I personally believe that in yoga, a pose is not just an act performed by the body. It becomes instead the physical shape of our soul.
An ethereal expression of the Self.
It is only when we find ourselves surrounded by chaos that we can appreciate silence.
Only in the eternal motion of life that we can find stillness.
There are many different reasons for why we end up on our mat. It really does not matter what those reasons are – what matters the most is that first step.
The first step into the discovery of our true potential.
I started yoga because I needed to ground. Surrounded by chaos, I felt lost and unhappy and when, almost by mistake, I stumbled in a yoga class. What those 60 minutes did to my whole self, changed my life.
I was unhealthy, unhappy and pretty lost, but at the same time so aware.
Aware that something needed to change, that I needed to change. That I needed to HEAL. Something that is often perceived as just a series of postures became, for me, a tool to look right into my heart and slowly put it back together.
In this connection between skin, bones and Spirit, lies the sublime healing power of this practice.
When you walk away from the nightmare that is called domestic violence, you are left alone, dealing with demons that nobody wants to get to know.
Most of the time you blame yourself for everything that happened to you and you are ashamed of who you are. Being abused does not end when you leave your abuser. It is a long journey into recovering and it takes so much energy and faith. Faith that one day that sharp pain that is eating you inside will end. Faith that love will never hurt so much again, faith that a partner can love you for who you are and never use violence to dictate his fear on you.
FAITH THAT YOU can get better.
Yoga taught me that you can change all of this, you can understand that the past does not come back to hurt you, it simply never leaves and you have to learn to accept it so you can embrace everything you are: light and darkness, sun and moon, earth and water, all in one. Yoga is indented to bring union to the practitioner. Through surrendering to the moment, we find the ability to forgive others and ourselves.
When I started to let go of the past, I was able to understand my power and I decided to dedicate myself to help those who are still living under the overbearing shadow of violence.
More than anything else I decided that was time for me to slowly, allow the pain to disappear.
My mat had became my safe place, a place where I cultivated the knowledge and the courage I needed to carry their practice out of the yoga studio and into my life.
In addition, the importance of letting go of anything that hurt my Mind, Body, and Soul.
That’s when I decided that I wanted to create a place where people can understand what it means to be vulnerable. A place that is free of judgments where we can all practice together. Infused with soulful music, a place where we support each other with love and compassion.
In many years of practice and teaching I have discovered that live music is vital for conveying such massively moving feelings. I started to add acoustic live music during class. Music evokes connections with people, and when properly combined with the movements to the breath, this allows us to get in touch to those emotions that we hide within our self.
By practicing according to the moon cycles, we embody and experience the cycles of darkness and light, life and death, strength and surrender. Because of my experience, my teaching shifted toward bringing awareness to the Self, Self-love, Self-ness, and Self-awareness.
I wanted to create an environment where we can find our voice, where we can feel free to be nothing more than what we are, where we can use our body to dance the symphony of life.
Where we can finally breathe and learn to see the beauty of everything that we are.
It is through the connection of movement and stillness, music and silence, breath and meditation that I was able to accept my past, embrace my scars and learn how to fall in love with everything that life has to offer to me. It is through that motion that finally, after many years lost in wonder, I was able to reclaim my soul.
One step after another, one breath at a time, I understood how powerful, fierce and beautiful I really was, and am. It was through the rigorous practice of the asanas that I realized that we share so much about ourselves through our bodies. Through the empowering nature of meditation I learedn not to be afraid anymore.
It takes time to truly heal, truly embrace who we are.
And we have all the time we need.
Join Eleonora for a very special class, designed to heal transform and empower the self through asana, music, meditation and sound bath.
Class will be led by Eleonora Zampatti, and it will be held at Synergy Hot Yoga on Saturday, November 2, at 4 PM. Allison LaRochelle is joining me with live music; Phyllicia Bonnano will bring the experience to a beautiful conclusion by offering a sound bath with cystal bowls.
Never Miss a Post!
The Top Three Reasons for Joining NJYC
The greatest teachers, studios, classes and communities are in the Garden State.
You are ready to inspire and be inspired.
You believe in living a life you love, supported by a practice that makes you feel amazing
