The Silverfox Hustle Podcast

Silverfox Hustle #98 - Lalitha Rajah - From Courtrooms To Yoga Mats

• Shasi • Episode 98

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What if the path you’re on was poured for you long before you could choose? Lalita Rajah grew up in a family where law was more lineage than option, excelled at the academics, and built a steady career in corporate litigation and trademarks. The work was demanding but not ruthless, the colleagues became friends, and the respect was real. Yet beneath the competence was a quiet absence: fulfilment. A personal loss she couldn’t step away to honour and a cycle of heartbreak cracked the surface, and a single yoga class offered something she hadn’t felt in years — breath, focus and space.

We walk through how she went from curious student to certified teacher, trading billable hours for playlists and progressions. You’ll hear what Inside Flow really requires — choosing BPM that matches the arc of a song, crafting sequences that fit lyrics and phrasing, and sharing a true story that invites students to feel, not perform. We talk accessibility and progress: how wall-supported inversions demystify fear, how practice frequency changes outcomes, and how joy shows up in the moment a student realises, “I can do this.” 

If you’ve ever felt your career was “set in wet cement,” this conversation is a timely reminder that we can make a change. Success doesn’t always wear heels and a title; sometimes it’s barefoot, on the beat and that's enough.




SPEAKER_00:

This is just a silver folks that are podcasts. Hello, and we are back on the Silver Fox Castle Podcast. My name is Shassy, the creator of this podcast. And, you know, I think we took a little bit of a break after the SPL preview, but uh we are back and uh of course doing what we do trying to inspire our listeners uh with the brilliant guests we have on the show. But before that, uh click on the follow button. We are out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube obviously, and uh click on that button, the subscribe button. Yep, here we go on episode number 98. We've got a very good guest today. You know, I tell you what, we talk about inspiring guests, and we've got one here. And I don't want to do too much of an intro because uh all I can say is she is a former lawyer. She was practicing for nearly 10 years or so, uh, but she made that huge leap, uh, made a very uh big decision to quit the profession and uh to follow a passion. And I will know a little bit about a passion a little bit later on. Uh, welcome to the podcast, Lalita. Thank you, Sashi. Uh, how are you? I uh you you seem to be very busy with work and and obviously the kids, and uh how how has it been uh the past week or so?

SPEAKER_02:

It's been okay. Actually, I got sick on the weekend. So this weekend, this week was a little bit uh resting. Right. A little bit resting. Um so if I sound a bit nasally, it's because I'm recovering. But um, yeah, generally quite busy because I'm trying to, you know, pursue my passion, which is you know teaching yoga, and also now I like to put things on Instagram to hopefully inspire people. And that also takes a long time to content create and do the editing for the video because I'm an amateur. And um and also to be with the kids. Yes. So it is a busy life like And uh they they they are how how old are they, by the way? Uh my son is seven.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

And my daughter is five.

SPEAKER_00:

P1.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, but next year we'll be P P2.

SPEAKER_00:

How how was P1 so far? As in for him.

SPEAKER_02:

So for him, for me. For me, it was very nerve-wracking. But then once he got into P1, he is a sociable kid. So um it wasn't it was it was okay. He he he fit in nicely, he enjoys his school, he makes a lot of friends, he doesn't love the work, but he he loves his friends. Yeah, and he fits in nicely.

SPEAKER_00:

I think it's always important that they, you know, they get to socialize, uh socialize with with the uh, you know, the the kids in the school and obviously K2, right? Yeah, the the the girl is. K1. You are next year K2, but now K1. Okay. Uh I think you said it just now at the beginning. You you are now following your passion in yoga without me giving anything away. You you said it yourself. But you know, let's go back a little bit. You know, we we want to talk about you as well growing up and uh what was family like for you? You know, and and it I people will know who you are and you know the the the family background and all once you start talking about yourself, right? So so let's go, Glalita.

SPEAKER_02:

Um my family was I mean, it was a pretty pretty traditional family. Like um my dad uh was working a lot, he was the breadwinner of the house. He he was a lawyer.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_02:

And uh my mom, she used to be an uh English, she was an English literature teacher uh before she had me. And once she had me, she became a full-time homemaker.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so I had my my wonderful mom at home looking after us, cooking for us, looking after us every step of the way.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh siblings?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh I have a younger sister.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right. And and you know, we we talk about your dad as a as a lawyer, right? And and he he he has his own firm, by the way. And and how did that family life impact your character and your values? Because obviously you you became a lawyer, and we talk about that a little bit later on, and and we talk about you know how values can impact you and your decisions later on in life, right? And you've made that big leap, obviously, by quitting, you know, your profession and becoming a uh a yoga instructor. How did the values growing up taught you, you know, like like all this, you know, not giving up, maybe resilience and going for your goals, your passion?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh I wouldn't say that uh we were very much about ambition or going for your passion growing up. It was more about they wanted us to be happy, right? My parents wanted us to be happy and they wanted us to have a good education, right? So it's very important for for us to do well in school or to to be to be good, right? To be good students to study. So we know if our second language is not so good, we have tuition. Our math's not so good, we have tuition. I mean, I think it's quite uh, it's not uncommon here, right? And uh so we had we had a a good academic um education and um like I said, we were traditional families, so in the sense that they wanted us to do well in school, go to university, get a good job, but they also it was also very important that we settle down, we get married, we have children. Right? That was the paradigm and that was how we were brought up.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep, yeah. It's it's it's pretty typical, isn't it? Yes. Yeah, yeah. Uh schools you attended? What we which schools did you uh kindergarten I was in.

