Kubbra Sait: I like calling the asana cat and cow

Pic/Raj Patil

Practising yoga with Kubbra Sait is an experience - she laughs, hugs, patiently guides, and checks in with how you might be feeling after the pose. It may sound unorthodox, but it helps - especially in the times we are living in, where we are now asking: Are we safe? Will we see tomorrow? Ask Sait why the world needs yoga now, and she says, "Personally, when I started the journey with yoga, there is no competitiveness. It's such a personal journey - what you couldn't do yesterday, you can do today. It's also a very connecting form of exercise - it grounds you."

She says she has found love for all types of yoga - be it vinyasa, where you flow, or Hatha, where you hold the asana - "yoga can be tailormade for where you are in your mind, and to whom you are," she says, as she sits with us on a mat at her Santa Cruz home. Sait started practising yoga two-and-a-half years ago when she injured her arm during a shoot. "So, my entire journey of getting stronger was beautifully layered with yoga. It became my way of grounding myself - initially my hips were so tight, I used to cry due to pain. But it got me to love my body," she says.

As we breathe and get into our first cat and cow of the day, we ask her if she thinks it's important to know the real Sanskrit names of the poses. For example, cat and cow is traditionally a mix of two poses - Marjaryasana and Bitilasana. "I think what you remember is what's most relatable to you. And trying to remember the real names will keep you in your head, and the point of yoga is to get out of your head, and get into your body. I like the name, cat and cow. It is fun to remember. I don't know the names! We don't have to know everything - you are you. Just do it."

Her approach of making yoga work for you rather than the other way round, reflects in how she practices another asana every day in the car, or whenever she is feeling stressed - the alternate nostril breathing, or "anulom, vilom". "Why do we do it? It's because we all have the masculine and feminine in us, and the idea is to balance those energies."

But we all struggle with that one yoga pose we find daunting. For this writer, it's the head stand - the act of being upside down is disconcerting. For Sait, it's the deceptively simple-looking double pigeon, or "Agnistambhasana", or the ankle-to-knee pose. "My thighs were so stiff, and I used to really tear up when attempting it. And it looks so simple!"

As we wrap up, we ask Sait why someone who has never done yoga adopt a personal practice this year, and she spells it out simply. "It's so incredible that we have given yoga as a gift to the world. So we should start this year, as yesterday June 21, was International Day of Yoga. Why yoga? Why not? We ask ourselves so many questions to make sense of it - but if we won't try, we will never know. Once you get one with your body and breath - even 10 minutes a day - you will realise how good your body feels. Gift yourself this feeling."

We hope you find these 10 minutes for yourself this year!