Q & A with Vie Activist, yoga teacher, Lee Bachar-Adlar
Yoga teacher and Vie Activist, Lee Bachar-Adlar has lived on the coast in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs for the last 10 years since moving to Australia from Israel. I love the fact that we are surrounded by the sea and there are beautiful beaches everywhere you look. I was raised in a small "moshav" (village like) on the coast of the Mediterranean sea in the north of Israel and always wanted to stay close to the water. Starting her yoga journey 17 years ago while in high school studying theatre, Lee used to practice sun salutation before her acting classes with her friends. “Then, after the army, like all Israelis,” she says, “I travelled to India and it was there that I felt my spiritual path started. My husband and I took a Hatha yoga course in Dharamshala for 8 days where we learned about the philosophy and practiced asana for a few hours each day and I've continued practicing ever since. I did my first teacher training years later.”
Nowadays, Lee has her own studio, a beautiful quiet space outside her home, where she teaches private sessions and general vinyasa classes (a dynamic style) as well as pre-natal courses.
Equal parts bohemian-chic and up to the minute style, Lee shares with us what keeps her motivated and inspired and how she lives an active but balanced and healthy life. As a vegetarian, Lee is creative about keeping her protein intake up. A wonderful home cook, she shares a devine recipe with us too!
How do you live an active life, what’s your favourite way to stay fit and healthy? I practice asana and pranayama (breathing techniques) 3-4 times a week and meditate regularly before going to bed or when I wake up. Other than that I keep busy running around and looking after my 2 and 4 years olds.
What is your favourite thing to do on the weekend? Spend time in nature with the family. Go to a nice yoga class.
What’s your style like when you’re not working out? I love dressing up! But during the day i'm usually in jeans or print pants, knitwear and some flats.
Favourite healthy dish to cook? As a vegetarian, its important I focus on getting enough protein. This Mejadara' (lebanese rice and lentils) is one of my favourites to cook at home.
INGREDIENTS
1.5 cups of rice
1.5 cups of green lentils
2.25 cups of the water we soaked the lentils in
1/2 cup of olive oil
3 flat teaspoons of salt
4 big onions sliced
METHOD
Soak 1.5 cups of lentils in loans of winter for few hours
Place rice, lentils, water, oil and salt in a pot. Bring it to boil then lower the flame and cook for 25min, then turn it off and leave covered for 15 min. While the rice cooks, fry the onions until they are almost burned (caramelised). Add the onions into the rice and mix together.
As a yoga teacher and mother of two, how do you find balance in your life and incorporate your yogic teachings in to day-to-day reality? Most importantly, by practicing mindfulness. I try to cultivate awareness in my day-to-day life; observing my thoughts, words and actions help me to reflect and act from a loving and balanced space. I also try and spend time in solitude a few times a week so I can experience simply being-it's so important to connect with your true self in the busyness of today's world.
What does living an active life mean to you? To feel alive. Go out and about. Choose to do things in a way that you like, whether socialising, moving your body or developing your mind. What is your favourite yoga pose and why? Sirsasana (headstand). I love inversions in general, they make us look at things from a different perspective, as we are up side down. They assist us in facing our fears and challenging our balance. Headstand is a beautiful posture. It strengthens our upper body and allows a greater flow of blood into our brain, allowing prana (life force) to flow upwards towards the crown of the head.
What is your favourite yogic philosophy? There is only one philosophy of yoga, which was written by the yogis thousands of years ago in different ancient scriptures. Those manuals were introduced to the western world by great teachers like Sri T. Krishnamacharya and his students. There are many yoga styles that these students developed and the one I've been following is called Vinyasa and it is derived from Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, also known as Ashtanga Yoga.
Sunrise or Sunset workout? I prefer sunset.
Typical workout:
5-10 min centring and grounding with pranayama breathing
15 min worm up: sun salutation (suryanamaska 1+2)
30 min vinyasa sequence (standing postures, back bends, forward bends, twists and inversions)
10 min relaxation: corpse pose (savasana)
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