Namaste

Hello! I’m Kamil and here I’ll tell what brought me to Yoga. I was born into this world as a British Indian. In my childhood, I was always fascinated with the outside world. I loved languages and I spent four years in my early 20s living in Japan which touched me in so many ways. To this very day I continue to use skills and behaviours which I learned I Japan. I was convinced that my future would be in Japan.

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Until…

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By chance, I met Maria (my now Wife) who comes from Crete. This beautiful island quickly found a place in my heart and Crete was to have a profound influence on my yoga as you’ll find out…

2019, my world came crashing down when I lost my dad very suddenly under traumatic circumstances. The next two years I was lost. My confidence dropped to the lowest point it has ever been and I avoided social settings. The question I feared the most was “how are you?” 

By pure chance, in July 2021, I came across the book “The 5am Club” by Robin Sharma. Initially I dismissed it. I was so stuck in my trauma that I just put the book to one side. In October 2021, we were due to go to Crete. At the very last minute as I was packing, I spotted the book and I placed it in my backpack. The first few days there, the book didn't leave my backpack but a few days before we were due to leave, something inside me told me to open the book and give it a go. 

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The theme of this book - no surprise here (!) - is about waking up at 5am, and using the first hour of the day to empower yourself whilst the rest of your world is asleep. We break down the hour into 3 segments of 20 minutes, the 20:20:20 formula. The first 20 minutes is for exercise. The next 20 minutes for something reflective, which could be meditating or journal writing. The final 20 minutes is to empower the mind, by reading a book or listening to a podcast. 

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On the evening of Sunday 7th November 2021, I prepared my exercise clothing, a note book and a book to read. Monday 8th November 2021, 5am; my journey into the 5am club began. 

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Over the coming fortnight, for the exercise element, I tried all kinds of things. I tried running. Cycling. HIIT training. And Yoga. Within a fortnight, I found myself fully navigated to the path of yoga and this was my preferred mode of exercise for the forseeable. I must STRESS the word exercise, as at this point, yoga was nothing more than stretching and exercise for me. 

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In December 2021, we were due to return to Crete. By now, the 5am programme was fully integrated into my morning routine. By this point, I'd been going to Crete regularly for more than 10 years and I'd never thought to try yoga there. This time I did. As I looked for a yoga teacher I found only one website in English so the choice was simple. I didn’t have the confidence to join group classes so I booked private lessons with this teacher Maria Arnaoutaki.

 

Maria taught me to flow with my breath. My practice suddenly went from being an exercise routine to a moving meditation. I didn't know it at the time, but these classes were to have a transformative effect on me. When I returned to the UK and immersed myself in my moving meditation, my practice went from a simple 20 minutes a day to sometimes several hours a day. I started to notice things. This moving meditation was helping me to detach myself from external pressures. As I was connecting to my inner self more and more, I started to heal. 

Yoga was now firmly rooted in my daily life. It had a profound impact on me to regain my confidence and venture back into the world. My time in Crete was immersed in yoga and I’m fortunate to have met some of the most inspirational yogi’s, including Maria Arnaoutaki, Christos Fydanis and finally Carole Hetjmanek who could see the yoga teacher in me before I could!

Back in the UK I was searching for answers about how yoga was helping me and as I did, by pure coincidence I received a message from Neil Patel from Chi Kri Yoga about a teacher training programme. My family has a very long history with Chi Kri, starting from my mum learning yoga from Neil's mum back in 1980's, so it was only right for me to complete my training here. I have so much to say about Chi Kri but I’ll save that for a Blog post!

The teacher training was a transformative experience for me. The focus on spiritual development, metaphysics and discovering our purpose in life. This course was the final piece for me to heal from my traumas. I have learned a lot these past few years and I look forward to sharing how yoga movement and breath can help you grow.

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Finally, if you've read this far, thank you for reading my story! You might notice a few red circles on my website - a tribute to my love for Japan!!

Namaste