Kabir Samlal, at age 15, is the 2013 International Yoga Asana Youth Champion. He was born in the Netherlands but has lived in various countries, as his parents travel all over for work. Kabir now lives in America with his parents and two younger brothers. He is a certified yoga teacher and has developed Kabir’s Kids Yoga Flow. He donates portion of proceeds of paid activities to charities involving children. Checkout his work here!
During a yoga lesson, you often hear the term “open”. There are specific yoga exercises by which you, as it were, open your heart. The opening of your heart increases your breathing capacity. Your thyroid gland gets stimulated, which has a positive effect on your hormones. You will literally feel better because, figuratively, you get more room. I believe that no one closes their heart consciously. In life things happen by which you close yourself off. It is a sort of self protection. Besides, we often sit in a bowed, curved posture or stare down at our cell phone. No wonder that your heart becomes closed. First, you must care for yourself before you can think about someone else. Exercises to open your heart leads to better care for yourself. You breath deeper and more consciously and that feels good. Self compassion is a condition for compassion: you are more open for others.
My forefathers hail from India to Surinam to build a better life. My grandparents left for The Netherlands in search of a better living in the form of broader prospects. In the current asylum policy they would be considered ‘fortune hunters’. I had the good fortune to have been born in The Netherlands, a country with prosperity and no war. What tough luck if you are born somewhere from which you must flee because of war and terror. The refugee crisis has attracted my attention precisely because of the fact that it is so arbitrary and so many children there are victims.
War Child is an amazing charity that tries to remove the war from the child through creativity, sport and education. This year, for the second time, “Kabir’s Yoga for War Child” will be organized to raise money to support projects of War Child. Last year it was a huge success but we can do more! On July 31 from 11:00am – 12:00pm I will give a yoga lesson with ‘heart openers’ in turn for a donation in the city centre of Rotterdam. Everyone is welcome and it is for all ages and levels: let us open our hearts and raise lots for War Child.