At KassaiLaw we consider ourselves lucky to love our jobs, but everything comes at a price: it can result in forgetting to eat, stand up for long hours, or to make space for free-time activities. We have to be more conscious than ever before about taking care of ourselves and setting boundaries because failing to do so can eventually lead to burnout. Because of the increasing challenges lately in work-life balance, we wanted to show you that we also spare time for other things than work.

This piece is the first of four interviews with some of our beloved colleagues.

Welcome our first interviewee, Eszter Seregely, the Creative & Concept expert at KassaiLaw.

• Were you a sporty child?

I’d rather say I was a perpetual -motion machine as a child. Born and raised in a small town, we were outdoors a lot: jumping into lakes, hiking in the hills, helping in the garden and biking to grandma’s through the forest (just like Little Red Riding Hood) every weekend. But in PE at school, where everything was about performance or scores and places, I never felt any joy. I didn’t feel like I fitted into the conventional framework. On the other hand, I have always felt a strong inner motivation toward personal growth and development, and I have put a lot of energy/effort into what I love.

In practicing yoga I don’t feel any pressure to compete with others, I only need to conquer myself to be a better me, meanwhile I respect my own boundaries.

• What does yoga give to you?

Thanks to yoga, I stepped into a totally different world, a world I felt was made for me. It taught me patience and self-knowledge, and it also gave me a lot of ‘body awareness’, too. Which is not just another fancy word, I have actually experienced what it means. After a tiring or stressful day I just sit down in the lotus position and my body remembers how to find its inner peace.

• When did you decide to learn more about yoga (and why)?

Yoga started for me as a necessary weekly exercise 20 years ago, I had musculoskeletal problems and there were days when I couldn’t raise my arms . Since yoga became part of my daily life those disorders have disappeared. An added bonus was that it also helped me to fight against my depression very successfully.  Yoga helps me to remain in every way a balanced and healthy person.

However, I didn’t want to keep this newly received gift of knowledge to myself; so, I enrolled at a school, and a year later I became a yoga instructor myself. I hold a class called “Granny Yoga”, which is for anyone who sometimes feels like a ‘granny’ after a long day. Everyone has a right to stretch and get stronger, even those ones who don’t want either to compete or die in the meantime.

• Do you have any yoga goals you want to achieve?

To do all of those fancy handstands you see on Instagram with a real smile on my face… ha ha (smiling) 🙂

• Do you have any personal secret for getting some quality time for yourself outside of work?

I wake up early in the morning, I try to do yoga every day, even if it’s just 30 minutes. So while others are just rolling over in bed or pressing the snooze button I’ve already done something useful. I also try not to work at weekends. Usually my attempt fails, so I still have to set aside a few hours for work, but outside of this timeframe I put my laptop aside. I can recharge the best in nature, even if it’s just sitting on a bench watching the birds or going on a hike somewhere, watching my tomatoes grow is the best meditation ever, after yoga. I can only recommend it.