Mariam: Yoga instructor popularising ancient Indian practice in Tanzania

In Tanzania, Mariam Mohamed Marx, an India-trained yoga instructor, is at the forefront of popularising the practice, which has evolved from a spiritual discipline to a global wellness movement emphasising fitness, stress relief, and mind composure.

In her 50s, Mariam has the body of a 30-year-old. When she is in Dar es Salaam, she peddles her bike around the chaotic Dar roads, unbothered by the reckless driving and senseless car honking that is normal for city dwellers. She has learnt to calm her mind. You might think the noisy and restless city exists in a parallel world to hers.

She walks with a straight back and firm steps. She owes her fitness to yoga practice; watching her during her session, one would think achieving that is near impossible, but Mariam, with a smile on her face, said anyone, no matter the age or body size, needs to practice yoga.

“I would describe myself as a certified yoga, fitness, wellness, and aerobics instructor, and I am also a diver,” she said, “I am also a mum of two, a 25-year-old and a 23-year-old,” she added.

Her kids, all grown up, reside in Europe.

Mariam has not stopped being a mum in her community; she is a child rights activist, which she takes very seriously. She has not been afraid to speak up when a child is mistreated, and she has had a few run-ins with the police force, all in the name of seeking justice for the children, a price she is happy to pay.

She resided in Singapore and Tanzania, but it was during her stay in India that she truly studied the art of yoga practice and changed her life to the Mariam we see today.

She got into yoga in 2008. On a fateful day, she experienced a severe backache, so painful she couldn’t bend to pick up her groceries; her back was stiff, and she was rushed to seek medical help.

 To her dismay, the doctor informed her that she had stiff muscles from her shoulders to the back. She later found out that women who undergo C-sections giving birth later face back pain problems; she thinks that could have been the reason.

If not, then it must be the epidural injection she got for pain relief during labour.

In her pain, she embraced yoga, and she has never looked back. The moment she joined yoga, it felt natural rather than a new chore she had to do in her daily routine.

She could see the transformation in her body and mind.

She was diligent with her daily routine practice.

When practising yoga, a big part of it goes to calming your mind, she elaborated.

When one is meditating, what you are doing is reducing the noises and thoughts in your mind. Most people, when you sit and try to meditate, that’s when your head is flooded with thoughts. In yoga, they are taught to focus on their breathing at this point.

It helps to clear your mind.

“You are not counting your breaths, but you breathe in and out deeply. When you focus on inhaling and exhaling, you reduce the chatter in your mind,” she explained.

Marium has talked about yoga to a lot of people, but she said the only way to learn about it is to practise it.

She just returned from India a few weeks ago.

In 2016, when she returned to Tanzania, yoga had so few practitioners that even fewer people knew what it was.

But in Toure Drive Masaki, she found an Indian cultural centre in Dar es Salaam, established in 2010 under the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the High Commission of India.  The Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC) is the official Indian cultural centre in Tanzania.

They offered free yoga classes, which she attended and joined the community. As the community grew, so did opportunities to further her studies; the Indian High Commission offered slots for free yoga training in India, and Marium packed her bags and went back to the country she loves.  For the next month, she stayed in the city of Bengaluru in southern India perfecting her yoga. She would later fly in and out of India, and on her next visit there, she went for yogasana sports, which was the athletic aspect of yoga. In the sports side, athletes are taught postures that they perform in front of judges, where they will be pitted against other athletes based on their performance.

Mariam is working tirelessly to get Yogasana sports registered in Tanzania.

The modern, competitive form of yoga that blends traditional yoga postures with athletic performance is fairly new in the country; she hopes upon registration she will be able to recruit youth to start practising it and compete in regional sports competitions. Yogasana sports is now a global phenomenon; it is well established in Asia and now making its inroads in Africa, with Mariam trying to introduce it to young people in Tanzania.

 She aims to train young Tanzanians to compete in the Olympics.  The sport has already been accepted in the Asian Games, ’Asiad, and they are looking forward to the Olympics recognising them so that they can officially get into the competition.

 In India, yoga athleticism is very popular, and she sees it having a huge impact in Tanzania when introduced. Not only that, but it would present opportunities for young people who could represent the country in African competitions.

 The regional competition, which takes athletes from 10 to the age of 50, was held in 2023 in Uganda, and she competed and won a gold medal for Tanzania.

“These competitions are categorised in age groups, postures are based on our ages, and in my age group I emerged the best; it is quite challenging,” she said.

She feels once it is established in Tanzania and people know about it, they will be able to create employment opportunities and also introduce it to schools.

“Children are not supposed to be just sitting behind the desk or just watching television; they have to expand their minds with play and exercise,” she quipped.

Her ultimate dream is to reintroduce physical education in Tanzania’s public schools.

Right now she is waiting on registration before she starts knocking on doors in government offices and lobbying for sports in schools.

Mariam said if you love yourself, that is the only reason one needs to start practising yoga; abundant benefits come from this ancient practice. From body to mind, from the age of 45, people’s bodies don’t feel the same; yoga can tremendously help improve mobility and flexibility as one grows older.

For women specifically, she urges less cardio and more yoga exercises. “For women over 45 years, you are in danger of activating a stress hormone called cortisol when you do cardio,” she explained. Even for weight loss and a flat belly, yoga is a preferred exercise to cardio.

She hopes women will learn that soon enough.

Mariam has observed that even our most elite athletes in Tanzania would benefit greatly if they incorporated yoga into their daily routine; the world’s top sportsmen, like the basketball superstar LeBron James, do practice yoga.

She hopes she can train our local footballers in Simba or Yanga; she says the more yoga is understood, the more Tanzanians will embrace it.

For now, she keeps travelling between India and Tanzania, building the yoga network and improving yoga sports. She said if you have a smartphone, you can learn a lot about the practice online as well.