PRANYA NAIDOO ON DIWALI PREPARATION, FAMILY AND YOGA
This is the season of Diwali, the traditional Hindu post-harvest festival celebrating bounty. So, we happily accepted an invite to the home of a newlywed, proudly Indian South African couple with plenty to rejoice about.
The season of Diwali is the traditional Hindu post-harvest festival celebrating bounty. So, we happily accepted an invite to the home of a newlywed, proudly Indian South African couple with plenty to rejoice about.
Pranya Naidoo is a yoga and mindfulness instructor who is celebrating Diwali as a newlywed with her family.
Diwali is the festival of lights and is the most important celebration in India. It takes place annually and lasts for five days and marks the start of the Hindu New Year.
Like every celebration, preparation and planning needs to happen for it to be successful. Diwali includes making traditional sweets like burfi, cleaning and decorating the house and making sure that the rangoli is perfect.
Rangoli is an art form by creating patterns on the floor. Using powders such as ochre, limestone, coloured sand, dry rice powder, coloured rocks and petals, rangoli is an intricate art and is time consuming.
Pranya set up her own rangoli in the foyer of the house and this invites the gods to come in and spread good luck.
“Diwali for me is a really nice opportunity for me to pause and reflect and just acknowledge the light that comes from within us and that shines so brightly onto others,” says Pranya.
Practicing yoga in the morning sets up Pranya for a positive day and she believes that it helps with self-discovery.
“Being a yoga teacher and yoga instructor is all about helping other people, to adults, teens and kids, really find ease and also it’s all about helping them self discover and that they move from a head space to a heart space in my classes,” explains Pranya.
She feels that her self discovery started on her yoga mat and fell in love with who she was as a person.
Through celebrating Diwali with her family and practicing yoga, Pranya surrounds herself with love and mindfulness to keep herself energised everyday.
