Several years ago, we brought to you the story of a young yoga practitioner who was making heads, necks, and limbs turn with her amazing yoga skills.
Orentsani Suzen Kikon started learning Yoga from the age of 18 at The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre where she took a Teachers Training Course. Her yoga teaching for eight years till date has taken her all over India, with an impressive and extensive client list.
She’s finally come home to open “Orentsani Fitness Studio” which offers traditional yoga, power yoga, Zumba, aerobics, and cardio all in one. And not only fitness, but her endeavor is to promote wellness of the mind and soul. A total mind, body, and soul experience is what her studio promises.
She is also striving to bring a different perspective on the practice of yoga and dispel common assumptions that yoga is only about asanas and meditation. She simply states that preaching spirituality and philosophy through yoga is not the goal here but to bring awareness that yoga is a positive way of life which helps in stress relief, body image, and relaxation.
She shared, “I feel that there is an urgent need for change in lifestyle and mindset; yoga can be helpful for these. Nagas are going through lots of health related issues and not only that but emotional health like stress, anxiety, depression etc that modern lifestyle brings with it. I want to create awareness to people on the numerous health benefits of yoga which continue to be more and more widely known.”
She is passionate about helping kids and adults feel more relaxed and lead a healthy life. Therefore, her studio is offering free workshops for relaxation and breathing classes which are held twice every week for half an hour. She is also collaborating with nutrition expert Dr. Imsutula and conducting nutrition workshops which are held twice every month. Also taking advantage of social networking site Facebook, she makes live videos which are exclusively targeted for people unable to come from distant places and people who don’t have the confidence to attend her fitness classes.
Presently, her studio which is up and running since March 1 is drawing a lot of curious attention from people. She is amused at how people stand below her studio which is located on the first floor and look through the big see-through windows with curious expressions.
A typical day at the fitness studio begins from 6:00 a.m until 7:30 p.m. Classes are divided into 12 sessions for a month, three times a week. Registration fee is priced at rupees 1000 valid for one year to which every students gets a yoga mat and monthly fee is priced at 3000 rupees. Members can avail all the free workshops and nutrition classes plus invite family and friends.
For her, running the studio is not a business venture but a choice to train and inspire people to maintain a healthy and positive lifestyle. To this she attests, “I gift yoga mats to my students to inspire them to work out not only at my studio but even at home. In my experience working for various yoga centres and studios, I’ve never heard of anyone doing that. Also, if you’ve also signed up for 12 sessions, I’m going to make sure you avail all 12 and see some results”
“We are all willing to spend our money on food and activities that will bring damage to our health. We don’t hesitate for a moment. I encourage everyone to try and spend some of their money as an investment towards good physical and mental health. Nowadays, people, especially those living in towns and cities are facing acute health problems. The misconception that if you are slim, you are healthy should also be done away with. Therefore, my goal is to promote and spread awareness about being fit and healthy, to stay positive. It is my hope that through fitness, I can bring peace and change to the people and my society.”
Her future plan is to one day open an ashram the hills, hopefully in her dad’s village, Yikhum. She also expresses the wish to bring the eight North East states together by creating a unity dance variation by coming up with an eight states of yoga postures. This is something she has plans to work on!
Orentsani is commended to be a skillful, detail oriented and energetic instructor with lots of patience. At a very young age, her yoga journey is already a successful and inspiring story! To know more, visit Orentsani Fitness Studio, Kikon Building, 1st Floor near Bridgestone, ADC Court Junction, Dimapur.
