KB: WHO ARE YOU?
I am a Mother
I am a Sister
I am an Aunt
I am a Friend
I am an Entrepreneur
I am a Yogini
I am a Yoga Instructor in Training
I am Ina Dailey…a seeker always searching, looking under the surface around the
corners…needing to find what’s at the base, whats not said, whats not obvious.
I am strong but soft and mushy on the inside. Most people do not see me as mischievous, but I am, I love mischief. It keeps me smiling inside.
KB: I KNOW YOU HAVE TONS OF TRICKS UP YOUR SLEEVE, EH?! AND YOU ARE ALSO A LISTENER, A GUIDE, A CARER AND ONE OF THE MOST AWESOME_EST PEOPLE I KNOW!
KB: WHEN AND WHY DID YOU START YOGA?
Approximately seven years ago. Wow I have said this so many times it sounds like a mantra.
I was having severe menopausal symptoms. I have come to understand why the Europeans in the era of Jane Austin confined menopausal women to the attic there is precious little medical relief, it is a crazy time. So when it was suggested that I try yoga and I discovered that Karen Blackman did yoga classes I found her classes and seven years later I’m still here. My
symptoms have largely dissipated and I am able to lead a more balanced life. Thanks to
Karen’s openness, creativity and commitment, I did not throw in the towel, I came near on
several occasions, my mind and body had serious issues with all this action but Karen was
always there with encouragement. Those early days were disasters…thank you Karen and trust me people if I survived anyone will.
Recently ABC TV carried a report of research conducted on two hundred women with breast
cancer. The conclusion was that a yoga practice reduces inflammation and increases energy. The women had not practised yoga before participating in the experiment. (ABC News- Health)…I am referencing this to share with you the benefits of a yoga practice.
KB: THAT’S MY INA…ALWAYS PEARLS OF WISDOM ABOUND!
KB: NOW THAT YOU ARE INTO YOUR YOGA PRACTICE, WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU SEEN?
Wow…so many. I can classify them into internal and external.
EXTERNALLY my body is different. My shoulders have changed, they are ‘squarer’ if that
description makes sense. I stand taller and that’s quite something since I am 5′ 11″. My body is sleeker more streamlined and you know what’s interesting if I miss my yoga practice for a couple weeks I literally start rounding up.
INTERNALLY I am more aware of what’s going on inside my body. During my yoga practice while doing some asanas I actually feel that shift, that change happening inside. Also I breathe deeper and longer. This I have deliberately set out to cultivate since it is believed that ten breaths or less per minute is required for optimum health and of course there is a major improvement in my balance. If I stumble I am able to right myself much easier. I am surer on my feet. Inside my head is quieter. My thoughts do not run riot as much as they used to… thank goodness.
KB: WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST SURPRISE ABOUT YOGA?
That it was active I had done some yoga before and it was seated and meditative so I was
surprised to be introduced to yoga that was active and sweaty… and I mean puddles of sweat.
Also I was surprised at how involved yoga is it involves all of your body, mind and spirit.
KB: WELL SAID!
KB: WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE YOGA POSE(S)?
Poses so I can have more than one because I do, first UTKATASANA,Powerful Pose or Awkward Pose or Chair Pose. There is something really exhilarating about sitting your butt back while simultaneously reaching forward. There is good of reason for this pose being so named you actually feel the energy coming alive inside and then there’s Dancer’s Pose,NATARAJASANA. This pose is exciting. There is so much going on in this pose while toning vital muscles.
KB: YEAH AND THAT “SO MUCH GOING ON”? SHEESH…THIS POSE ALSO INCREASES YOUR
HEART RATE, HELPS TO INCREASE YOUR FLEXIBILITY…IN THE SPINE…THE
HAMSTRINGS…WORKS ON YOUR BALANCE AND YOUR STRENGTH…YOUR FOCUS AND YOUR BREATHING…OMG IT’S LIKE A BIG GIANT SHOPPING SALE *SMILE*!
KB: WHAT’S YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE YOGA POSE(S)?
Least favourite… I also have two. First Tree Pose, VRKSASANA. Now I like trees, I could relate
to the graceful steady stance of a tree, I like to think that in some ways I embody some
treeness, but to reach up while balancing on one leg and close my eyes… that’s challenging.
So too is CRESCENT LUNGE…to balance on my back toes while reaching up and into a
backbend is magical but challenging to achieve.
KB: HOW ABOUT SOME DEEPER PERSONAL STUFF….
We are the creators of our own reality. So the life we have is what we have created. They are our dreams that we have materialised into reality. So it is necessary to dream, dream in living colour, in 3D add passion…
KB: WAIT…STOP RIGHT THERE INA! I MEAN DEEPER PERSONAL STUFF ABOUT YOU
*SMILE*…ACTUALLY, I CAN THINK OF SOMETHING…YOUR DAUGHTER. I REMEMBER HOW
MUCH YOU SPOKE ABOUT HER…NOT SO MUCH HER…LET ME BE CLEAR…YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HER AND THE FACT THAT YOU WERE ESTRANGED. YOU HADN’T SEEN HER OR HEARD FROM HER IN YEARS. I REMEMBER WE WOULD TALK AND ALL I COULD TELL YA WAS THAT SHE WOULD COME AROUND AND ALL YOU COULD DO WAS BE THERE FOR WHEN IT HAPPENED. I TOLD YOU ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MY MOM AND HOW IT WASN’T THE BEST AND ONE DAY…IT WAS. I WAS/AM THANKFUL EVERYDAY FOR THE SECOND CHANCE I GOT TO DISCOVER MY MOTHER’S LOVE. AND JUST LIKE THAT…YOUR DAUGHTER CALLED…YOU…REMEMBER? SHE WANTED TO MEET. LADY, I CRIED FOR YOU THAT DAY BECAUSE I KNEW HOW AWESOME THAT MUST HAVE FELT!