SPEAKER_02:

So that's way back. Way back. I remember because I was very proud to be able to say the whole thing at that age. ACS Barker Road Methodist Church Kindergarten.

SPEAKER_00:

That's a lot more.

SPEAKER_02:

So we went to that kindergarten and then primary school, we were in R I was in RGPS. Okay. Raffles Girls Primary School. And then uh secondary school, I was in Crescent Girls School.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

And uh I was in JC, I was in ACJC.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

And then uni, I was in Nottingham, Uni.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

And then I came back to Any West after that. Nice.

SPEAKER_00:

Listen, you are into yoga right now. CSA is in school. Were you the sporty type or you were just, you know?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh I did table tennis.

SPEAKER_00:

Really?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

In what? Secondary school?

SPEAKER_02:

Um prior secondary school, correct.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Were you good at it? Were you in a school team?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Because we were in Crescent Girls School and we had a China coach.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

And we were the at some point we won gold medal in the, I can't remember this West Division and all the dimensions, and we won national level. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we were pretty good.

SPEAKER_00:

So were you the champion in table?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh there were like three singles players, two sets of double double players. I was a singles player and we we did hard hardcore last so we would be training in the weekends like eight to five p.m. every Saturday when it was near uh tournament time. And after school every day, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00:

I I g I have to tell you, right, because I'm teaching at IT, right? Not a lot of students nowadays, kids.

SPEAKER_02:

Play table tennis.

SPEAKER_00:

Th that is one. But the the the ability to to play, that that's another di that that's a difference, right? In terms of hand-eye coordination and all. Yeah. It's it's not easy if you don't pick it up early, you know.

SPEAKER_02:

Did you start it early? My mom played table tennis, you see. Okay. So when she was young. So she got us a table tennis table. So we would knock around, play at home, and I had my neighbors were were a bit older than me. They were boys, and they would come and we would play table tennis or soccer in our little garden or badminton. So I was sporty growing up and that kind of thing. I like to do that kind of thing. But in school, it was table tennis.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Yeah. Beautiful. Now let's go forward and speak about law. Uh I don't know whether that's your favorite topic or not, but let's talk about it because it this is about you, by the way, right? Now we we talk about you uh and and obviously after secondary school, you went to uh JC and then uh University of Nottingham, right? Yeah. What was the was the path to law like something that it's like, you know, set in stone that you gotta do it because of your dad and and things like that? Because, you know, you you talk about the trajectory and the path towards it. Was it like set in stone? Like it's always there, okay, uh Lolita, you gotta be a lawyer. That that that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02:

And uh set in stone, maybe not set in stone, maybe set in wet cement or wet sand or something like that. Okay. So I wouldn't say set in stone, but it was set in something.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow.

SPEAKER_02:

Right?

SPEAKER_00:

So it was set?

SPEAKER_02:

More or less, in the sense that yes, like you said, my dad was a lawyer and my grand uncle, my grandpa was a judge.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and uh, it was actually yeah, my grandpa was a judge, and um my granduncles were lawyers as well and judges as well. And it it was all in the family, right? And if, like I said, if I didn't have a burning passion to do something else, law was the way to go. And I mean, even I did enjoy writing. So I did enjoy um I thought of doing journalism, right, right? But my mom was very, although she wasn't the lawyer, it was my dad who was a lawyer. My mom felt that law would have been is the best degree for me to have. She wanted me to have a good and stable and and comfortable, right, safe sort of of life. I mean, I suppose what every parent would want for their child, right?

SPEAKER_03:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

And like I said, this was some time ago, not in this, this was like in the 80s and the 90s and 90s. So she wanted me to have the best possible future, and um law was what she saw to be the best possible future.

SPEAKER_00:

Now, let me ask you a different kind, although I'm I'm gonna just put it in the other way, right? Did you have a choice? Like, did you have along the way, say, I don't think I wanna I wanna pursue something else? Did you have a choice back then? I I don't know, because you were saying about the.

SPEAKER_02:

I was steered strongly into the law. Okay. I wanted to be a journalist. But I was steered strongly into the law, and and I wasn't super passionate about wanting to be a journalist.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, right?

SPEAKER_02:

It was like, oh, I think I would like that better. You know, it wasn't like a yeah, so yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Were you good at it or not at what? Uh I mean you you can't tell whether you're good at being a lawyer at that time. But but in terms of speaking and everything, did you have uh did did sub uh like someone say something about I mean I was good in lit English literature, for example.

SPEAKER_02:

I could write and I won prizes. Let's not boast, but I was good in in English literature.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02:

Right? And um uh and history, I suppose writing. Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't a debater though, because I was shy. I was never I was always looking at the debaters, the debate team in school. Wow, these guys are so good, right? Always in awe of how they could just rapid fire like that. Uh but I was I'm sh I mean, I was a shy kid.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

That's that's great. You know, and and we talk about the the the path that you took in terms of the studies part, right? The academics part, right? Was it tough being get trying to get or trying to be a a lawyer along the way, the sacrifices that you made?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I mean, I suppose, of course, it required a lot of studying, uh a lot of hard work. So we had we have to okay, so at the time I went to because I was studying in an overseas university, right? So I went to Nottingham University. And at the time, this was the late 90s, there was an oversupply of lawyers in Singapore.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

