Healing from physical and emotional trauma

An inspiring story of Shehre Banu K (Khyaal community member)

“I got married into a traditional family in the year 1982. I had dreamt of having a happy family of my own, but soon my dream shattered. My life worsened with every passing day. I was a victim of an abusive marriage. Mental torture and physical scars had become a part of my everyday life. My in-laws constantly belittled me and disrespected me. Sometimes I felt like giving up and sometimes it felt like I could make my marriage work. I thought after having children everything would change, there will be better days ahead. Even after having three daughters, there was no change.

My parents were aware of my condition and they always told me to come back home. Though I was tired of bearing all the pain, I held on to the relationship. But one day all the limits were crossed and it went to such an extent that I could have lost my life. That was the day when my daughters made me realise I didn’t deserve what was happening to me. With my parent's support and my daughter's encouragement, I was able to overcome the situation. I remember it was Bharat bandh day and everything was shut. On the same night, we escaped and took the first train to Telangana. I separated in 2000 and returned to my parent's home.

In my toughest time, my family stood strongly beside me. I never wanted to be a burden on my parents so I completed soft skills courses at the earliest and began my job hunt. Initially, for a year I taught in kindergarten because my daughters were in school and my aim was to reach home before they were back. It seemed like sad days were gone and it was time for a new beginning. We were a happy close-knit family ready to battle any situation together.

In the year 2005, it was exactly 5:00 p.m. when I called my daughter studying in 2nd standard and said to her that I am on the way with the stationery items she had asked for. I was happily driving home thinking how eagerly she would be waiting for me. Suddenly, a sumo car hit me. It was purely a hit-and-run case and I fell unconscious. I was in the hospital thinking about how this occurred, my memory was blank and I just had flashbacks of the traumatic event. I had broken my tailbone, injured the cervical soft tissues and damaged the fourth and fifth vertebrae in my lumbar spine. I had bumped my head and had scars on my forehead. The doctor advised me complete bed rest for an uncertain period of time or maybe throughout my life.

My physical injuries and mental agony led me to yoga. I had learnt yoga as a hobby somewhere around 1979. It was yoga that helped me bring up my three daughters wonderfully. After my accident, I returned to the yoga practice that connected me to myself and helped me breathe deeply into my physical and emotional bruises. Yoga was helping my body repair gently with love and miraculously I was out of the extreme trauma and I was filled with joy. I had my share of struggles in the form of physical pain, anxiety and depression but I have also learned to move forward expand and grow.

I chose to convert my hobby into a profession and decided to teach this divine art as an extension of my counselling and soft skills training. I became a professional yoga trainer and also kept upgrading myself. I got into fusion yoga and 4 years back I launched my own website. Also, I have published my book “Yoga No Drama” and I have my own page on various social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. During COVID-19 as well I continued with online yoga sessions and it gave a chance for people to join from different parts of the world. In my yoga journey of nearly two decades, I have come across people of all ages with varied health problems and I am glad I could be a medium to help them.

Lastly, I have a message for all, Yoga is a simple approach, you don't need to be super flexible to practice yoga or you don't need to go to the mountains to practice. Anybody can do yoga and I am sure you will see transforming results in you.” - Shehre Banu K (Khyaal community member)