YOGA

/ The roots of my Yoga journey

trace back to my childhood. As a very young kid, I reveled in the joy of movement, always contorting my body in different poses, loving to stretch, dance, and trying different things out. Learning by myself and feeling what the body was giving me. Being upside down was as natural to me as standing. This is a vivid memory that has never been erased from my inside. I remember how I used to sleep in the pose that I now know is called balakonasana. At the age of four, I started artistic gymnastics. Training every day and competing at a high level. I had a devoted life as a gymnast. I could perform difficult jumps, arm balances and all kinds of figures that were part of my routines as a gymnast. I was a gymnast for a decade. Concerned about my well-being, my parents redirected me toward a more balanced path, and I reluctantly became an athlete, competing in sprints and long jump.

A turning point in my Yoga journey unfolded at 18 when I encountered a captivating scene on the beach: A woman moving with such grace and power, changing from one shape to another, in sync with her breath (something very different from what I knew as an ex-gymnast). It was not dance, not martial arts… but it had a bit of both…. I couldn't tell what it was. Watching this, I realized I was suddenly, truly, so still.... I sat quietly to observe, until she folded her mat, and went away.

Months later, I discovered that this was called yoga, and I started to read about it. I went to the library and bought a book, and I began to practice at home, following the images and explanations that were written on it.

I remember how struck I was when I first saw the Ashtanga Yoga primary series video with Sri. K Patabhi Jois guiding his most advanced students. I fell in love with the grace of the practitioners, and I was very taken by that inner place from where they were practicing. I couldn't stop looking at that invisible but perceivable inner place from which the practice was emerging. Something was deeply ignited inside of me.

I began attending my first Yoga classes with local teachers in the small city where I was living. Around the same time, at the Physical Theatre and Dance company where I was working, our director, Ana Fernández, introduced Yoga sessions as part of our training, which helped me deepen my understanding of the practice.

Feeling very inspired, I started practicing by myself, on outdoor locations. This period was very rich to me, because I was learning alone, I entered a deep and revealing conversation here with my own body, mind and soul.

Some years later, I began to practice regularly with Ana's guidance, and I took part in her YIN YANG YOGA teacher training. So much was unfolding for me here. Ana’s teachings embrace the principles and practices of Taoism and Chinese medicine into Yoga. A practice that follows natural rhythms. Here I got in touch for the first time with Yin Yoga. As all my previous Yoga practice was only Ashtanga, this opened up for me the true essence lying underneath the physical practice and I started to be in and with the postures not only physically, but in all their power, unraveling their psychological and spiritual dimensions.

In 2016, I undertook a 200-hour Yoga teacher training with Yogi Sivadas (founder of the Kailash Tribal School of the Himalayas) in Berlin. With Sivadas I learned the Yogic Philosophy and dived deep into Yoga's roots and origins, its application in the practice through Asana alignment, the eight limbs of Yoga and the sutras of Patanjali.

After I completed those studies, I was offered to start teaching my first classes in the Freistil Yoga Studio, where I worked until its closure. I taught Vinyasa, Hatha and restorative classes, as well as offered my own practice, which at that time I called Yoga Dance. This was a vinyasa, Ashtanga-influenced class, very focused on the flow and the grace of the body, mind, spirit in its performance, from inside to out. In the seven years I lived in Berlin, I consistently taught independently in different studios and outdoor locations.

Today, I continue to study Yoga and meditation at the Yin Yang Yoga School with Ana Moves, in the shape of everyday practice and by doing different retreats and intensive workshops. Her teachings gave me a profound understanding of the practice, and had led me to a more authentic expression of its essence. The Yin Yang Yoga practice changes the "style" according to the natural seasons (embracing the way of nature and the way of TAO) and includes Raja Yoga or meditation.

At this moment, I teach weekly group and private classes in Aegina, at my home Shala and keep up with my own daily practice.

/ yoga, for me,

is a transformative instrument. An inner journey toward freedom and the practice that has guided my spiritual path. It leads us to become more open, brave enough to live led by our spirit and virtue, and it directs us towards deep connection with our being and with the world.

The dissolution of tension patterns and the freeing of stuck energy inside, leads to a more flexible/open/accessible body, which further extrapolates into a more flexible mind and allows the spirit to unfold and rise up so it can guide us.

Yoga has always been there - a practice I love, a home to my being. It has changed its shape, but has always been present. Awakening me to the present moment, to the peace within, the inner power, to reality beyond division and illusion, to my inner soul, to the spirit, to the source of existence.

I encourage my students to practice from their true self and from their present moment, encountering their strength – energy (through the firm and the soft), their unattended areas, their power and unrefined - unspoiled self. I like to guide with precision a physical practice that will bring the potential within and the state of the body/mind, into consciousness, awakening the hidden forces and going beyond self-imposed forms and beliefs (both mental and physical). Expanding and opening, uncovering and softening the body and mind in order to meet release, grounding, true power, deep union with all existence, emancipation and liberation of ourselves.

/ My classes

are dynamic and fluid as well as static, I teach the Yin Yang Yoga way, so the class changes its focus according to the natural seasons. As sons and daughters of nature, we practice according to what is most beneficial at that time of year, imitating nature’s ways. The practice aims to lead you to union and not further fragmentation. It focuses equally on the biodynamics of the body, alignment, expansion, flow, strength, flexibility, breath, inner awareness, grace and energy. It takes into consideration all the elements that come into presence when practicing Yoga:

Asana: Element of earth – stability, firmness, support/foundation and activity. Its fundamental expression is the form or structure: the Asana. By stabilizing the body, our mind also balances and calms. The application of this element makes the energy generated in the practice activate its complementary opposite: emptiness, a sign of a well-adopted Asana.

Vinyasa: The flow. Element of Water - the qualities of water are ductility, fluidity, adaptability, energy and feeling. Its fundamental expression is movement; we practice it by attending to the way we enter, exit, and join the Asanas, and the grace that moves within when doing so (harmony and effortlessness). We cultivate water by learning to move in sync with the breath, when adopting, deepening and exiting Asana effortlessly, smoothly and fluidly. To practice water, we employ gentleness and mindfulness. One of the signs of its presence is the energy it awakens during the practice.

Drishti: Element of space. Its qualities are simultaneity, emptiness, authenticity, freedom and being. Its expression is awareness, we put it into practice through dristi: directed, concentrated attention. Dristi is the point where the gaze settles during the practice of each Asana. When doing so, the mind settles, becomes present in the reality of the practice and helps us to breathe deeper, gifting us with freedom. It leads to a direct awareness of what is happening and helps us in the execution of Asana in its wholeness.

Bandha: Element of Fire. Its qualities are transformation, suddenness, intensity, radiance and inspiration. The fundamental expression of fire is the action that brings about change and is embodied in the Bandhas (muscular and energetic adjustments that transform our internal energies). We cultivate it through the application of Uddiyana, Mula and Jalandharabandha. They generate the heat which, in the practice, we transform and redirect. Their presence brings radiance to the practice.

Pranayama: Air Element. Its qualities are openness, expansion, luminosity, grace and thought. Its fundamental expression is openness and freedom. It is put into practice through pranayama, and we cultivate and express it by creating space in the joints and organs, especially in the lungs. We practice it in pure breathing exercises or in the breath paths of vinyasa. It helps us to free the breath from the restrictions of physical and mental tensions. The air element requires us to use movement, and the sign of its presence is stillness.

My teachings are influenced by Ashtanga Vinyasa, Yin-Yang Yoga, my experience in Gymnastics and dance and the inner imagery of poetry. All my classes are open to everyone, regardless of their level of physical practice or age.