So the government wanted to reduce the number of people allowed to practice in Singapore. And well, it seemed at the time it seemed that they wanted to give an age to NUS graduates because they kept the number of overseas universities to only UK universities. Okay. So uh America, US cannot, I mean America, Australia cannot. And um only 15 of the sort of the the better universities in the UK. So firstly you had to be your grades had to be good enough to get into those top 15. And then once you were in there, as an as an overseas student or overseas graduate, you needed to get at least a second upper class honors to be able to practice law in Singapore. Whereas if you were from NUS, you could get a second lower and still practice. So that was that hurdle as well. And then so there's this stress of, okay, they've spent my parents have spent all this money sending here, you know. And then also the middle of 1998 was the Asian financial crisis. Yeah. Right. So everything was like, you know, so you didn't want to waste their money and then not do so well, and then you cannot practice. Right. Right? So yeah, and then once you additional thing was when we got back to Singapore after our three-year degree in the in the UK, I had to do a it's called Diploma in Singapore Law, which you you do it, it's like a conversion course. So you learn, you relearn the concepts and in NUS. You have to do it in NUS. I don't know if it's still the same now, I don't think so. This was it back in my time. And uh so you learn the same subjects but in the context of Singapore case law. Right. And then after that you do your the bar, the Singapore bar, the practical law course. So the whole thing was about five and a half years, because after that you have to do your pupillage. So it's a long process.

SPEAKER_00:

So and and your pupillage was done where exactly?

SPEAKER_02:

At um my dad's firm.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So let's talk about the your role at the firm, you know, when you first started out, right? So I've obviously after you you you finished that, you know. So so what kind of law did you, you know, practice?

SPEAKER_02:

Um initially I wanted to do uh the stuff I could understand well, the stuff I found interesting in uni, which was like family law, um, criminal law.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, right.

SPEAKER_02:

But I ended up I ended up doing a lot of corporate litigation.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Right? So you're working mostly for corporations and uh it it's uh court work.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

And uh I also did at some point I did quite a lot of trademark law as well, which was intellectual property, which is quite interesting and quite uh not as stressful as court as litigation.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right. It it again, I I'm I'm just uh a layman and and uh a dummy at this, right? When you c we talk about law and stuff like that, right? So were you like like obviously you were kind of like defending organizations or kind of things like that, things like that?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh yeah, uh we would could act for the plaintiff or also for the uh defendant.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it just depends. So how was the uh the experience like when you finished your paper lecture and you just entered it and and you know full on and things like that? How how what was the experience like? Was it like something that you expected anyway?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh yes, I mean I expected long hours, but for me it was I was always for for I'm not this is not for everyone, but for me, I was always either quite free where I didn't have anything, I didn't have a lot of stuff, I could just, you know, go home at a reasonable, very early time. Or I was like super busy, right? Like with this like this big case is on, all these partners are involved. I mean, all these different law firms are involved, and you're like, you know, working until midnight and then waking up early and going again and just no time to pee, you're just working, working, working. Right. You know, you eat like this while you work or you don't even eat. Right. Right? So it was cyclical or seasonal.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, yeah. Right. It's seasonal, yeah, yeah, you're right. I think that's the word. And uh, you know, you you spoke about this, right? You you said that you represented organizations and litigations, right, and and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02:

But when I say me, I don't say me, I mean like the team. Yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_00:

But but why didn't you like uh was it like push to you in that sense? Uh no, in the sense that because I was uh Why didn't you do something else in terms of you know the law?

SPEAKER_02:

When you are uh it's called an LA, I don't know what this, I don't know if it's still called that now. It's called a legal associate, a legal assistant, meaning a lawyer who's not yet a partner.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, like you watch, you watch Suits or Ellie McBeal or whatever you watch, they call we're associates, we're not partners, right? So I was an associate, right? Right? And uh you do what the your you work for certain partners and what work they have, they give you and you do the work.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

You can't say I feel like doing this today.

SPEAKER_00:

So so you would uh you would love doing family and and and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh I wouldn't mind, but I never really did it. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

Never at all during that time, no? No.

SPEAKER_02:

Because family law tends to be here, it's like mostly divorce law. Right? But I didn't I enjoyed studying it in school, like not just divorce law, but all the aspects of family law. I mean, it was just something interesting, but I ne didn't end up doing that, no. It was just something I thought of when I was starting.

SPEAKER_00:

So in that in in that 10 years or so, rough nearly 10 years, I think, or was it 10 years or so? What what was it like? Did you like rise up through the ranks or anything like that, or you just um not at all.

SPEAKER_02:

I I didn't um I never had a burning passion to be a lawyer, and I never was ambitious. I never wanted to be partner. Okay. Right? It's not like on TV everyone wants to be partner, right? It's like the most important thing. We want to knock other people aside to be partner. It wasn't like that. Um I didn't want to be so not only did I not, I just actively didn't want to be partner. So because being a partner is rather, at least at my firm, I they have different structures in different firms. At the firm I was at, uh, once you become a partner, it's sort of uh eat what you kill. So you don't have a salary.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Right? You become a partner, you have to bring in your own clients, bring in your own, yeah, exactly. Right? Bring in your own hustle, your own cases. And I, like I mentioned a bit earlier, I wasn't, I'm not the um I don't like to go and network and socialize and I'm quite shy. And networking is not and has never been even now my thing, right? So I might seem like I have a lot to say sometimes, but I'm I'm still nervous and I'm still thinking what to say in a social situation. Right. Right. So um I didn't want that for myself and I felt there was just so much responsibility as a partner. When I was in LA working on the firm, at least I know the partner's gonna check my work. Right. If you make a mistake, partner will check it or something. But if you're the partner, you're checking someone else's work, and if there's a mistake, it's all on you.

