Anushka Nadia Menon Shares Her Yoga Essentials
Anushka Nadia Menon is the quintessential multihyphenate. She’s a photographer, a musician, and in the past couple of years, she has added the title of yoga teacher to the mix. “I’ve always been very active. I was very into sports, so stretching was a big part of my daily routine. I started picking up on yoga around 2005 when I moved to India [from Australia],” the Goa-based artist says.
What started as a morning ritual for her started evolving as she learnt new forms and techniques, like acro yoga, eventually growing into a serious passion. Things sped up during the pandemic, the way they did for many others. “Friends and other people kept asking me to teach because they saw my yoga videos and my morning practice, especially during the pandemic. The thing is, when people go to a class, they kind of have an idea of what the flow is already, what a standard class looks like. While I had my own flow and it was constantly changing and evolving, it was not something that everyone could relate to. So I did two teacher training courses in those two years to learn a bit more about the anatomy, the asanas and their benefits, and now I’m a certified Hatha, Vinyasa and Ashtanga yoga teacher.”
Gearing up to start your own practice? We asked Anushka for 5 things that are essential to her yoga routine, for inspiration.
Intention
So the most important one for me would be approaching the mat with an intention. It's not necessarily that I go in with a clear head—I may be doing my practice to clear my head. But it's very important that when I step on the mat, I am showing up for myself—my mind, my body—and giving myself time and space.
Incense
My second essential is incense. Since we're breathing consciously [during the practice], it's always nice to have something that smells good. I love this vanilla and lemongrass incense I get from a local source in Goa.
Music
Something that helps me move; something that's very fluid, instrumental. Nothing hectic. I like to listen to Nils Frahm, Triola and Martin Roth.
Yoga strap
I love always having a yoga strap to help me stretch. I even carry it when I’m travelling, along with a yoga blanket (not a mat because that’s harder to carry around) and a journal.
Good yoga clothes
The last thing would be maybe good yoga clothes, like comfy, breathable yoga pants and a bra. Sometimes I even like to wear just my little denim shorts because they're quite comfortable, they help me move and they look good!
