No quiet life for ‘retired‘ yoga instructor

Barbara Hollands EAST LONDON CORRESPONDENT hollandsb@avusa.co.za

AS A busy Fort Hare University academic, Jaya Ruthnam would provide free weekly classes to stressed-out students and staff after lectures, but now he has retired his dream to run yoga retreats full-time has come true.

Ruthnam, 65, who taught English at Fort Hare in Alice for more than a decade before retiring in 2006, says it is only now that he has taken the plunge to make a living from his first love.

“I wanted to do it 25 years ago, but didn‘t have the guts to give up my monthly salary,” he said.

Instead, he took every opportunity he had to travel to yoga centres in India, such as the Yoga Niketan and the Himalayan Institute for Yoga Science, where he honed his skills in the ancient practice before passing them on free at the university.

Since leaving Fort Hare, Ruthnam has kept his Hogsback home but lives part-time in Pretoria where he has set up yoga classes. He also runs retreats at luxury getaways, including Hogsback.

This is in line with the growing European trend of corporates treating employees to luxury yoga retreats at exotic locations.

“I have heard about this trend of yoga retreats instead of team-building weekends. Team- building is nice to do and makes everyone happy, but there is almost nothing you get out of it afterwards, whereas with yoga I teach you how to slot it into your days so that it hopefully has more lasting effects – if you have the discipline to do it, of course.”

Ruthnam said his retreats focused on meditation and anxiety reduction because people lived very stressful lives. “Even my young students showed signs of stress. I noticed their bodies were already getting stiff.”

Although Ruthnam is at an age where many people put their feet up, he is busier than ever.

“I can‘t sit back and do nothing. I don‘t know what boredom is and there is never a time when I have nothing to do.”

Ruthnam will be holding a weekend retreat, complete with vegetarian meals and meditative walks around the giant labyrinth, at The Edge Mountain Retreat in Hogsback from August 29 to September 1.

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