SPEAKER_03:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

It's completely on you. The client can sue you. So many things can get can happen, right? And that it's for something that I didn't love to do, that's not not what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think that that is related to you and the the lack of passion for the job, maybe. That that's why you didn't want to, you know, you know, I I I think that's that's one of the reasons. And again, you spoke about hustling and and that's how the billing comes in. Like like the the partner has got to hustle and get your clients in so that it can be built to them. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. No, this profession, I I I don't know. It could be, you know, outside. And I just have this feeling that the the the it comes with an aura. You know, when okay, let's say in a social setting when I'm I'm speaking to you, or maybe I see you outside and we we start talking and and what do you do? You know, I'm I'm whatever. And you say I'm I'm a lawyer. Do do you get that? Like someone's someone just okay, and I got to respect you a little bit more. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, well, I suppose when someone says they're a lawyer, people, I mean, it comes with a a level of academic or intelligence or or whatever it is. You know this person has been through a lot of studying and come out the other side, still alive, and right? So I suppose in that ways people might might see you as, oh, she's uh you know, she's done a lot of studying. And I think a lot of people when they when they initially at the time when they looked at me, they didn't think that I was a lawyer, right? They wouldn't say I looked like a lawyer. And so whenever I said I was a lawyer after they asked me what you do, they were always surprised. Okay. And they always would then look at me with that, oh, you're a lawyer. You know, like as if that made me better than what they thought I was before.

SPEAKER_00:

Made you more credible.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. And they always then treat me with more respect.

SPEAKER_00:

You you said about the look. So what look is this in in terms of?

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know. Everyone would say everyone would say you don't look like a lawyer. So that's what how I that's how I mean. They would be surprised and say, Oh, I never thought you would be a lawyer. However, when I say I'm a yoga teacher, they don't act surprised.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I I I think you're right. But okay, that that's that's uh a good insight, man. You spoke about suits just now. Yes. Uh it is one of my uh favorite series ever, uh together with the others, right? Like uh Peaky Blinders and stuff like that, right? Is it ever like that in a firm? In real life, or is it just for the movies or series or whatever?

SPEAKER_02:

You know what? Good looking lawyers, office romances. Maybe if it was, I would have stayed.

SPEAKER_00:

So the answer is no.

SPEAKER_03:

Ever?

SPEAKER_00:

No. How about how about the ruthless I I see, I I watch, I watch it, right? So the the ruthlessness sometimes, or not sometimes some firms.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

My firm.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. That's why we liked our that's why I liked our film. We didn't have that kind of ruthlessness and and um the not nice aspect. No, we didn't have that.

SPEAKER_00:

Nice. Yeah. Nice, nice, nice.

SPEAKER_02:

So it's only you only have it's only on TV, La, because maybe some firms. You never know. And some firms, yes. Some firms for sure. And um, yeah, I wouldn't say we know.

SPEAKER_00:

Any good-looking ones?

SPEAKER_02:

Like that? Not like that. Not like Harvey Spectre.

SPEAKER_00:

Come on, the standards are way too high there. I'm talking in general, in general terms.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean not really, La. Not really.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. That's one for you know to cross out, man. Those uh wanting to be a lawyer. Now, okay, what was the best thing about the job to you? Uh and and is there any stories that you can relate to that that made you, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

The best thing about the job was the firm culture as well as my friends. I mean, the colleagues. Okay. My colleagues became my friends. They're still my friends now, even though we're no longer there after so many years.

SPEAKER_00:

Nice.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, I mean, I was there when I was real uh well in my 20s and 30s, and that was a time where I was um dating a lot and trying to find the right person. And in the course of that, I had a lot of traumatic breakups. Okay. And then I would go to work like broken-hearted, you know, when you're when you're broken up, you're like, you know, you can't breathe. Right, right. Pain in the stomach, like, you know, like you've been shot. And then your colleagues are there, your friends are there with you to help you through it. You know, while you're at work, normally you go to work, you're like, you're gonna be this way. You're going through trauma, you can't tell anybody. But because my friends were there, or my colleagues were such good friends, they helped me through it. We go to pantry, we talk about it, have a coffee. Sometimes we've been in the pantry a bit too long having a coffee.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. But it happens all everywhere. Everywhere.

SPEAKER_02:

So it was that was really nice that I had got such good friends from my time there.

SPEAKER_00:

Is there a secret hangout for lawyers?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh you mean in within the firm or in a in a bar or in a clean, yeah. In in in I don't know, you know, for this is a long time ago, okay. Remember wine bar at Zook? They used there one-for-one for lawyers.

SPEAKER_00:

Ah.

SPEAKER_02:

So we would go there every Friday on Friday. So we would go there every Friday. Gosh, I haven't thought about this in so many years. Uh, we used to go there every Friday and get one-for-one drinks. Right, right. And you show your law card, you know, show your name card and you get it.

SPEAKER_00:

Nice.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, on that note, what triggered you to say, okay, let's get out of here?

SPEAKER_02:

Um a few things, I suppose. Um when you are really busy in a fur in a case, no matter what is going on in your life, even if it's something where you, someone you love, is is um is terminally ill or something like that, you you can't be with them, even if you want to. So I went through a situation like that where um unfortunately my cousin passed away when she was uh 29 and I was 29. And um I couldn't be there for her. She was staying at our house at the time, and I couldn't be there for her because I was involved in this big case. And so when that happened, that sort of made me think, this is what I want. Um having said that, even after that, I still stayed on, right? So this was 2007, but it was just something that was there, I still stayed on. And I ignored uh that because, like I said, at the time I still didn't know what I wanted to do. I just knew I wasn't that happy.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

