Discovering yoga in the Drakensberg

AS WE REACH middle-age, we become set in our ways, even as our sides turn to jelly and our knees are more wobbly than the rand.

Through the early months of 2017, a friend kept cajoling me to join the yoga classes at the Indian Consulate. I thought I did enough exercise, walking every day. I finally relented and entered this arena of stretch and flow with trepidation.

Suddenly I was in. Downward dog, sphinx, table top, and cat cow became the vocabulary my body began to understand. I learnt a few lessons early on. Never eat a beans bunny for lunch on the day of yoga. Always smile as your body contorts. Affect an air of nonchalance as your tree pose becomes as shaky as a used car salesman.

As months passed into a year, the class soon melted into a community of friends, connections and laughter bubbled like a brook. We were a collective now, epitomising Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the world is one family".

Prior to International Day of Yoga on Saturday, we were invited to pack our mats and head together to the Drakensberg. At 5am on Friday, we left in a bus. Filled to capacity. There was so much joy as we snaked up through Ashburton, into Winterton and began saluting the mountain sun.

Royal Natal National Park, the majestic amphitheatre grabbing us in a rock like embrace. The consulate had invited three schools from the surrounding area and a TVET college. The kids were excited; feasting on sandwiches and skipping around in their new yoga jackets. As mats were spread, eagles soared above, butterflies flitted effortlessly, and parks board rangers looked on mesmerised.

Mountain pose. Many of us did not have to soften our bellies. But we stood, our feet evenly on the ground, immovable. The Drakensberg looked down upon us. The sun filtered through the cracks and shadowed our every move. I looked at a tiny tot. His face was creased with concentration. And then he smiled. I thought of Iyengar’s Light on Yoga.

Food was handed out. The mountain air and yoga had created an appetite. Will it stretch the imagination of the children whose lives are bounded by a small village? It is hard to describe the sheer human spirit that unfolded deep in the world of the Zulus as it met the ancient practices of the Himalayas. The body as it flowed began to speak in one language.

Then it was time to pack and jump on the bus. .

Free yoga classes are held every Thursday at 4pm at the Consulate General of India, Kingsmead Office Park.

Jo Rushby is the owner of Ike's Books and Collectables on Florida Road in Durban.

THE POST