YOGAda'
'Damyata datta dayadhvam'
"The heavenly voice of the thunder repeats this teaching.
Da - da - da!
Be self-controlled! Give! Be compassionate!"
Chapter V - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
MY STORY
Stefania's background is Biomedical Engineering, which is the science that builds machines and devices that are used in hospitals to replace parts of, or to screen the human body. This degree has given her a solid knowledge of the human anatomy and physiology. She has always had a passion for the human body and mind, and the deeply rooted need to understand their workings and to help them work better. However, when she discovered Yoga, there was a revolution within her approach. Biomedical Engineering is using external aids to replace functions that the body cannot carry out any longer, whereas with Yoga, dedication and inner awareness are channelling the discovery of dormant forces within us and they are awakening the amazing vital potential that simply IS there.
The path of Yoga sounded closer to home for her, with the realisation of the vast untouched powers within ourselves. At the same time, in Yoga as in science, we are not asked to believe in anything, but simply to follow our daily practise and see the results for ourselves!
Stefania spent two years in Pune, India, the place where B.K.S Iyengar has been living since 1936. There she came into contact with Osho's Ashram where she practiced various different meditations: Dynamic, Kundalini, Vipassana, Gourishankar. With Dynamic, Osho's signature meditation, she found a key to bring peace to our busy minds: it's impossible for a "western" mind to simply sit in silence and believe the silence will descend upon our mind. With Dynamic meditation there is a "let go" part at the beginning ,which helps, in a very active way, to rid us of suppressed emotions as well as surplus nervous energy, so that we can then more easily find peace and stillness. Inspired by this insight, in her Yoga Vinyasa flow classes she takes the students to a peak of energy release, to then soothe them into a deeper final relaxation.
Back in the UK Stefania graduated through the Yoga London teacher training in Vinyasa flow Yoga, 200Hour Yoga Alliance Certified Course. She has not stopped training since: she embarked upon Pregnancy Yoga training at Triyoga education and studied Yoga for Children with Jo Manuel at the Special Yoga Centre - SYC. She also attended various workshops, among which was "Yoga for people living with cancer", led by Julie Friedeberger (British Wheel of Yoga).
She has a 7 and a 4 years old child and has been teaching Yoga for Pregnancy throughout her own pregnancy, both privately and in corporate environments such as Thomson Reuters. The Pregnancy Yoga training made her embrace a more conscious view of birth which has spurred her to attend the ante-natal classes offered by Janet Balaskas at the Active Birth Centre that she founded in London. Due to these various influences her lessons offer to all future mothers a strengthening and nurturing practise combined with breathing techniques and ways to tune in with the new life within.