And then um from about 2007 to 2010, I went through a difficult time where I mentioned earlier, I was actually uh with a certain with a person, and I kept we kept breaking up and getting back together, and it caused a lot of of heartbreak for me. And finally, at the final time that was in 2010, I said this this cannot go on anymore. And I was completely broken open by the pain, and I realized I wasn't happy in my work, I wasn't happy in my relationships, I wasn't happy anywhere. And I needed to make a change, I needed to do something. And during one of our breakups, I had actually discovered yoga already. Okay, right, because you know when you're broken up, you want to, you need to, you need to feel your time. I'm not the kind of stay at home and just cry and cry and cry and think about the person. I needed to do something to to get away from the pain. So one of the things I did was uh try new things. Rock climbing was one of them, but it didn't fly with me. Yoga did. Okay. Okay, so one of the classes I tried was yoga and I loved it. Right. Right? So yoga for me was like, it saved me because it it the instructions were so complicated and it got you into your body, into your breath, and it was so I felt so amazing after I could do things. I mean, I went there, I saw someone standing on the head, I was like, this crazy gymnast has obviously been doing this since he was a child. But it's not the case. I mean, I I find I learned to do it and I was started when I was 30 years old.

SPEAKER_03:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

And um it it brought me out of my everyday life and it took me out of the pain I was feeling, basically. And um so when we finally did this final breakup in 2010, I knew I wanted to just stop and I knew what I wanted to do when I stopped. I wanted to be a yoga, I wanted to do a yoga teacher training.

SPEAKER_00:

Did this thing that that happened, the change, everything happens for a reason, right? And I I think it it it has happened for a reason.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, so all these people who cause you pain, they're actually your teachers, right? Because they they they give you this darkness so that the light can come in. What did Rumi say? The wound is the place where the light enters you.

SPEAKER_00:

Beautiful, beautiful. Yeah. So I actually I wanted to ask you why yoga, you already answered the question, right? So so it it's kind of like a natural kind of process and progression as well, right? And and you practiced it uh in in classes and and stuff like that. But what it because it's different practicing something and coaching it or being an instructor. It's it's different, it's totally new ball game in terms of you know, uh anyone can play football, for example, but not anyone can coach.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So in in in in your case, you you practiced it and what made you want to become an instructor? Because there's a difference.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Um well yoga had saved me, like I said, and it made such a difference in my life. And I wanted to be able to share that feeling with other people. I wanted people to realize that they can do things that with their with their body that you think you can't do for at a certain age, you're right. You think you need to have started when you were young or something like that. And I could do handstands, I could do headstands, I could go upside down, all these things that you think are impossible. And it makes you so happy to be able to do things that you really thought I need to be an acrobat to do. Yeah. Right. And I wanted to share this feeling with others to say you can do it as well. And and and it was just amazing when I was doing it and you see that look on their face, you know, like you just did a handstand. Of course, with a wall to help you. Right. But you know, it's just amazing that that feeling, that happiness of I did it.

SPEAKER_00:

What is what what is the oldest person that you've seen do yoga or or or or maybe the the the handstands and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_02:

That I've seen in real life.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know, I guess 60 plus at the time. I mean, he was an instructor, he could do it, everything with his eyes closed. He was a yeah, but that one yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But I mean possible, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02:

No.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah? No. Anyone can do it. I mean if you do it pro if you practice la, can. Okay, let's say from a beginner.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. I was also a beginner when I went. So how long did you take to start because I loved it so much. I was not I mean, it depends whether you want to go once a week or whether you want to go once a month or whether you want to go three times a week.

SPEAKER_00:

It's practice.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's practice. Correct. The more you practice, the stronger you get.

SPEAKER_00:

So how long did you take?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh I think I did my first inversion only, already on my first class, but that wasn't like What is it called inversion? It's when you go upside down. But there was a you know you have progression, right? So it was just a walk-up the wall version of handstand.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Right? But you look at it and you think, oh, I can't do that. But first class already I did it. You just think you can't. But you can. It's not as hard as you think it is, right? And I don't mean a fully fledged handstand, I mean the level one version. Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Now break break break it down for me. The different kinds of yoga, because that's many different kinds.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Um well, there's I suppose Hata Yoga is what Hata Yoga is actually um all forms of physical yoga, asana. But then because so many types of yogas have have um evolved over time, Hata Yoga is um now used to describe just the the kind of yoga where you hold poses for a long time. Right? So you do Warrior 2 and you hold it for quite a long time, and then you um that's Hatha Yoga. Uh and then there's uh Ashtanga yoga, which is uh quite, I would say aerobic in the sense that you hold uh it's like one breath, one movement for part of some of the poses. And for the standing poses, you hold it for maybe five breaths. It's quite intense, but it's the same sequence all the time.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, right?

SPEAKER_02:

So if people like change, uh it can be quite um it's the same.

SPEAKER_00:

Monotonous.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it depends on the kind of person you are, also depends on where you are in your life. Some people like it at different points in their life. Right. And then there's a yango yoga. Do you I've got lots of, you know, this I think. So what do you do? What do you teach? What do I teach? Right now, so I used to teach acro yoga, acrobatic yoga, which was super fun. Wow. Yeah, that's where you do with a partner and you have a spotter as well for safety reasons, and you do aerobic stuff, lah. Super fun. I used to do it with my husband, and we used to teach that as well. That was my passion. Okay, right? And then we had children.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Once we had children, there was no time for us to train together and teach together and all that, and we sort of stopped that. So my current passion is inside flow, which is which is yoga to the beat of music.

SPEAKER_00:

Nice.

