Say Namaste!

Weam Zabar, founder and owner of holistic wellbeing center Namaste Bahrain, shares more about her fascination with ‘filling the gap’ through yoga and her resulting creation of an internationally-recognized yoga school

 Your work has to be your play time. If it’s not your play time, forget about it.

Tell us how Namaste Bahrain happened…

After I graduated I was programming for a while. A year later I moved into a sales job. That got old very, very quickly. I realized very early on that we spend most of our time at work, and if you are in a job that is draining, even the time you are not at work, you are stressing out. So life goes by very fast, and I think I realized that by seeing how quickly my daughter was growing.

I wanted to do something that I actually enjoyed. I had, by then, started practicing meditation. To me, that was kind of the sweet time in my day. And I began thinking if people don’t have that time to spend on themselves where they can just calm down and breathe and relax a little bit, then there is a gap. We just run through our days and most of the time we are not present. We don’t even know what we are doing. So if I can create a space where people can actually practice that presence, I fill the gap

I started practicing yoga over 7 years ago. It became very clear that I just needed to focus on doing yoga. So in April 2011 I started Namaste, the only internationally-recognized yoga school in Bahrain.

Why did programming or sales not work for you?

These jobs did not feel real. It felt like the end result of my work did not make a difference in the world, and that tormented me. I did not actually see the direct effect of my work. I was good at it, but I did not enjoy it.

It wasn’t utilizing my strong points. It wasn’t speaking to me. It did not give me satisfaction. I was traveling all around the world, staying in 5 star hotels, meeting the big shots. And, I was the youngest person in the whole company in that position. Yet it remained unreal to me. It felt like a play, like I was putting on an act. It did not feel real.

Yoga is a unique concept to a lot of people here. What were some of its misconceptions?

A lot of people thought it was sitting in meditation, which of course is a part of the practice, but it isn’t all of it. There was the misconception that it’s related to specific religion. Unfortunately, there are a few religious clerics that refer to yoga as demonic.

A lot of people walk up to me and say, “I can’t practice yoga because I’m inflexible.” But that’s why you practice yoga!

How is Namaste different from other Yoga classes?

It was the first. What makes it different, I believe, is the teachers. The teachers here are very passionate about what they do. And there is a sense of community. The classes feel welcoming, not intimidating.

Did you feel any hesitation from male students?

I have a good mix of males and females. The funny thing is, males are normally dragged in here by their wives or girlfriends, and after a couple of months, the wife / girlfriend disappears and the man continues to show. And so I feel like men really feel the benefit of it, to a great extent. To the point that they really become addicted to it.

I feel like it’s really easy for women to tap into spirituality. They’re naturally intuitive. Men don’t get the chance to experience that in everyday life. And they do through yoga. And it becomes their outlet in that sense.

Did you have any mentors along the way? Someone who influenced this line of work and helped you start the business?

Fawzeya AlSendi who runs the Bahrain Reiki center was my first official spiritual teacher. She got me into the meditation and introspective practice. So I owe a lot to her.

But you know the Chinese saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears”? As I move along, teachers show up on my path.

How do you manage taking care of your family and your full-time business?

It’s tricky. It’s not easy. I’m blessed because my family is very supportive of what I do. They understand it. My daughter comes to yoga class. I’m very blessed in that sense. It took me a while. When I first started, I was a complete slave to my enterprise. And I learned with time that I need to take time off, I need to do the things that I enjoy as well. And now I force myself to take holidays and not look at my email the whole time.

What is your advice for young entrepreneurs who are starting their own businesses?

I personally believe that the internal work is as important as the external work. If you just focus on setting up your business, and you don’t focus on managing stress or working with the belief systems that are holding your back, your job will be much harder. You might think, “Oh, I’m too busy to do this stuff. I just need to set my business up.”

But actually you end up saving tonnes s of time by working on your mind. If you are going to do something this big, make sure you are internally solid. I think that’s one of the most important things you could do as an entrepreneur.