Improve your inner mechanism to handle turbulence in life

Archana Amlapure, Founder – Ojas Yoga and Wellness, Singapore

Archana believes that when one’s passion becomes their job, there are endless possibilities of excelling in what one can do. It was a ‘reconnect’ with her own self which has transformed her life and as a part of what she owes to society, she is trying to help transform people’s lives.

Having moved to Singapore with her spouse who works for SAP Asia, Archana was acclimatizing herself with the new place, culture and environment; exploring avenues to find a route to further her passion for Yoga and Entrepreneurship. With a exciting corporate stint back in India with SAP, finding a job in Singapore wasn’t difficult for her. While she took up a role with Exxon Mobil in Singapore, she was constantly nurturing the desire to breakthrough into something more connected to her passion.

After much strive & perseverance, Ojas Yoga and Wellness was setup in 2017, with a mission to help others who were stressed, depressed with life and can adopt simple wellness measures to lead healthy, happy lives.

“Yoga helped me immensely bring back my confidence, release stress, improve relationships and more importantly, find myself back where I am connected to myself and my soul and I have made it my profession today” says Archana Amlapure, Founder and Health Coach, Ojas Yoga and Wellness, Singapore.

Ojas Yoga and Wellness was recently presented the Icons of Healthcare 2018 Award for “Leading Yoga and Wellness Centre” at the Summit by BERG Singapore in July 2018. Archana shares some more insights from her wonderful transformational journey & plans in this interview below.

What life events started you on your path to becoming a Yoga trainer?
As a kid, when I expressed my desire to my dad that I wish to grow up & become a Dancer, it was royally turned down & mocked by my family. I took up Engineering, alike most of the other aspiring graduates and landed up myself in an IT job….high paying and soul crushing.

Few years down the line, the office place started feeling like a desert filled with ‘zombies’ and I experienced the usual malady of office politics, stressful work and started losing interest. This was taking a toll on my health – feeling energy drained, sleep deprived and most importantly ruining the family & relationships.

One day, on my way to work, I saw a huge poster of a beautiful girl doing Yoga. She looked “happy”. I felt that this can’t be more boring than working in the office and enrolled myself in. Within the first 2 sessions, I started feeling refreshed, renewed and rejuvenated. Out of curiosity, I studied this ancient science and graduated as a yoga teacher. As a healthier, happier and a harmonious person, I started taking responsibilities and ownership at the workplace and people around me started noticing my transformation & positive attitude in everything I do.

One day, during meditation, I realized what I was missing in life. I used to stay away from my true self, but now I am more connected to myself, closer to my heart and soul. With that enlightenment, my body, mind and soul was dancing in harmony and felt fulfilled. I thought, if this can help me, it can help many others who are in dire need as well, to experience this bliss.

When did you decide to dedicate yourself to Yoga personally and professionally?
It was year December 2015 when I decided to give up my career and take yoga and wellness as my full time career and passion. It took me almost a year to actually form a company but my practice was ongoing in this duration as well. Finally in April, 2017 I founded a company where I dedicated myself taking up and accepting and facing challenges of entrepreneurship as well as role of Health coach.

Tell us more about your Yoga Trainings & Certifications
I did my Yoga Teachers Training at Vyasa Singapore, a branch of Swami Vivekananda University, Bangalore. It gave me a strong foundation for myself as well as taking up training as a choice. After that I did several workshops, constantly learning and applying that knowledge into my own personal practice. Over time, I started understanding the health challenges and problems people face, like back pain, arthritis, diabetes, migraine etc. and that is when I did the Yoga Therapy Certification. I am now a Yoga therapist as well and have helped many people with health issues like Migraine, Back pain, digestive disorders, Arthritis, Anxiety, Depression etc.

I am currently pursuing Masters in Yoga Science (MSc) from Jain Vishwa Bharti Institute and would complete it by Aug 2018. I strongly believe that whichever phase of your career and life you reach, learning never stops.

What is one important life lesson you try to share as a Yoga teacher?
Identifying one aspect in our lives which needs to be furthered, to keep ourselves happy all the time, is very critical. Improvement in one’s inner mechanism to handle the turbulence that life throws at us from time to time is not easy. I believe that the results of doing anything without a strong conviction would always be suboptimal.

I encourage everyone to constantly keep working on oneself. Knowledge from books is the base, but your experience of the same makes you a good Yoga teacher. Just be yourself and always think of ways to give more to others.

What do you find most rewarding about being a Yoga instructor?
As I mentioned, it is all about ‘giving’. I have seen that Yoga, Meditation, Counselling helps people physically, mentally, emotionally or all together at times. It feels great when your friends come back to you saying that the sessions have helped them come out of their problems or relationship issues or improve health or get better sleep. Making the difference in others life as a Coach for ensuring good mental, emotional and physical health, leading to contended life is something that I would always cherish. The blessings, gratitude and love from people is more rewarding and makes me feel more empowered, happy and fulfilled.

How much time should one devote to Yoga daily?
15 mins gradually increasing to 60 mins is a good start for someone who has never practiced Yoga. Daily practice is most recommended …but in today’s fast and busy life 2-3 days in a week also can result into a lot of benefits. My suggestion is to make Yoga and Meditation part of your daily routine to enjoy the good benefits.

What advice would you give to a well-practiced yogi to take their practice to the next level?

Consistency in practice is a must

Don’t compare yourself with others; everybody’s journey is different

Focus on few things which you can do better rather than chasing too many

In the world of many options and streams available, see what resonates with you best and work and plan your practice on those lines

Know your weakness and accept and work on it.

Here is a video of Archana Amlapure, Founder, Ojas Yoga and Wellness at the Icons of Healthcare 2018.