WINDHOEK - Thirteen years ago Brandi Shoombe was told she would never walk again, following a devastating car accident. 

Today, the 37-year-old yoga instructor not only walks but her life is more fulfilled than ever, thanks to yoga, she tells Health Focus. 

Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India. The word ‘yoga’ derives from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolising the union of body and consciousness.
Today it is practised in various forms around the world and continues to grow in popularity. Shoombe shared how she refused to accept the doctors’ verdict for her life that she would not be able to walk again, and after trying out several alternatives, yoga did not disappoint. Not only did she risk her life by going against doctors’ advice by removing the metals in her body, but she took on a new career as a yoga instructor, abandoning her job in advertising and marketing for yoga, a decision she does not regret. 

“I was in a car accident and I have all these mobility issues, but yoga has helped me with that. I gave birth to my child after the accident and that made it even worse, so I had worse back problems, my knees were getting shorter. The only way to lengthen my muscles was yoga, otherwise the ligaments would get shorter in the leg that’s broken and I would limp for the rest of my life,” related Shoombe. 

“I don’t limp but if you know me, there’s a change in my walk. So the change in my leg is only because the bone once broken grows two centimetres higher but the muscle length is so flexible that I can fold, I have a new walk and people think I’m overconfident, but that’s the accident walk actually, that’s not my original walk,” she said confidently. 

Shoombe explained that yoga has created more awareness of who she really is. “My purpose for being here and every day that I practise my yoga I come from a place where I’m ready. This is all I have right now, right now this is all I got, how can I move to where I want to be? So, we don’t even go, like I’m not rich, I don’t have money,” she said. 

Shoombe is now a certified yoga instructor who after quitting her previous job in the advertising industry decided to study yoga, where she among others spent time in temples. 

She has been a yoga instructor since 2015 and had been practicing yoga for eight years before then.  Shoombe conducts community classes every Saturday and through the Oshana Yoga project she raises money through N$50 donations to take yoga to remote areas of Namibia. 
Shoombe, who was spotted teaching yoga at the International Day of Yoga in Windhoek also touched on the benefits of yoga.  

Recognising its universal appeal, on December 11, 2014 the United Nations proclaimed June 21 as the International Day of Yoga by resolution 69/131.

The International Day of Yoga aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practising yoga. The 2019 international theme is ‘Climate Action’.

The fifth annual International Day of Yoga will be celebrated at the United Nations on Thursday, June 20, with ‘Yoga with Gurus’, followed by a panel discussion on June 21.

“It’s the mental aspect of the body which is meditation…. The mind’s job is all mechanic, its job is to criticise and judge. It’s (mind) either your best friend or your worst enemy. That is why we’re releasing stress, trauma,” she explained of the mental and emotional benefits of yoga. 

She said there are physical benefits linked to yoga.  These include flexibility, blood circulation and skin renewal. “We have a natural facelift. So we get this natural facelift. Ageing stops and you forever remain in this youthfulness,” said Shoombe. 

“Nothing is impossible. Everything is very possible, don’t look at the bigger picture, just know why you want that, your why will take you to the destination but if you’re consistently looking at the bigger picture it might even overwhelm you because it’s so further from your reality, but if you have your why you will keep going because until the why is fulfilled you will not be satisfied,” she said.