Woman of our times
The home team: Niklesh, Miuru Channa, and Aaryan all do their share to keep home happy
A few months ago, Miuru Jayaweera donned fiery red to step into the role of Hindu deity Durga in a choreographed sequence of yogic asanas, her graduation assignment for an advanced yoga teacher training (YTT) course.
“I have always had a connection with Durga, the goddess; I believe every woman has a Durga within – a fierceness, bravery, calmness, motherliness, and the ability to balance and multitask with strength and willpower. That’s who Durga is,” she says.
Hinduism’s revered Durga Maa, archetype of the fearless feminine effortlessly balancing myriad forms like Kali the warrior, Parvati the nurturer, and Saraswati the teacher, is an apt persona for dynamic, multifaceted Miuru.
‘Fearless’ and ‘creative’ are words that Miuru’s LinkedIn referees use to describe her. She deftly juggles many roles. Last August, she collected her PhD from Management and Science University, Malaysia. Months later, she completed a 500-hour YTT certification from Jessyca Canzalez of Grace and Joy, a member of the International Yoga Alliance, USA. Throughout, she ran her own yoga school, Myrus Yoga and Fitness; digital communications company, Colombo Creative; and her home.
Corporate executive
The PhD is a splendid feather in her hat as Executive Director of Colombo Creative co-founded with husband Channa in 2017. The company marks a peak in a career in media that began in 1999 as a television production assistant and which included long stints in various national television channels in roles behind and facing the camera. She then moved to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) as Communications Officer where she discovered a passion for social media.
“I’ve always been a media person,” she says. Attending media training through IWMI, Miuru honed in on social media noticing its rising influence. She put these skills of good use in her next role, Public Relations Manager of Lanka Hospitals, growing the corporation’s online presence considerably. Armed with a Canon camera, she photographed every event, including live surgeries and even husband Channa undergoing a seven-hour coronary artery bypass grafting.
Channa asked her to stay with him in the operating theatre. To get her mind off the sight of his chest cut open, she filmed the entire proceeding. Later, she extracted clips for a YouTube educational video that was quickly monetised garnering high number of views.Under her watch, Lanka Hospitals Corporation became a leading name in online healthcare education in Sri Lanka and won numerous awards in digital marketing and use of social media. Miuru’s PhD was based on this experience at Lanka Hospitals.
A modern homemaker
Out-of-the-box thinking also applies at home. As a homemaker, she insists on life without domestic help. Four and a half years with Channa in Britain where there is a strong DIY culture nurtured self-sufficiency. “In general, people there don’t have maids. I like that. And I’ve never believed in servitude,” she says.
Conversely, she is reluctant to hand over control of her home to a third party. “Imagine if I become so dependent on someone else to do things in my own home. If that person doesn’t turn up, I wouldn’t be confident enough to attend to my own chores,” she says.
Miuru Jayaweera has built her life around three great passions - family, yoga and social media - and learned how to run with it beautifully. Pic by Stephano Whittal
Independence rules. “Being a woman in a house full of men, one man and two boys, I always promote the idea that I am equal to them and I would need the same amount of relaxing me-time that they would have,” she says. Thus housework is team effort. Channa is an exemplary dad who also does his share around the house. Sons Niklesh and Aaryan make their own beds, wash and fold their own clothes, and cook.
There’s also the long view: “One day they will marry and I will definitely want their wives to lead independent lifestyles, to stand tall on their own two feet as women. I hope my sons will support that.”
The yogic path
Her new venture is Myrus Yoga and Fitness, co-founded with former national cricketer Sripali Weerakkody. “We aim to invite other female athletes who fit our brand to join us. We are pursuing some good class schedules that mix yoga, meditation and fitness into one brand,” she says.
Miuru encountered yoga eight years ago when she accompanied friend Yashara to a yoga class. There was no turning back. She has studied under Sri Lankan, Australian and American yoga masters.
A student of Miuru’s yoga classes will appreciate her thoroughness. “I tell all my students at the very beginning that asanas are only the third limb of the Patanjali’s eight-limbed yoga. The full scope of the eight limbs is what makes yoga yoga,” she says. YTT500 certification has broadened her repertoire to more advanced asanas, meditation and pranayama.
The decision to design her final assignment after Durga was serendipitous.
On the final week of YTT500, Miuru wasn’t in class when teacher Jessyca brought books on Hindu deities and asked each student to choose one to narrate the story of the deity in class the next day. When she returned, Miuru went to see if there were any books left. There was one, on Kali.
Reading and researching the goddess was a revelation. “I learned that Kali, Sati, and Parvati are all manifestations of Durga. There was this huge folklore about Kali … so many layers of stories weaving in and out of this one character,” she says. “I was awestruck.”
In yoga there can be a story in a sequence of asanas; an example is the Warrior sequence that narrates the story of Lord Shiva. “While I had to tell the story in the workshop, I also had to create an asana sequence… I thought, why not! Why not choreograph my sequence to Kali and Durga,” she says.
Miuru’s students now learn the new sequence. Along with a few familiar asanas from the Warrior sequence, it incorporates different hand movements and pranayama and resonates a whole new energy, she says. Importantly, it scientifically integrates all three bodily planes: transverse, saggital and coronal, for a full-body workout.
Striking the rich balance
How does she balance life? Channa, her husband is a huge support, as are her children and parents. So is business partner Sripali.
Miuru’s communications expertise complements her yoga enterprise. She has a strong online presence and the agility provided by cyberspace. No sooner the corona virus pandemic broke, she put her classes online enabling students to continue lessons at home.
Like Durga, Miuru’s many facets interweave in a rich tapestry. The guidelines of Ashtanga yoga’s first two limbs: Yama and Niyama, precepts and observances, set her moral and ethical foundation as a yogini. So does Buddhism, especially the Abhidhamma teachings. “I am a practising Buddhist. I practise as much as I can and listen to Abhidhamma a lot and read. I try to be a real Buddhist and a yogi,” she says.
“The Buddha is my role model. Every time I want to give up, I think about the Lord Buddha. I’m like, ‘Oh God, he did that for us so why can’t I why can’t I do this little thing …”
“You do what you have to do as a mother, wife and entrepreneur and then you sleep at the right time you give your body rest. The passion for seeking the greater truth about life has made me a practising Buddhist. I am still learning …”
Links:
Website: www.myrus.lk
Facebook: Dr. Miuru Jayaweera
Instagram: @myrussrilanka
YouTube: Myrus Yoga & Fitness