Lighting, yoga and thoughtful practice

We sat down with Dijana, a yoga teacher based in East London, to find out how she uses light as a medium for thoughtful practice.

Light impacts our daily life without most of us realising. Do you associate bright light outside with a good day? Or does warm light in your home make you feel relaxed and cosy?

With darker days fast approaching, the right indoor lighting can help keep your mind in a bright and positive place.

How long have you been a yoga teacher?

I’ve been teaching on and off for a while. I started to practice nine years ago and started to teach part-time after that. It all started in Sweden, when I decided to leave home and move to London. I’ve worked in several different industries and decided to start teaching full time a year and a half ago. It’s been the best decision of my life.

Describe your life in 3 words.

The three words that describes my life right now would be; curious, grounded and exciting. With curiosity and excitement comes a lot of change so the three words might be different tomorrow. As Carl Jung said, “No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell”. I love that quote, because we all experience the ups and downs in life. We should want to explore the colourful journey of highs and lows, stillness and change. So, what I’m trying to say is, the three words will forever change.

How long did it take you to fall in love with what you do?

I fell in love with yoga the moment I started practicing. I just loved it. How I could move and breathe on my mat where there was zero judgment, no one telling me what was right or wrong, you could just “be”. I continued showing up to classes and after a while I decided to dive deeper into the practice and philosophy, it just hit all the right spots. I’m still in love with it, every time I practice and teach.

We as humans need light to survive. How does light feed your creative needs?

Light is so important to me. As mentioned before, I grew up surrounded by the lights of northern Sweden, as well as the long warm days by the Mediterranean sea. Comparing the light from sunrise to sunset is so empowering. The different feelings you experience when practicing in different light makes each time different. Every time we step on the yoga mat we find something new within us and light helps to stimulate those emotions.
When I work on my admin and physical projects I want a clear and supportive light. When I practice I want something soft and dimmable to support the journey.

My Tala Touch Lamp is my favourite dimmable lamp. The three stage dimming process is so easy. Just by tapping the base I can alter the light when I practice in my bedroom or when I’m reading just before bed.

How does lighting impact your yoga teaching?

Working with light when teaching is important as well. As teachers we hold a safe and sacred space for people to come and practice, and work with physical and emotional scar tissue. So for yoga students to feel comfortable and safe, we need more than a yoga teacher; it’s the surroundings as well: the room, the music, and the light.
I always start the class in a soft but clear light so people don’t feel too tired and sleepy. When working with a more dynamic flow I make the light a little bit brighter, as we often work in balance and need focus points on the ground. As soon as we start to slow it down the light becomes softer, warmer and more gentle. So not only is yoga a physical and spiritual practice, it should be an experience for the senses, through light, sound and movement.

“Yoga is a physical and spiritual practice, it should be an experience for the senses, through light, sound and movement.” – Dijana

What inspires you?

Nature. Being raised in between Sweden and Croatia I’ve always been surrounded by different weather conditions, which feeds me a huge amount of ideas and inspiration. I also find inspiration in the people I surround myself with. People massively impact on the energy I emit.

If you were a planet, which one would you be?

Haha, the fact that I love space and planets makes this question easy. I would be Saturn. It’s surrounded by thousands of beautiful ringlets, which makes it incomparable to the other planets. It has around 60 moons and some of the most fascinating landscapes in the solar system. So it’s pretty unique.

If you’ve fallen in love with light and yoga as much as we have you can catch Dijiana teaching at ChromaYoga in Shoreditch. They combine light and colour therapy techniques, brain stimulating soundscapes and bespoke natural scents to create a multi-sensory yoga experience.

We’ll see you on the yoga mat.

Written by Isabella Rider, Community Manager