on such organizational performance indicators.
Even though the Yamas are taught to all human beings in a way or another, but sometimes people fail to apply them on different aspects of their lives.
Let’s breakdown the Yamas and give examples…
1-Satya
Satya means “truthfulness,” or “not lying.” This Yama gives us a chance to examine the concept of honesty. We could think about manipulation or cheating, or how we treat other people. Practicing Satya requires being truthful in our feelings, thoughts, our words, and deeds. It requires being honest with ourselves and with others.
Teach employees to always assess their honestly, and to work at their own level. Encourage them to be true to themselves and know that this job includes challenges that they have to live up to (treating customers). Teach them that nothing is worth lying. If you did something wrong, you better come forward and ask for help than cover it up and face worse consequences.
Help them find affirmations in their lives by telling themselves that they live in truth, they speak the truth to themselves and to others. Teach them to speak in the spirit of love, to take responsibility for their actions and not to blame anyone for one’s experience.
2- Asteya
Meaning not stealing.
This Yama gives us a chance to think about our relation not only with the material world around us but also the psychological and emotional world that we all deal with.
Encourage employees to learn to live in gratitude for all that you have. Learn to take and use what is rightfully yours, respect the possessions and the talents of others and release the desires to own objects or talents you don’t have. Learn to be creative, not to steal their colleagues’ ideas and to be unique. Simply appreciate your life as it is.
3- Ahimsa
Meaning NON Violence… This Yama is about creating a personal code for the way we treat others and ourselves… it could be by examining our speech, our diet, or even our driving habits.
It’s a consideration for all living things, especially those who are innocent, in a difficulty or worse off than we are.
“My thoughts and actions are focused on loving awareness. I nurture and cherish myself and others. I am aware that the mind entertains thoughts of fear, anger and selfishness but I do not get caught in these thoughts or act upon them. I accept any uncomfortable mental states. I release them and return to gentle, non violent expression (my energy)”.
4- Bramacharya
Meaning Self control… This Yama is about moving towards the essential. It is where we can define responsible sexual behavior for ourselves as individuals. What does it mean to be respectful of sexuality? The keyword for this Yama is Moderation! Moderation in all our actions…
People should learn to treat themselves and others with respect, recognizing the inherent divinity in people. When one’s energy becomes scattered, he goes home to the source, to the primary relationship with oneself. Assure yourself and honor your sexuality as a sacred part of you…
5- Aparigraha
Meaning non attachment …. This Yama challenges us to take only what we need as opposed to exploiting others. We can decide upon what values fit for us in terms of the material objects that help sustain us. Can we feel freer with less insulation? What about with our aspirations and expectations… can we release our grip and be more open?… Non greediness or the ability to accept only what’s appropriate is the key to this Yama…
Learn to release attachments to other people, to substances, to dreaming, and to achieving success in your actions. Honor yourself as you cultivate simplicity. Recognize the difference between a “want and a need”. Create this inner fulfillment.
There are five indicators to measure the effect of yoga on the professional life; those indicators are job satisfaction, job involvement, goal orientation, effective organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. And those indicators could be achieved through practicing the Yamas.
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