SPEAKER_02:

Right? So it's not just background music, it's to the beat of the music. So you have to constantly be listening to the music and move with the beat. Wow. Yeah. And then every class has a main song that's chosen for the class.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

And each main song has a different energy, right? It can be a powerful, I'm a warrior song, or it can be a sad, you broke my heart, or you lost someone you love kind of song. So the poses that that are choreographed for that song will suit the energy and the lyrics of the song.

SPEAKER_00:

Nice.

SPEAKER_02:

And then there's always a story where the inst the teacher will share a personal experience about the um uh that she he or she has gone through that relate to the meaning of the song. And then you invite the students to think about it in relation to their own life so that when they do the choreography again towards the end of the class, they feel the emotions of the song.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey, this is this is a lot of work, man. I mean, I mean for the instructor. Yes. Because you gotta plan the the music. You have to choose the BPM of the song.

SPEAKER_02:

All the build-up songs, the warm-ups, the songs where they're learning the sequence has to be the similar, sort of similar energy and BPM as the main song.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yes, it's and and how long does one session usually take? It's one hour. And and even beginners can take this.

SPEAKER_02:

It depends. So I would choose easier flows for uh beginners. It's quite complex in the terms of it's a lot of brain work because it's not normal. It's like yoga together, it's yoga, fusion of yoga, ballet, martial arts, right? So some movements all together, but mainly yoga. But it's fun. It's so much fun.

SPEAKER_00:

Have you laughed at anyone?

SPEAKER_02:

In class?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

During this dancing class or or during which kind of class, normal yoga?

SPEAKER_00:

Any class that you see, oh this guy is then funny, man. I mean, he can't do the moves, Eddie.

SPEAKER_02:

I haven't laughed at anyone, not out loud at least.

SPEAKER_00:

No, because because I'm just thinking about the the work that you do and and stuff. It's it's not easy, right? And being an instructor, and I just want to go back to the being being instructor part, right? So so how long did you uh take to get a assert?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh there are many, so I've done many trainings over the years, right? So I've been doing it for a long time. So I've done I think I've got about nine uh uh done nine different teacher trainings. Uh uh the first one to be a yoga teacher, you have to do is at least a 200-hour training. You can do a 200 or 500 hour, but at least 200 hours. So I've done I did that like in two. That was the first one I did in 2010, 11.

SPEAKER_03:

Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

But since then I've done different different kinds to do the different types of things that I do.

SPEAKER_00:

And do you do it locally or you you do they often depend.

SPEAKER_02:

Some some I do, some I've done in overseas, some I've done here, some I've done online, like through Zoom.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Beautiful. So I'm sure you are very, very much uh in in a happier place than before. Yeah. And I I'm sure you've not regretted your move. No. Right. It's and and when you quit, I I I I I start going back, right? Did what did your parents think about your move?

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, they were worried, lah.

SPEAKER_00:

They were?

SPEAKER_02:

They were concerned. I mean they were I wouldn't say I mean my dad knew that I didn't he knew in the sense that you can tell whether someone really enjoys their job or not, right? And I'm pretty sure he knew uh that I didn't love it.

SPEAKER_00:

You're dragging your feet, too.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I'm I'm pretty sure he knew. I mean I never said it, but I think he knew. Um they so I don't think they were sh surprised, but I mean they did have worry like any parent would worry.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

But it wasn't, they didn't stop me or anything like that.

SPEAKER_00:

Talk about Yoga Haven.

SPEAKER_02:

Yoga Haven. So Yoga Haven was my uh is my business name that I I uh when I registered my when I registered my business. So we used to have a a studio space in my we used to live somewhere else, right? So we used to have a studio space from about, I think that's when I registered about 2014, 2015. And because we had like a five-level home.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And the basement level, we made the bottom level we made into a studio space. It could take about about 10 people, I would say. Right. So it's not big but not not too small. And uh so that was my yoga haven, so to speak, a designated yoga space. And um, but once we had children, or once I had my son, we had my son, I moved, we moved to a different place. Okay, right. So yoga haven is still, I mean, when I teach from home, I teach from home, but it's not in a in a set studio space, it's from my living room. Okay, right? It's Zoom. Uh I do some Zoom and I also do a live class. And then um, and then but I now also teach at other places, so not just um my own thing, I say.

SPEAKER_00:

I see. So so you go uh go around as as well. You travel a lot?

SPEAKER_02:

Correct, but not a lot. But recently I have uh actually a couple of studios I was teaching at uh didn't continue. They closed someone closed down and things like that. So I have a few less classes in the last couple of months. Okay. Uh which, although I'm still busy, lah, you know you always find things to fill up that time, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yes. Now, um, you know, I I I've been looking at your social media posts as well, right? On on your Instagram, your IG, right? And uh I I I like it. I I love it because there's there's an element of um education, educating women, parents, whatever, right? And and and you said you're introverted, right? And and you don't really go out like this talking in podcasts and and talking to people, right?

SPEAKER_02:

It's a new thing, uh.

SPEAKER_00:

But but you are doing a great job, right? And and why do you do this on social media? Because you said you're introverted, but you know, and and I think it's a great thing because you're going out there and educating, right? But is there a goal, an objective why you do this?

