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I spoke with Ajoke of Spin Yoga. This is what she had to say about the passion and business part of practicing yoga, being threatened for practicing in Nigeria and why she is choosing to stay.

Tell us about yourself

My name is Ajoke and I am a Yoga instructor in Nigeria, I have been practicing yoga for 8 years and started teaching 3 years ago. I live in Kwara state and also a fashion designer.

How were you introduced to Yoga and how has it changed since eight years ago.

I think Yoga found me by accident, literally. So, I was 17 at the time and I was traveling to Abuja to stay with my uncle because I Just finished secondary school and was waiting on admission.

 I had an accident on the way, I was not severely injured but I ended up with a horrible dislocated disk in my spin. The pain stayed for a long time. One day, I talked to the nurse. She asked if I have tried Yoga and that it has helped people with their back pain.

I had a Nokia c2 then, you had to wait for Opera mini to load for 5 minutes. I went home and I searched and found some poses I tried. The next day my pain was not so bad so I kept at it.

By the time my pain disappeared completely, I was just hooked. I didn’t stop after, that was it.

Ajoke of Spin yoga

So sorry about the accident, I understand it better now when you say yoga found you. I didn’t know Yoga could do so much for someone.

When I started, I never thought that I would be teaching people yoga but eventually, I felt like this practice has done so much for me and I would like to share with other people so that it can do the same for them. That was my reason for teaching people.

What’s being in the wellness industry like in Nigeria, The business part of it. You sound very passionate about Yoga, but you know that passion and the business side of things are very different, especially in Nigeria.

My biggest challenge has been asking for money because I’ve always felt like everyone should have access to yoga but there is this idea around yoga that it’s a luxury thing, you need to have money to get access to yoga and while it’s true that Yoga instructors have to eat and pay bills also but it does not have to be a luxury.

More often than not, people are not willing to pay a lot often because they don’t know the benefits and how much they can get from it. That has been the hardest part for me. I’ve had to sometimes teach for free. What helped me start making money is I had to hire an assistant, somebody who did not mind asking for money so I could focus on the teaching aspect without feeling like I was becoming a sellout.

It is still hard, anytime someone comes to me and says I cannot afford it, I always get this thing in my head that says just teach her for free. I have to remind myself that this is a business that I have put capital into, given energy and time and I have to earn something in return so I have started thinking of it as an exchange of energy. I offer you this, you get the benefits, you offer me money as an exchange of benefits, I started feeling less guilty about asking for money.

I love the exchange of energy you said, I think that’s an amazing way to put it because it’s like I am giving you something valuable and for a reward for my time and energy you are paying me because at the end of the day you deserved to be paid and you need to eat from what you are doing as well.

Give 3 tips to a small business owner or someone that just wants to start in the wellness industry in Nigeria

1. Separate the emotion from the business aspect – it is really hard and can cloud your judgment, which will make it easy for people to take advantage of you. I’ve had people come to me with business proposals and say ‘it’s yoga and they offer peanuts and they expect that come on, it’s yoga people – they will not fight. It is to your advantage to try and separate who you are, what your practice has taught you to remember that part of Yoga is not allowing people to step on you.

A company once offered me a contract and I was going to sign it because it is just to teach classes, I did not see that there was a clause in there that said I had to teach 3 classes for free for them. Every month. It was in the part of the document that I never would have checked because I assumed that being a company in the wellness industry means they follow the ethics of Yoga but that is not always the case

2. Take courses that teach you how to manage a business as someone in the wellness industry. Don’t be afraid to put money into that so that you can have the necessary equipment and knowledge to navigate the space especially in a country like Nigeria where the industry is just starting to grow.

3. In your teaching, do not leave out your practice – you must continue to grow as a student so you can be of service, the moment you stop learning is when you stop having new things to offer your students.

Taking courses is very important like you said, it’s one thing we do at Pennee. We curate courses for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself

I Love gory details, I love horror, and reading about serial killers, autopsies. I am also not a science student. I do not know where the interest came from.

Do you think it would be different if you were practicing Yoga in another country?

Yes, it would be. I just want to pack my things and move to another country, I know that the industry there is established and I have the experience, knowledge, tools, and certifications but I asked myself how I will be doing what I asked myself to do which is to share Yoga with people in the African space.

I have an event coming up in Lagos that we are just going to discuss some of these things because in other countries. Teaching yoga is a solid career but it is difficult in Nigeria, I have had people threaten me in public and say what I am doing is wrong and we will get you for this.

The misconceptions about yoga practice are crazy. I remind myself that if I don’t stay and show people that this is how it is. The misconceptions will continue and I wouldn’t have contributed anything to make sure that people can get what they need from Yoga do away with the lies around it. In other countries, from the amount, you charge for a yoga class to how easy it is to get a student, rent a studio, have insurance, and all of those things. It is tempting to leave.

I did not know that the misconceptions were bad that people would threaten yoga instructors

I was a teenager when I started practicing and people would talk to my mother and tell her all sorts like what I am doing is against our religion and why she does not stop me.

Even though my mother did not understand yoga, she allowed me to do what I was doing and advised me to practice inside the house. I have had to hide and explain myself a lot of times. People are willing to go to extreme length to pass judgment especially when they do not understand.

I am super inspired by how you still want to be here.

For our listeners that want to know more about you and follow you on social media can you leave us social media handles?

Twitter – @cloudspin_

Instagram – @cloudspin_

Tiktok – @cloudspin_

YouTube  – CLOUDSPIN YOGA 

Website – spinyoga-inc.business.site

Final words for us

Whatever thing you have, whatever it is that helps you withdraw from the world that you can hold on to and use to check in with yourself. However crazy it might sound to everyone else, don’t let anyone take that away from you because we all need a moment where we can check in with ourselves and hold space for our sanity and be of service to other people and I hope that all the good things find you.

Thank you for being here with us.

At Yana, we provide financing and financial management for businesses.