Nouf Almarwaai was just ten years old when she first heard of the term ‘yoga’ - the spiritual, meditative and physical art rooted in ancient Indian culture.
Her father, Mohammed Almarwaai was in the Saudi army and as a part of his training, had been to Japan to learn martial arts. During his stay there, he came across a book on yoga by South Indian yoga Guru, Iyengar and decided to bring it back home for his family to read.
A book, she says, that helped her heal.
“My joints would swell up. I did not have the strength to even hold a pen," says Nouf, who was suffering from Lupus at that time. "It took me nearly half an hour to 45 minutes to get out of bed. And sometimes, I would feel like I am having breathing difficulties and would wake up in the middle of the night.”
A few years later, Nouf read the book her father had bought back from Japan and decided to try some yoga poses. However, since she did not have practice; she could not hold any of those poses and so, did not pursue it.
Years went by and Nouf’s health condition kept deteriorating. The pain, she says, got to a point where she could no longer go to college. She had to drop out. Gradually, she stopped participating in any kind of physical activity.
But fate had to give her one more chance with yoga. Nouf came across another yoga book, having exhausted every other route to heal herself.
Nouf Almarwaai Source: Supplied
With hope, she started practising the poses. This time, she gave her body some time to get adjusted to the poses, to the breathing patterns.
“It worked like a miracle. For the first time, I felt like I could beat Lupus. The swelling in my joints started reducing, I could sleep well and I also felt a new energy. Yoga saved me. I decided to make yoga a part of my life.”, recalls Nouf.
Studying yoga
In 1998, she resumed college, graduated and became a psychologist. By then, she had started teaching yoga to her family too. And gradually, she started teaching yoga and busting myths about the ancient discipline in her community. But she wanted to learn more. Nouf went to several ashrams in Kerala (South India) and Uttarakhand (North India) to learn yoga. After mastering the art, she came back and started teaching yoga in Saudi Arabia professionally.
“There were people who would ask me if yoga poses were some form of worshipping, or if it belonged to a particular religious group.” Nouf would use any platform, any opportunity she got to bust these myths and explain the truth. “After learning about yoga, people became more accepting of it. After a while, I also went on to teach yoga to school teachers in Riyadh.”
She built establishments like ‘Holistic Healthcare’ and ‘Saudi Arabia Yoga School’ and popularised it not just in her city but in other Arab Nations too.
Just when she thought her life was on the right track, she came across a new obstacle.
'Yoga gave me strength to deal with the pain'
In 2014, Nouf was diagnosed with cancer but fought the disease head-on.
“Before taking the tumour out, and after it was removed, I was doing yoga daily. It helped me tackle stress, anxiety and it gave me the strength to deal with the pain.”, recalls Nouf.
People all around the country were inspired by her journey now. And gradually, the Saudi Arabian government recognised the importance of the ancient art form.
The country's Ministry of Commerce and Investment officially approved the teaching of yoga as a sport in November 2017.
Yoga was introduced in gymnasiums and in rehabilitation centres, thanks to Nouf's persistence and determination showing the country how useful the practice of yoga could be.
In 2017, her efforts led to Saudia Arabia’s Ministry of Commerce and Investment officially approving the teaching of yoga as a sport in their country.
In 2018, she was even awarded a Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India.
