Press and Media
Trinity of Life 14: New Age Kids from YogaHub on Vimeo.
Interviews
For many of us in the Western world, yoga becomes relevant once we come up against a “challenge” in life. Unfortunately people wait to hit their rock bottom before they take action and explore what it means to actually be healthy. As clearly shown by the people who are buying all the self-help products and services, most of them are in their thirties to fifties.
Chitra Sukhu was blessed in that she grew up in a family that was already committed to living the yogic lifestyle. By the age of three she was already meditating, learning about Ayurveda, and practicing yoga. Because she was put in touch with her “true” self, her path was always clear and therefore did not have to address so many challenges as most do.
We were fortunate enough to get an interview with Chitra Sukhu where she offers some insight on what yoga is and Her mission to teach teenagers the power of yoga so that they too would not have to go through as many challenges as their parents and grandparents did.
 What is yoga to you?
Yoga is a way of life, it is a mindset or I should say a “mind flow”; when you are able to flow rather than be set in your ways you experience yoga in action. Yoga helps you to experience your essential nature. It allows you to experience life as a creator, responsible and accountable for your life. It is an outlook that is freeing and overflowing with potential and joy at every moment. Through yoga you can attain the highest state of being; union with the “self”.
 What inspired you to become a yoga teacher and with whom have you done your trainings?
I’ve come from a yogic family, my dad Yogi Hari has an ashram in Florida and my mother Leela Mata has an ashram in Pennsylvania. They were part of the Sivananda Organization in the early 70′s when Swami Vishnudevananda was building the many ashrams and centers that are now all over the world today. My training started at the age of 4 so there was never a time where I made the conscious decision to learn yoga it was just a natural part of my early childhood, the decision to teach came about in stages when asked to teach by others. My training is continuous starting from the age of 4 to now as I continue to live yoga and teach others through my lessons and realizations. In a more formal way… I’ve received my diploma in Ayurvedic Sciences from Kerala Ayurveda and Yoga Certification from Leela Mata’s Peaceful Valley Ashram.
 What have been some of the biggest challenges in developing your teaching career and how did you overcome them?
Marketing has been my biggest challenge. Creating the program and teaching is what I like to do; I would like to leave the business side to someone else. I’m currently learning online marketing to help in this area.
 As the director of your schools teacher training programs, what is your overall goal and objective?
Right now I’m concentrating on a Youth Yoga Teachers Training Course; this allows me to teach young adults 16-21 skills to master life while becoming certified yoga teachers. Most people find Yoga after many years of struggle and pain; they turn to yoga to find relief. My early years learning yoga and meditation have been what set me apart from my peers. While others went through life without an understanding of the overall process of life I was privy through meditation a glimpse into the “self”, which allowed for a perspective that always kept me balanced. I would like to give this to other young adults who could benefit at an early age from the practice and wisdom of such an ancient science.
 What do you feel is unique about your yoga teacher training programs versus other schools? Please tell us about your program.
This Youth Yoga Teachers Training Course (YYTTC) is the first of its kind. In addition to teaching all the required knowledge to become certified yoga teachers we teach lessons relevant to your stage of life; lessons like yoga secrets that can help you master life, laws of the universe which allows for an overall view of the world we live in and how we fit into it, and how to live a balanced stress free life. We do all of this in the setting of an ashram so that you can live yoga during the time you’re studying these concepts. This allows you to really lock in the teachings through experience.
 What type of students would best fit your programs?
Young adults ages 16-21 are welcome to train with us if they have a sincere desire to learn and grow in ways that will push their boundaries, expand their minds beyond the known, and are able to conceive the idea that they are the ultimate creator of their lives.
 What qualities do you feel make a good yoga teacher?
One that is willing to serve others with compassion, love and understanding. A teacher is aware and able to see through the drama, cutting through layers of untruth to help show others the way to a more fulfilling life. A good yoga teacher is not just someone who is able to perfect the postures but someone who exudes an aura of health both in body and mind, this kind of example is a true yogi.
 Is there any advice you would offer to aspiring yoga teachers?
Live yoga; in order to teach you have to experience yoga and incorporate it into your life so that it is as natural to you as breathing, only then can you truly teach in a way that is authentic and uplifting.
Articles
High Fashion Hindu Women
Straddling Two Worlds of Glamour and Dharma
Raised in Ashrams, Daughter of Yogis
Chitra Sukhu, who lives in California, has appeared on the runway for J.C. Penney and Flirts Fashions and done commercials for several shoe companies in California. Earlier she had lived in New York and worked as a model-the only Indian one-for Petite Model Management. She has appeared in promotions for Hershey and Godiva chocolates and has segued into films and television, including roles in "Police Academy 4," "Revenge of the Nerds" and "Miami Vice." The difference between her professional and private lives is tremendous because her parents are devout Hindu yogis-internationally beloved Yogi Hari and his wife Leela, in the line of Swami Sivananda-who have their own ashram in Florida. As a child growing up in Sivananda Ashrams in many countries from USA to Canada and the Bahamas, Chittra and her siblings were surrounded by the many rituals of Hinduism. When she announced to her parents at the age of 17 that she was leaving home for New York, her parents persuaded her to further her education there. Chittra did study law at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, but her childhood love of acting proved stronger.
How does Chittra reconcile her racy career in Hollywood with her austere upbringing? She says, "It's not that difficult. I believe that yoga is basically a way of life. You can incorporate it into anything you do. It helps keep one sane. When I need to focus on something, I do meditation or my yoga postures. I incorporate it into my acting or modeling."
Does she find her Hindu beliefs clashing with the mores and morality of the film world? Chittra says, "No, not at all. I think Hinduism is very open, compared to other religions. There are no rules which say you can't do certain things. A lot of people when they think of acting or modeling, think of the partying and the night life and all the things which go with it. But I think if you're really serious about your work, you don't look at it that way. When I'm acting, I think of it just as a job. It's just like if you were a lawyer or a stockbroker-it's a job. And if you look at it and do it that way, I think it becomes easier."
Chittra believes the people who succeed in acting or modeling are the ones who can separate their make-believe life on-stage from their real life off-stage. She points out: "I look at acting more as being someone else. I separate the two, but I don't do anything that makes me feel uncomfortable. If it does, I won't do it." That she feels is the bottom-line because her solid foundation of religion and parental teaching has given her a strong sense of self. One has to recognize the emptiness of the fast-track, and have a strong inner life: "It's true that the kind of people you meet in these professions do deplete your positive energy. So I go back home a lot to my parents' ashram, and I kind of recharge there. I go back six or seven times a year, sometimes even more. I meditate, do my yoga, because when you're around people who are doing that, it really helps you."
A staunch vegetarian since birth, Chittra often talks to her Western friends about the health benefits of yoga and a vegetarian diet: "I tell the ones who are interested, but I don't push my ideas on anyone." Chittra, personally, stands by her Hindu beliefs. Although she admits "my parents would just love me to have an arranged marriage," Chittra plans to look at their choices but the ultimate choice would be hers. She, however, plans to bring up her children in the Hindu way because "Hinduism is a big part of my life. I would teach them about all religions because I think the core in all religions is the same. That's the way my parents reared me: I know all religions, but Hinduism is my religion."
By Lavina Melwani, New York
Copyright 1993, Himalayan Academy, All Rights Reserved.
