How my life transitioned through yoga

My lifestyle was very different before I integrated yoga into it. This is a story you often hear from people who have made a transition in their life. But this is my journey. How my life transitioned through yoga.

I was living a completely unhealthy lifestyle, it was affecting me in many ways. However, I wasn’t aware of it. Instead I was looking at my life thinking it was normal. Almost all the people around me were having similar lifestyles. To have an unbalanced lifestyle without being fully aware of it. This is very common for many people living in a modern western country.

Life before yoga

Before I started practising yoga, I had a very busy life, studying and working full time. Yet, my lifestyle was very unbalanced. I was always eating at different times and in a hurry. Not eating a balanced diet and quite often eating unhealthy food. I wasn’t sleeping enough either. I was partying a lot, drinking, smoking etc… I’m sure you get the picture!

A very positive thing was that from a very early age I always loved the forest and being in nature. I believe that unconsciously, the escapes I would make into nature were saving me. Along with my passion for snowboarding.

I was a very nervous person, I used to experience a lot of stress. My sympathetic nervous system was always active. I was always tense, sometimes with anxiety. Changes of mood, insomnia, and I a lot of digestive problems.

My digestive tract wasn’t working properly, I couldn’t digest food well. Often, I would experience constipation, haemorrhoids, and a lot of acid reflux. To the point where many nights I couldn’t sleep properly. In the end I had to get a colonoscopy and an endoscopy, where the doctor found the beginnings of an ulcer in my oesophagus. I was just 27 years old!

My first encounter with yoga

I was introduced to yoga in 2006. I was a very nervous person, thinking that it was part of my personality. So it was my desire to learn tools to relax and work on this aspect of my personality.

I knew that practices like yoga could help. However, I didn’t expect at all that Yoga would completely change my life!

From the very first day I began to experience many benefits from yoga. During the classes I could release all the tensions and worries that I was carrying with me. When the classes were finished my state of mind and body were so calm and relaxed.

But this was just the immediately benefits. The huge changes came progressively after I was able to commit to a routine of attending weekly yoga classes and developing a regular practice.

How my lifestyle naturally evolved

Through a regular practice, slowly and progressively I was starting to re-connect with myself. It was like a process of purification, with a deep cleansing of the body and the mind.

At the same time, I was developing awareness that allowed me to be more intuitive with my body. I was able to identify more what was the right thing for my body and mind in everyday decisions.

My lifestyle was also changing. I was eating fresher and healthier food. Eating a lot more vegetables and fruits, to the point that I became a vegetarian. I stopped drinking, and I was partying in a different way. This evolution was a natural process that was effortless. I was simply listening the body.

My social life slowly became very different too. The people that I was interacting and connecting with were living similar lifestyles. I felt they were on the same page as me. My life changed dramatically, but it was all a natural process.

My lifestyle was still very busy, working and studying hard. However, I knew how to manage it better. I wasn’t stressed out all the time. I am certain it was the combination of the yoga practices and the healthy and balanced lifestyle that had evolved, was enabling me to cope better with life.

Becoming a Yoga teacher

In 2012, after a several years practising yoga, and aware of the massive change of my health, I decided to go to India. Specifically, I wanted to do a Yoga teacher training course to go deeper with the practices. I wanted to learn more about these ancient techniques that had changed my life.

However, it wasn’t easy to find the right course. India offers so many teacher trainings (TTC) courses. Many of them are purely focused on body, and for me, it was really clear that Yoga is much more than just asanas (postures).

I was lucky to find the right TTC for me. The foundations of the course were based in the teachings of the Satyananda yoga tradition, the yoga that I had been practising for several years.

The asana part of the course was a mix of different yoga schools, which gave me the opportunity to experience and learn different systems. I was taught directly by teachers from Satyananda, Sivananda, Ashtanga and Vinyasa schools of yoga.

It gave me a much better understanding of Yoga asana. As an instructor, I was able to offer different styles of asana classes. Combining important aspects of Satyananda teachings like  pranayama (breathing practices), Yoga Nidra (relaxation), and the Shatkarmas (cleansing practices).

After the course, I knew that I wanted to share Yoga. I wanted to offer this amazing tool that had changed my life so positively.

After a year sharing Hatha Yoga, I decided to go deeper with the teachings and I started a two year Diploma Satyananda Yoga in Australia.

How life looks now

Along with my partner Mahima (Karen), I am still sharing these amazing tools in different parts of the world including Spain, Australia and New Zealand. However, due to the Covid situation we have settled in Catalonia, and it looks we will be here for a while.

Looking back on my yoga journey, I can say that living a yogic lifestyle turned my health around. I feel blessed that yoga crossed my path, and that I took it.

After many years integrating yoga practices into my life, I believe the most important thing is to maintain your own sadhana (personal practice). The key is to keep the discipline, be consistent and determined.

This is the foundation for me to keep balance all the aspects of my life from diet to sleep. It doesn’t matter if we practise just five minutes a day, it is better to practise five minutes a day than two hours, once a week.

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