KB: YA GOT ANY STORIES?
Wow… So many.
KB: WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST FEAR – IN GENERAL, IN LIFE?
I do have a fear that we are loosing the essence of who we are as humans so we have so many hundreds or thousands of friends on facebook but who are you really ??? Is there any of you to share with one friend much less a couple hundred or thousands.
KB: I KNOWWWWW…I CYAH KEEP UP PERSONALLY. I AM CONSTANTLY LIVING WITH GUILT
THAT I MISSED SOMEONE’S BIRTHDAY BECAUSE I MISSED LOGGING IN THAT DAY…LORD!
THAT SAID, THE TIMES THAT I DO LOG IN AND SUDDENLY HEAR FROM SOMEONE I HAVEN’T
SPOKEN TO IN A WHILE? PRICELESS, NON?!
KB: WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT?
Being a parent and I am making the distinction between being a mother and being a parent. I
am a female so once I birth a child I become a mother, but being a parent has challenged me
to the core. I have been made to grow in ways that are wondrous . I know that I am the winner
in this parenting game. I always tell my friends this parenting thing is huge. You can change
your husband or wife but you cannot change your children they are yours always.
KB: YUP, SOMETIMES THEY MAY NOT DO WHAT YOU HAD PLANNED FOR THEM…SOMETIMES YOU FEEL LIKE MAYBE YOU FAILED…BUT MOST TIMES THE PATH GETS CORRECTED AND YOU GET TO REFLECT ON THE AWESOMENESS OF BEING A PARENT. INA, I CAN ONLY LIVE VICARIOUSLY THROUGH YOU…THIS IS ONE DREAM I WISH HAD COME TRUE FOR ME *TEAR DROP*
KB: WHAT ARE YOU MOST HAPPY WITH OR ABOUT?
I am happy with life it is so exciting to come awake in the morning and look forward to the day
there are so many exciting things happening and the pace is exhilarating. We have a black
man as president of the USA. Medicine has opened up to validate my grandmother’s home
remedies, there are cellphones and computers, Skype, GPS, Facebook I have dubbed it
“fasbook”, soon we will be able to holiday in space. I look forward to not having to go through
an airport especially since the security arrangements have made air travel so torturous, it will
be fascinating to be able to teleport and be able to arrive at my girlfriends living room in
Jamaica in a matter of seconds. Also when televisions are a thing of the past and images are transmitted as holograms. It is exciting to be alive in this time.
KB: GRRL I’M GLAD YOU ARE THAT HAPPY. I AM TRAUMATIZED WHEN I LOOK AT BABIES
SCROLLING THROUGH AN iPHONE LOOKING FOR APPS…DOES THAT MEAN I’M GETTING
OLD?? 0_0 *LOL*
KB: ANY OTHER THOUGHTS OR WORDS OF WISDOM YOU’D LIKE TO PASS ON OR SHARE
Yes a bit of my favourite poem, especially for women…yes I am discriminating, this is for us
women who pull down the shutters, put on the padlocks and let out the doberman at the very
first jilting…
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
When his wings enfold you yield to him
Though his sword hidden among his opinions may wound you,
And when he speaks to you believe in him
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth, so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself
He threshes you to make you naked
He sifts you to free you from your husks
He grinds you to whiteness
He, kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire so that you may become sacred bread for God’s
sacred feast…………………….by K. Gibran.
Hope this titillates you to read more…Ina K
KB: INA?! THIS JUST SCREAMS SEXY!
Here nah, allyuh! When Ina said she that she has changed since starting yoga she is NOT lying! When she first walked into my class? I was worrrrrrieeeedddd! If I said move your head? Ina moved her foot…if I said move ya hand? Ina moved her butt…it was a hott mess! I didn’t even know if I should be teaching anymore…I seriously questioned my abilities…LOL! But then I said to myself…Karen…you didn’t come to Trinidad because you wanted easy…you didn’t sell your home and quit your job in Canada…make this BIG move here so that you could just give up…so I took up the challenge that God placed in front of me and I don’t regret it one minute.
Ina not only improved, but she went even further to sign up for the very first Sangha Trinidad Yoga Teacher Training and is now an instructor in Training!
This woman is incredible! Outside of my own mother, she has been one of my guides in
business in Trinidad. She was able to explain to me how even the best of us fall in business and the emotional tricks to help get back on my feet. If ANYTHING is happening in my life with regards to my business, Ina is one of the first to pick up the phone. And watch nah? You better look out you know?
Ina, I don’t know if you know how important you are to me…to this community. Many folks
don’t see you because you are mostly a morning person, but they have no idea how much your behind the scenes input has helped to keep our community together. For that I am truly grateful!
So thank you, thank you, thank you for everything!
Here’s to many more years of friendship, guidance, and teaching together!!
Lots of love and tons of sunshine!!!
KB and The Sangha Trinidad