SPEAKER_02:

Um at first, well, I just feel that, especially this year, so this year is more or less when I started doing it. And I feel like I have gone through like we all go through life, right? And you be a mess, you learn certain lessons. And I would like to share whatever I've learned based on the whatever I have gone through in life, uh, with others in the sense that if it can help them, if someone else is going through something similar and it can help them feel less alone, uh, that is reason enough for me to share. Um, for example, like the podcast I did, I guess that's how you you saw me initially, the podcast I did uh about me uh uh becoming from a lawyer to a yoga teacher. Um someone messaged me after that, someone I don't know, obviously, messaged me on my Instagram saying um she's also a lawyer and she has just taken a break and and how my story really helped her feel less alone, right? And that made my day. Right, you know, and a couple of months after that, someone else messaged me, not a lawyer, but she says, I want you to know that your post or your reel really made a difference to me because it gave me the courage to finally tell my mom that I want to become a yoga teacher, and I've signed up this Friday to go to India to do a yoga teacher training.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_02:

So again, things like that make me feel like you I mean, ultimately, what do you want to do in life? You want to make a difference, you want to help other people, right? So for me, just being able to, from what I learn or what I go through to be able to share that little bit of I don't know what I call it wisdom, but that little bit with others, and if it can help them, yeah, that makes me happy.

SPEAKER_00:

You know what? So do you know what's the moral of the story?

SPEAKER_02:

What?

SPEAKER_00:

Keep on posting. As simple as that. I know I think you you've been doing a great job, and and I watch it as well, so that that's great, right? And uh let's let's uh go to before we end a quick fire round of 10 questions. Easy peasy, I think for you. Okay, right? Uh I I think you'll do good. The the the first one is so so simple, right? First up, right? Your favorite food and drink.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I like pizza.

SPEAKER_00:

Right? Yeah, drink water. Yeah?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Really?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Uh cold water. Cold water, yeah, not warm water.

SPEAKER_02:

No, cold water unless unless I have a cough la. No favorite drink. You didn't say what's best for me.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, okay, yeah, right, right, right, right. Okay. Fair enough. Your pet peeve as a yoga instructor.

SPEAKER_02:

Pet peeve? Okay. When people, when I'm telling my story, you know, I saw the inside flow there's a story class, right? When they're like scrolling on their phones, they take out their phone, and like, I'm sharing my life story here, you know, about something emotional, and they're just like not paying any attention. They think this is the time I can do what I want or pick at my toes, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Isn't isn't this a class? And then they're looking at your phones.

SPEAKER_02:

It's a bit rude, lah.

SPEAKER_00:

No, it's not a bit. It's it's rude. Yeah, it's rude. Sorry, sorry guys, those who are in her class, just stop using your phones, right? Your pet peeve when you were a lawyer.

SPEAKER_02:

I was a lawyer. Yo, so long ago, you want me to answer fast?

SPEAKER_00:

That's one, the the the you know, something that comes to your head.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, I don't like it when when people, when they're cross-examining the the witness and they're so mean to them, lah. You know, like you know, like on TV, they badger, they usually badgering the witness out. I mean, in real life, you don't have to be like that. On TV, they do it for for um for effect, la, for drama. But here you don't need to be so mean. You can do it in a nice way. You can, you can, you know, you can uh no, I wouldn't say poke holes, but if someone is lying or someone is not telling the truth or spinning it to their own agenda, you can you can do it in an intelligent, clever, good way, kind way. You don't have to be so bad. You know, you are a liar and a cheat. No, no, no, no need to do this kind of thing. I don't like that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, see, I see the passion in the in the the the way you uh you you hate this, right? So wonderful. That's a good question, actually. Pet peeve when you're alone.

SPEAKER_02:

Never thought of that before, actually, until you asked me this.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm sure there were more, there are more pet peeves. Never mind, it's okay. Now, this one I know your answer, but anyway, I'll ask, right? Uh heels or sneakers?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, now it depends, you know, because how do you know you know my answer?

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, okay. How do you know? Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02:

What do you think my answer is?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh I I thought it would be sneakers because of what you do now.

SPEAKER_02:

Somewhere in between, you see. So I don't wear heels. I never like the skinny heels, very hard to walk and balance, but I like wear just thick ones because I'm very short.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

So I will wear the one one level once where it gives me some height, but it's still comfortable and easy to walk around in.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

And yoga teachers barefoot, so it doesn't augment it.

SPEAKER_00:

You're right. Yeah. Okay. Biggest achievement as a lawyer.

SPEAKER_02:

Biggest achievement as a lawyer.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm asking you.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, I would say my first. My first hearing or the first time I went by myself, right? Not being like helping someone, where I did a I did a little hearing in the court in the judges' chambers. And I was petrified before that. Like really, really petrified. Okay. And and then I did it. And it was just a relief kind of. Best feeling afterwards. You know, when you come out, you're like, I did it. And you just the after-exam feeling la. You know, when you do something that's super scary and then you you you you did it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I want to ask you a question. I and this is not part of this, right? When you lose a case, right, how who do you feel? Like like, was it like I mean you don't lose much, I I I bet, but uh No, it depends.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh I didn't. I mean, and most of the cases I was on were the big, big cases involving all the big lawyers. So I was only just like a little helper, right? Helping doing it.

SPEAKER_00:

Little helper.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, research drafting, they're doing the letter writing and organization and that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, you're good at that, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm good at at letter writing.

SPEAKER_00:

The way when you watch at me and then you know, it's like like it's like letter writing, you know.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, I'm good at the letter. I was good at the letter writing. Um sorry, what was the question again?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh do you feel disappo you feel disappointed? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I guess I guess I felt disappointed. Yeah, of course you would feel disappointed. Yeah. But it's not like on suits where you're heartbroken and crushed because you're so invested in that person's personal life. It's wasn't my cases, were not that kind of case. If it was that kind of case, I'd be crying on the floor because I'm quite emotional. But but mine were more not so emotional. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Great sex. Louis Litt, Harvey Specter, or Michael Ross?

SPEAKER_02:

To what?

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Who would I want to be, who I want to be with, who do I like the best?

SPEAKER_00:

It's open.

