KUALA LUMPUR: Before the Movement Control Order (MCO) took place on March 18, celebrity yoga teacher Ninie Ahmad, 38, had just made rock climbing a part of her daily exercise routine.
"I started rock climbing in 2005. However, I only became an avid rock climber last year and made it a part of my regular exercise routine this year, said the mother-of-two.
Her pre-MCO routine would be to hit the indoor climbing gym at Camp5 in 1 Utama Shopping Mall near here and KL Eco City in Bangsar five times a week and go for a more adventurous session outdoors once or twice every week. She frequented Gua Damai and Gua Nyamuk in Batu Caves, as well as Bukit Takun.
However, since the MCO began, she can no longer continue with the routine, but instead keeps her passion alive by climbing furniture at her home.
"So far, I have climbed my dining table, walk-in wardrobe, patio's window sill, kitchen cabinet, my daughter's bunk bed and book shelves," said the yoga teacher who has 11.6k followers on her Instagram, @ninieyoga.
However, she is against anyone else from trying it at home. Instead she encourages people to remain positive by enjoying what they love to do in a safe environment.
"I keep telling myself — at least, this is a war we can win together by staying at home. I am blessed to have a roof over my head, my children to give me hugs, the Internet for me to catch up with my family and friends as well as yoga to keep me sane," she added.
Ninie, who has been practising yoga for the past 21 years and teaching it for the past 19 years, is also the founder of Upward Yoga in Saujana Resort, just 15 minutes away from Subang Skypark.
She said Upward Yoga was able to stay afloat during the MCO as it had a small overhead.
"I worked hard to maintain it that way since we opened in 2011 so we can keep offering the best yoga classes at the most affordable fee," she said, adding that online classes were in the pipeline.
She has been more flexible with her time ever since the MCO was implemented.
She would begin her day by having a mini-meditation session. She would then water and trim her plants and later spend the entire day with her family.
"I used to drive my daughter to school every morning. It has been a relief to not having to wake up early and battle the traffic." she said, adding that her family was coping fine with the MCO.
At home, she encouraged her daughter to learn life skills, such as bakery and sewing.
"My 5-year-old son is a little bit of a builder. He will build things by using his Lego set, Ikea train tracks and empty boxes for hours!" she said.
Ninie and her Canadian husband have also been challenging each other to do 100 push-ups and sit-ups in front of each other every day since MCO started.