Born and raised in Deçan, Sabrina Lekaj, about 10 years ago, decided to leave Kosovo.
She moved to the United States, a very difficult decision for Sabrina, who left halfway through her career as a journalist, and her job as the coordinator of the Peja Youth Center, to start a new life in New York City.
“For personal reasons I decided to move to the States in 2014, not an easy decision at all. Leaving behind everything that I’ve been part of for 25 years is not something that comes easy, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Here I am in NYC where one of my sisters been living for over two decades, a place that I had visited before but living here is a different story. For a very long time I thought my life was in some kind of a pause”, says Sabrina Lekaj for Atlantiku.
Just a year later, her journey to the “promised land” took a sad turn.
“In 2015 the next year of me moving here, I lost my sister. Hana 35yrs old, living in Sweden with two of her children, her husband and very close to where my other part of the family was, my brother with his family and my mom. The loss of my sister turned my life upside down, I had been very familiar with loss already. From 2000 to 2004 I lost my grandmother, my uncle and my father. But no one prepares you that your sister can just be gone one day. Nothing made sense after that loss in my life. Nothing!”
The loss of her sister had worsened Sabrina’s physical and mental condition.
During that difficult time, exercise and yoga were her greatest comfort.
She says that practicing Yoga gave her a reason to keep going, to release the stress, anger and sadness she had inside, after everything she had experienced.
“Gym was the only escape from the reality for a long time for me. Until I found Yoga and was surrounded by people who had experienced different trauma in their life and used the discipline of Yoga to ground themselves and find a meaning of life. Practicing yoga gave me a reason to look forward to release the stress, anger and the sadness that I had in me from everything that was going on around me. I practice yoga because I found this practice when I needed the most, it gives me a sense of emotional and peace and physical strength”, she adds.
Seeing the great benefits of yoga, Sabrina decided to become a yoga instructor, in order to help others, find spiritual peace and improve their physical condition.
She now works as a Yoga instructor in New York City.
“I now work full time as a yoga instructor. Teaching yoga in several institutions and privately. Mostly group yoga classes are taught as early in the morning as possible and late in the afternoon, especially in the gyms. In the Yoga studios I teach at, there’s yoga classes several times in the day. Lately my favorite classes to teach and practice are the ones in a hot temperature room about 105 degrees. It is a hustle, especially in the beginning like any other profession, but you can definitely live as a yoga instructor in NYC.”
But what are some of the biggest benefits of practicing Yoga?
Sabrina says that yoga through physical activities, breathing techniques, concentration and meditation helps to release the physical and emotional load, while adding that by practicing yoga you give proper care to your mind and body.
She says that to benefit from yoga you do not necessarily have to understand or practice its spiritual part.
Instructor Lekaj says for the Atlantiku that living with Yoga in a city like New York is not easy, but, with work and dedication, it can be achieved.
She further adds that an hour as a Yoga instructor, is paid from 35 to 55 dollars, while for private groups, the price goes up to 125 dollars per hour.
Message from Sabrina Lekaj, yoga instructor in New York
“Last few years have really taught us to give more importance to our selves and the people around us. I recommend anyone who’s reading this, find something that brings you closer to your true self. Something that helps you understand what you really need from life, how to deal with daily stress and work toward living a more harmonious life with yourself and people around you. For me, the practice of yoga gave me all of this”
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