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Rekha Yoga founder Rekha Kumar said her background in psychology and passion for wellbeing inspired her to start a business to address New Zealand’s mental health crisis.
Reha Kumar started Rekha Yoga after realizing that the spiritual roots she grew up studying at a local temple in Suva, Fiji, were missing from the largely Westernized practice.
Last year, Kumar won the title of Exercise New Zealand Yoga Teacher
It won an award of the year, supports safe practice for elderly and vulnerable students, and brought the ancient practice to Auckland’s Diwali festival last year for the first time in its 21-year history.
But her work comes at a price, she says, with stiff competition from mainstream players and little room for genuine practitioners.
What is Recca Yoga?
Rekka Yoga is a purpose-driven organization that aims to reintroduce yoga into the mainstream in a culturally and spiritually authentic way, making it a truly accessible, engaging and respectful way to health. It is a kata exercise.
It’s about accepting the past, learning from the present, and laying the foundation for a future full-fledged yoga.
When did you start your business and why?
I started this business in 2021. Born out of a need for an organic, decolonized version of yoga. The idea was to be affordable, inclusive and accessible, while embracing all body types and always paying homage to its roots in Indian culture.
It is a tool for education, community and well-being that goes beyond able-bodied gymnastics and the after-effects of India’s colonization.
What is yoga?
Yoga is about slowing down and being at peace. Yoga is a sense of oneness with all living things. Yoga is about learning about yourself more than anyone else. Yoga is much more important off the mat than on it.
![Kumar says yoga is about spirituality and community, not physical fitness.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/1xB9xs-ArTX-kaXJqLw9345sDR4=/16x16/smart/filters:quality(70)/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/NHQAWAXFKDAJYWY2UNFPHIG5BI.png)
Ancient customs are becoming disconnected from their cultural aspects in the West and are now on the verge of extinction. We should stop separating meditation, breathing exercises, and yoga because they are the same thing.
There are four main types of yoga in the ancient Vedic scriptures: bhakti (devotion), karma (selfless action), jnana (knowledge), and dhyana (concentration/meditation).
That’s why yoga is a lived experience. Most people are only familiar with the physical movement schools of yoga, such as vinyasa, power, yin, restorative, nidra, and hatha.
While body movements and poses have their benefits, it’s important to focus on slowing down rather than basing them on gymnastics. This is because it focuses on the superficial body rather than the true eternal self, the Atman.
When did you start doing yoga?
I started yoga when I was in elementary school. For me, it started as a regular after-school teaching from my family Swami Ji (a monk).
It included learning about my heritage, helping my community through philanthropy, and learning about my body’s athletic abilities.
When did you start teaching and why?
I started teaching just before the coronavirus lockdown began. I have always wanted to contribute to the community through medical care and welfare. I graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.
I realized that what I know best and am most passionate about is the yoga lifestyle. Hearing and reading about New Zealand’s mental health crisis and suicide rate has worried me.
Yoga, as seen on social media and in studio settings, seemed idealized and out of reach for many people.
![Reha Kumar brought ancient Indian yoga practices to Auckland's Diwali festival for the first time last year.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/4kIw74B2Tvg_ZKDV6j6yNY-qrLU=/16x16/smart/filters:quality(70)/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/2AHX7MKBDZAUJLAVRAZXMERNPA.jpg)
I realized that there was a lack of authentic instruction in the yoga industry. Teachers seem to be looking for more sign-ups to studios that cost hundreds to thousands of dollars a year, but they don’t really live and teach the essence of yoga, especially to everyone. I am not teaching the essence of yoga.
What is the yoga industry like in New Zealand?
It’s basically gymnastics. Under the false promise of diving inward, it excludes many everyday people and fuels the desire to look a certain way. That’s superficial.
I’ve been in New Zealand for 20 years and have seen xenophobia, ageism, sexism, neocolonization, and the misuse of Hindi and Sanskrit language and philosophy in the yoga industry here.
Yoga is a part-time job for many people, a way to make extra money, or a business venture for those who promote physical fitness. However, I’ve noticed that many companies lack a commitment to lifelong yoga learning beyond profit.
Ayurveda is a part of my life. It’s not just a two-hour workshop. While it’s important to be comfortable in your body, yoga isn’t about how attractive you look on social media, so this shouldn’t be a way to promote a deep spiritual practice.
What is your biggest challenge as a yoga teacher?
In this situation and economy, it is difficult to teach the truth quickly. People believe that yoga is also a type of exercise. If you say otherwise, people will turn a blind eye and may even become aggressive.
There are so many repercussions for speaking out against mainstream Western teaching that many people do not stand up to it. Raising your voice is often seen as complaining, but the gap between what yoga means and how it is practiced here is a real ongoing challenge for me.
![Reha Kumar of Rekka Yoga won last year's Exercise New Zealand Yoga Teacher of the Year award.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/7AplSBzUo7oLCjoU2iLkS33RYEQ=/16x16/smart/filters:quality(70)/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/5JSPDMXKRFHBVG3FCQ67AXR6DE.jpg)
I liken it to learning the haka. Because both are deeply rooted in cultural beliefs and should be taught with great care.
I spend a lot of time in traffic because I’m dedicated to teaching all over Auckland. If you teach 20 hours a week, that usually means an additional 20 hours of travel time.
There are usually no permanent contracts, so your income is never really guaranteed. Sometimes payments are missed or late, so I have to follow up over several weeks after putting in a lot of effort.
There are gatekeepers in the New Zealand industry that keep out many genuine and well-intentioned teachers.
This means that teachers like me don’t have as many job opportunities as mainstream teachers. There are many unpopular instructor slots, timetables are easily cut off, and we often have to work longer and harder to fill private classes and events because we don’t sell fixed practices.
It’s also difficult to be a teacher with a different view of yoga than what people are used to. Students who don’t know that yoga isn’t a tortuous version of Pilates can become irritable, demanding, and culturally disrespectful when you give them slow, gentle movements or long meditations in class.
Sometimes you have to put aside your own beliefs and teach the way the administrators and students want at the time. But I slowly exclude myself from these places.
All this means that my business will suffer a loss of income.
What is your greatest accomplishment in business?
My greatest accomplishment is building a healthy yoga community of people who want to learn authentic traditional yoga and philosophy.
The Rekka yoga community has been patient, welcoming, encouraging, and kind, and I am grateful for the place I teach and my students.
I have supported several regulatory changes to yoga in the exercise industry to help vulnerable and older students. I delved a little deeper into accessibility and learned how to provide gentle movement and yoga to students in wheelchairs or bedridden.
For the first time in 21 years, I helped introduce yoga at Diwali in Auckland. The festival is the largest celebration of the Indian diaspora, with 120,000 participants last year.
Although yoga is India’s most popular health practice, there was no yoga performed at this festival. It was an honor to be a part of this change in 2023 and to offer an educational workshop.
Finally, I won the 2023 Exercise NZ Yoga Teacher of the Year award.
What do you want to achieve through your business?
More awareness, honest and open conversations about appropriation from countries and ancient cultures.
Most importantly, we want to help improve the mental health of New Zealanders of all ages.
Alka Prasad is an Auckland-based business reporter covering small business and retail.
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