(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Prakash Thapa, is 37 and hails from Kathmandu, Nepal. He has been in Qatar since July 2016. Thapa had taught yoga in Nepal for five years and in India for four years before he came to Qatar to work in a company called Group Four.
Thapa has obtained a diploma in yoga from India. He teaches yoga at Nepalese embassy to a group of around fifty people on every Friday. Community caught up with the yoga teacher and interviewed him.
Why have you chosen Qatar as a foreign employment destination?
No-one wants to leave his or her family back home and go to another country for work. But, we have compulsions to earn more than what our local offices offer. I came here to make the future of my family better and to provide my children quality education. I have chosen Qatar because there is a large Nepalese community in the country already and with which I can feel at home. When I came here, I got satisfied by the working environment and the security.
Can you tell us about your family?
I came from a middle class background. I am the only son of my parents. My wife, son and mother are staying in Kathmandu.
How did you learn yoga? How has yoga made an impact in your life?
I had some family problems and I caught depression in my teenage. I tried so many ways to free myself from the depression, even going to religious sites. Later, I chose to learn yoga when I was 18-year-old just to get rid of the frustration.
But yoga gradually pulled me and my depression faded away. I felt relaxed and content after doing yoga. Yoga gave me a new life in a way. It literally cured my both clinical and non-clinical problems. And it was a turning point in my life.
Yoga, in general, helps us to understand ourselves much better and to go beyond our limitations.
Where did you teach yoga before coming to Qatar and why did you abandon the job for Qatar?
I had been a yoga teacher for around eight years in India and Nepal and taught yoga to police force in India. In Nepal, I taught 100 students in a school. Life in urban centres has become more expensive in Kathmandu and the salaries were not commensurate with the living cost and standards. So, I left yoga teaching in Kathmandu and came here for a better future of my family members.
Are yoga lessons good for the young?
Youth is the most fruitful stage of life in which we need to be much more careful in expending our energies. Yoga teaches discipline, concentration and an improved sense of self. So, it is important for the youth to learn yoga which is beneficial to realise their goals.
We also gain invaluable insight into the deep patterns of our thoughts as we observe our responses to the poses, especially the poses that challenge us more. From observing our habitual responses, we see ourselves more clearly, we understand ourselves better, and we have a chance to free ourselves from our limitations.
How do you relate yoga to mental health?
Yoga improves upper body blood circulation and energises the body. Deep breathing helps the autonomous nervous system to be oxygenated and brain works better. Mental ailments like depression are not cured by pills and also have high relapse rates. Yoga, on the other hand, is a durable remedy of mental ailments. It leads us to self-realisation. Yoga also demands a kind of discipline and lifestyle which helps us take control of our lives.
Hence, yoga is important.. It is something that is suitable for everyone and has no limitations. In fact, in today's age, with increasing levels of stress and demanding workloads, it is essential to practise yoga in order to gain a better understanding of reality. Yoga teaches control over one's life no matter what the circumstances are. We need yoga now more than ever.
Is yoga taught the same way everywhere?
Every yoga teacher and yoga class is unique yet yoga has a universal approach. Modalities and styles may differ, but underlying principle is the same.
How you got a chance to teach yoga in Nepalese embassy in Doha?
One of my friends Durga Thapa took me to Ramesh Prasad Koirala, Ambassador of Nepal to Qatar, for a meeting. After knowing that I had been a yoga teacher, the ambassador immediately asked me to teach yoga at the premise of the embassy. It made me happy that I could also utilise my expertise and passion here.
How do you see your future life?
I have not really planned my future. I did not even in the past because the circumstances had been so unpredictable. I would probably open my own retreat centre or yoga studio in Nepal. However, I will be consistent in my pursuits of yoga practice and teaching.
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