Nabeel Atique has been an educator for 17 years. He is currently a professor of mathematics and in 2004 he added teaching yoga to his list of subjects. Prior to his teaching career Nabeel was an engineer at Xilinx, Inc. a Silicon Valley company for 8 years.
Nabeel is a unique yoga instructor. Coming from a physics, engineering and mathematics background, he looks at yoga in a very analytical way. In the engineering world, when something doesn’t work, you have to change it.
Yoga is very much like that. If a pose does not work for you, you should try to modify it. You should not try to make yourself fit the pose. You change the pose to fit you!
Nabeel’s classes are alignment-based. Meaning a good deal of time and emphasis is given to finding a position that works for you, the student. Let’s make yoga poses as comfortable as we can. Instead of pushing ourselves in unhealthy ways.
There’s a lot of change going on in the yoga world. The big yoga conglomerates are crumbling. This is an opportunity for teachers to really develop their own style and practice, without conforming to commercial entities and unrealistic one-size-fits-all mentalities.
So in other words, make yoga accessible for all. Not just as a mantra. But as a true calling.
This is what Yogamatique is vested in. And Nabeel is proud to play a part in this lofty, yet attainable goal.
Nabeel is originally a native of Bangladesh, but was thrust into the Western World at age 3 when he moved to London with his family. Growing up in London and Rome until the age of 14 was an indelible experience for Nabeel. He moved back to Asia, first to Mumbai, India and then to Dhaka, Bangladesh for his high school giving him a chance to connect with his roots. And then he made the big move to the United States at age 18 as a college student at the University of Texas at Austin. After completing his bachelors there he completed his masters in Electrical Engineering at Purdue University before beginning his career in Silicon Valley.
One could say Nabeel’s views of the world are a balance of east and west. Living in the United States has not displaced Nabeel from his roots in the east. “There are positive things in all cultures; you just have to take the best from each”, says Nabeel. This is diversity - accepting the world as it is with all its differences.
Yoga is very much like that. Every yoga student will have a different body and a different history of experiences that have shaped their mentality and thoughts. Yoga is adaptable enough to find a place in every one of these diverse individuals.