SPEAKER_02:

Harvey Specter.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Why?

SPEAKER_02:

Because how do you know I've watched the show that well that I know all of them? You know what?

SPEAKER_00:

Harvey Specter.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh Harvey Specter, because he he in the end, he saw his issues, right? He got panic attacks and everything, right? He saw his issues and he worked on himself no matter how difficult it was. And we all have issues. We all need to work on ourselves no matter how difficult it is.

SPEAKER_00:

Brilliant. Donna, Rachel, or Jessica?

SPEAKER_02:

Of course, Donna.

SPEAKER_00:

She's class, man.

SPEAKER_02:

Donna is Donna.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. If you were a superhero, who? And why?

SPEAKER_02:

I don't uh superhero. Does it have to be someone? Yeah, any anything. That I know. I mean, does it have to be like an actual name?

SPEAKER_00:

No, you don't have to. It doesn't have to be.

SPEAKER_02:

I would be a superhero that makes people brave, who makes people brave enough to share their vulnerabilities, make people brave enough to accept and and and embrace their vulnerabilities so that they can grow from them, so that they can help others with them, right? To show their real selves and not be ashamed.

SPEAKER_00:

That's the homework for you, okay? Find a name for that superhero. If you woke up alone in an island. Oh my god, I surely die. I don't have survival skills. What are the three things you can't do without? Three things.

SPEAKER_02:

So not including people?

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, it can be anything. I said anything.

SPEAKER_02:

Three things I can't do without in a in a in a in an island.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I would need my phone to try and get help, right? Okay. Uh I would need a Swiss Army knife. Everybody says this thing is useful. Everyone says you need a Swiss Army knife because apparently it can do a lot of things.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. But you don't know how to use it, lah.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Right.

SPEAKER_00:

One more.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh what I need.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know. I suppose a sleeping bag, la. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Fine enough.

SPEAKER_02:

No, I don't know. My husband.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Because he will survive. Because he will use this with his knife.

SPEAKER_02:

And he has survival skills that I don't have.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Okay, last one. Alright. Three words to describe you. Just three words.

SPEAKER_02:

Three words to describe me. Yeah. I suppose passionate. Um loyal.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Passionate, loyal. Devoted. Is that too close to loyal? That's fine. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Beautiful. This has been really a very good episode, you know, and I think uh people will listen to this. And and but before that, before you go, Larita, any last words to to anyone out there? You know, and not even people who are, you know, want wanting to be a lawyer or anything like that, but who are struggling with their profession maybe and and not loving what they do? Any words to you?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Ask yourself, are you happy? That's what I was asking myself. I wasn't happy, right? So are you happy? What would make you happy? And have you found your your passion or your calling or your purpose? Right? So I was listening to this talk many years ago on TED by Larry Larry Smith. Yeah. And he said, if you want to have a great career, you have to pursue your dreams. You have to pursue your passion. You have to pursue the greatest fascination of your life. And the first step to finding that is to find your calling. And to find your calling, you often need to step away from routine, carve out some time for yourself to be quiet and to listen. Because often shifts in perspective happen when you have, you're not, your mind is not numbed by the banality of routine.

SPEAKER_03:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

And you need to find that time to find out. And it's often it is something you love to do as a child. You excel that as a child, and then you stop because you know maybe society expected you to do other things. There was no time for you, and you needed to fit in with what was expected. Right? And once you have found or once your passion has revealed itself and you know what it is you want to do after you have spent some time soul searching, becoming quiet, listening to your heart, and you know what it is you want to do, you need to have the courage to follow the path when it has appeared before you that that's great advice, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

And and also I I feel that, you know, even when someone has found that, that that passion and and whatever you want to call it, that your your calling or whatever, it's it's that that that leap, that jump to actually start it, to to start doing it. That I think that's a lot of that that's what people struggle with, I think. Yeah. You know, they they they like doing this, but they don't want to, or they don't make the big change. Yeah. You know, and I I think that's the biggest challenge. And and you know, I I've heard this from somewhere as well, and people say that uh knowledge is power, but it's not power, it's potential power. It's not power until you've used it.

SPEAKER_02:

Acting, yeah, you have to act on it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, you've got to act on it. So yeah, that's brilliant, uh Lalita. And uh what's your handle on IG? Come on, tell tell tell us all. You know, and I think people will follow you, people will, you know, probably um you know sign up for your classes or anything.

SPEAKER_02:

Fairy fit mama.

SPEAKER_00:

And uh why that the handle, that name?

SPEAKER_02:

Because I love fairies, right?

unknown:

I love fairies.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Actually, I wanted fairy fit warrior, but it was already taken. Right. Right? So I love fairies. So fairy and fit because I have an element of exercise stuff, especially when I first started the chat the my page, I had a lot of yoga stuff and acrobatic stuff. So fairy fit, and then and then I became a mama, so I'm a mother, so I also talk about uh my journey as a mom and and what I've learned or anything that I feel can can help others. So fairy fit mama.

SPEAKER_00:

Beautiful. Uh yeah, Alalita, thank you for being on the podcast. I think it has been great. And again, it was like a kind of like a cold call, just message you out of nowhere, and thank you for you know uh listening and and being on the podcast. I think it has been wonderful. And uh thanks for the advice as well. I think it's been great. And people at home, please uh follow Fairy Fit Mama on uh IG. I think she's she's she's uh IG, she's uh producing kind uh lots of nice uh videos and and you know in informational and educational ones as well. This has been episode number 98 of the Silver Fox Hustle Podcast. Don't forget, click on that follow and subscribe button. We are out everywhere. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, uh, YouTube as well. So till the next time, cheers.