Nicky B shares her decades-long love for Yoga

Zuko Komisa

“To beginners out there, I have been doing Yoga for all these years, and one thing I’ll tell you is this it is still hard, if you’re a beginner, keep going, you will absolutely love it!”

Kaya 959 presenter Nicky Blumenfeld affectionately known as Nicky B has had an exceptionally dedicated relationship with the practice of Yoga.

The age-old disciplines of mind, body, and spirituality originated in ancient India and is a practice that can build strength and flexibility.

Nicky B shares more about her experience with yoga, a journey that has spanned decades, elaborating on the spiritual side of the practice, the life lessons and how it has worked wonders in her life.

The host of The World Show every Sunday on Kaya 959 since inception when the station launched in 1997, says she had a passion for learning more about yoga from the age of 18.

Her love for Yoga started when she was just 18-years old

“My first time doing yoga goes way back, I grew up in Durban, and when I was 18 years old, I just wanted to do yoga.

With Durban being a big Indian community and yoga originating from India I ended up finding a tutor who had spent over 13 years in India, training in an ashram (a spiritual hermitage or a monastery) that was really good.

She only did one-on-one classes, I look back at it sometimes and realize what an incredible opportunity it was, to have studied with a true Yoga guru.

She was in her 50s, but she looked like she was 21, her skin, flexibility, and youthfulness was just exceptional. She taught me Iyengar Yoga, which is a form of yoga that has an emphasis on detail, precision, and alignment in the performance of yoga postures.”
Nicky B shares more about her

Since then, Nicky B has delved into various styles of Yoga practices, becoming dedicated to the yogi lifestyle.

Derived from the Sanskrit root ‘Yuj’, meaning ‘to join’ or ‘to unite’, Yoga is simply the union of all of you, meaning your physical, mental and spiritual bodies.

Nicky B has practiced Ashtanga Yoga, which is more physical and aerobic, aimed at strength building, and Kundalini Yoga which works on the lining that connects you through breaths across your spine.

Image | Nicky B doing an early morning Yoga session at home

Yoga has taught Nicky B many lessons and has become an integral part of who she is

“My old Yoga teacher once said, ‘When you do other exercises in the gym, you create hard muscles, with yoga you create soft muscles,’ which basically mean when you are relaxed you don’t see your muscles, but when you flex them they become visible.

Yoga goes beyond the physical aspect, it will improve the quality of your life, reduce anxiety, and improve your strength, it also has curative aspects.

Weight training constricts your muscles which also constricts your internal organs. Yoga on the other hand works on your internal organs. When doing yoga you are working on your kidneys, liver and heart as well.

Yoga has become an integral part of who I am and my and even with all the travelling that I do, I still find the time and space to practice.

What I love about Yoga is that no matter how big the size of the hotel room, one can always find enough space to have a quick session.”

Nicky B’s advice to beginners who feel intimidated to try out Yoga is to keep going. After all these years, Yoga still challenges the popular radio personality but she pushes herself and remains disciplined to the practice.

Image | Nicky B after a Yoga session at the Paitula Yoga studios in Chartwell

Paitula Yoga, the Yoga studio Nicky B practices at ensures that there’s something for everyone, with an indoor venue for classes in the stunning country surrounds of Chartwell.

Written by: Zuko