DEEP IN YOGA

Deepak Kumar

Deepak Kumar (B. ARTS GRADUATE (TTYC) (ADDTTYC) (LYC) INDIA, or more fondly known as Deep, hails from Punjab, India. He began his journey in yoga in 1994 and followed the manner of traditional yogis in learning the art and science of yoga at Tapovan Dhyan Dham Vidhyapeeth, a classical yoga ashram located at the foothills of the Himalayas. Thereafter, he pursued an advanced yoga teacher training course at the world-renowned Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute. Deep has gone through all the modern and traditional forms of yoga such as Iyengar, Ashtanga, Hatha, Yin, Anusara and Meditation to find out the reality and truth of yoga.

Deep’s love for Patanjali Yoga Sutras has enabled him to portray these ancient rules of practicing yoga to modern society in a contemporary way. This combined with his understanding of anatomy, physiology and psychology help students in going deeper into yoga practice by adapting a balance of mix of traditional and modern approach.

He is trained in various styles and aspects of yoga, like posture, breathing, philosophy and meditation for the purpose of health, healing and rejuvenation. Apart from teaching at various yoga centers, Deep is also a Corporate Yoga Trainer and has conducted over 100 workshops on alignment and adjustment. He is an authorized ERYT500 teacher trainer with Yoga Alliance (America) and a Registered Master Teacher Trainer with the International Yoga Federation (Europe). Besides conducting Yoga Teachers’ Training Programmes in Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, UK, Singapore, Egypt and Holland to name a few, Deep has also conducted workshops on the Inter-relatedness of the different systems of body.

He specializes in mind-body medicine and has had the opportunity to observe how psychosocial stressors such as anxiety, depression, anger, pain or relationship problems can affect the cardiopulmonary, gastroenterological, immunity systems and practically every biological function in the human body. He believes we can utilize mind-body techniques such as yoga postures, breathing exercises and laughter therapy for mental-physical relaxation and stress management. Apart from yoga, his hobbies are Bollywood dancing and Samurai sword art, archery and music.

Deep’s vision is to share the beauty of yoga, to help enter the present moment, in order to understand that each moment is in itself divine. In the true spirit of the ancient science, he provides free yoga lessons in many charitable organizations. Recently, he has also published a book on yoga therapies for common ailments such as anxiety, asthma, hypertension, diabetes and chronic pain.

Deep firmly believes that Yoga is a combination of science and art that guides us towards the right way of living.

Hailing from Punjab, India, Deepak Kumar is one such teacher. Warmly known simply as Deep, he is aptly deep in yoga! You’ll find him commonly in ecstasy, perpetually involved in the magical play of life. Yet, he is charismatic, enthusiastic and in love with every moment of life, that it becomes compelling for anyone in his auric field, to become mesmerised in his delirious love affair. Engaging and concerned for the development of his students, Deep travels the world to offer his wisdom to anyone who wants to learn yoga and its tradition, with an open heart. Deep is renowned worldwide for his knowledge in all yoga parampara, such as Iyengar, Ashtanga, Hatha, Yin, Anusara and Meditation.

Deep indicates that yoga poses were created for the benefit of every human being, yet, not every human being is created equal. In lieu of the differences from one body to another, each pose has to be delivered differently. “Yoga is not about just getting into a pose. It is something that is beyond that. It is about discovering how we feel being in the pose and how we are breathing while in the pose and then, what it is that we are learning, while being in the pose, so that we can implement this lesson long after our yoga practice,” says Deep.

“I have learnt that life is what you make it out to be. And the more you bicker and complain, the more the problem is going to escalate. The problem won’t go away – it will only become bigger and bigger and in the end, it will consume us. And what good does that bring us? As long as we continue to work on ourselves positively, we are bound to find the answers to everything we need on this planet. We have the resources within ourselves to enhance the person we are and to become such great

Beings. But we need to focus on being happy and in the moment, as well as, dispelling what we do not require. We should not harbour negative feelings or even, engage in negative thoughts, for it will be more damaging to us than to others. If we can control ourselves, we can conquer anything in this world,” declares Deep.

Curious on whether this cool yogi ever gets ticked off, he replies, “Of course I do – it is only human. But I don’t spend too much time being angry or being irritated, for it is just too much effort engaging in that anger and that irritation. I would rather spend my time meditating, singing or writing my poetry.”

Deep’s advises that, when practicing yoga, we should always find our comfort level in the pose. “The more

uncomfortable the pose is, the more damaging it is for us. We all have different comfort levels, some are able to bend deeply whilst some others, are able to bend only half way. So, we need to modify the pose in accordance to how far our bodies can take us, until we become so comfortable that we are able to hold the pose for a long time. Yoga is not about getting back into shape or becoming flexible – it is about engineering our minds to the point of blissfulness, that eventually, we arrive at a more toned or a more flexible body. Take note of how you feel during your posture – there is wisdom within each and every pose – see, feel, touch and sense the feelings and messages that are being gifted to you during your yoga exercise and yoga will become so much more for you after that,” mentions Deep.

“Nothing can be more important than teaching yoga as it is originally meant to be taught. The idea is to keep it simple and authentic and to focus on a few main poses, instead of trying to learn all the poses, without mastery of any. Yoga is about incorporating everything about life into our daily practice. It is about taking the moment to breathe and to stay in the moment – to take the moment to listen to the singing birds, to be engaged in the flavours of the food we eat, and to contemplate on every breath we take. There is just too much going on in modern life and the stresses are simply sky-rocketing. We are becoming challenged and more and more new illnesses are taking birth, because we are ourselves at a loss of what to do and where to begin with in our lives. If only, we began with our breath and committed to keeping to our practice, in simply breathing deeply, and to seeing life in its simplicity, our problems will disappear. Nothing can be more important than bringing positive change to ourselves that we are able to spread this wisdom to everyone who comes in contact with us,” Deep mentions as he wanders into the depth of his thoughts.

As I ended the interview with this brilliant Being, I took away with me one profound message and it was to live as this yogi does – being ecstatically in love with everything!