The Naturale Yogi

I started my yoga journey in the year 2006 when my mom brought me to a class one day, then I ended up going back to class weekly and am still practicing on my own everyday. At the time I started practicing, I was still in high school and I carried on to continue going to classes at my teacher’s home until I graduated University. The time I started practicing yoga, Manila did not have the yoga scene that it has today. There were only a few places that had them and it was not associated with getting fit as if you were going to the gym the general idea was that yoga was for people who are already flexible and it was a more of a stretching class more than anything else. I would like to ask my long time teacher for her ideas on what yoga is and is it really for everyone? I hope my questions and her answers would enable you to find your personal practice and try out yoga with an open mind and a happy heart. Namaste!

Q: When, where, how and why you started your personal yoga practice?

A: I started seriously practicing after college in California, while balancing a struggling acting career (very cliche, i know). I had always been active and was searching for the next “workout trend”, which turned out to not be a trend at all since yoga can be sustained and praktised till our senior years

Q: How did you end up teaching the art of yoga?

A: Karma and the universe led me to a studio that offered a work-study yoga certification program. I was struggling to afford taking one then, but was craving to take my praktis to the next level already. When people knew I finished the program, they started asking me to sub for classes and the rest is history.

Q: Is yoga for everyone, because a lot of times I’m told by people who are curious about the practice but tell me that they can’t possibly bend their bodies to those shapes?

A: That’s because people wrongfully have a pre-conceived notion of the practice before actually trying it out first. Yoga is the gentlest, most accommodating, and all-encompassing praktis there is. You’re supposed to start at whatever level your body can handle, no right or wrong and with praktis, you naturally get better. So yoga is for the young and not so young, male and female, healthy and the not so healthy even!

Q: How does it help people who practice?

A: The benefits range from body to mind to spirit. Initially the lure is for a healthy body but practitioners sooner or later realize benefits extend to mental and spiritual gains also.

Q: Advice for anyone who wants to try the practice but don’t know if it is for them?

A: Find a good teacher.

Q: Can you explain further, what kind of teacher is a good teacher?

A: Well, experience is a must but it goes beyond that. Physical gain is usually the initial lure for a practitioner, but a good teacher also emphasizes the importance of a mental and spiritual yoga praktis as well. A good teacher also sincerely cares for your well being and helps you grow with your praktis no matter what level you are at. A good one encourages you to continue your praktis even when you get to a lull and don’t feel like it. A good teacher praktises yoga on and off the mat.
It’s an intuition and a connection thing that you will know when you find a good teacher.

Q: What is the one yoga item you couldn’t practice without?

A: My mat. Simply put, that’s all I’ll ever need.

Q: Any final thoughts on the practice?

A: It’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. It helps make me a better human and I continue to pay it forward.