If you have been following my blog, you would know that I have recently attended two yoga workshops with Gianinna. I took the opportunity to ask her for an interview as I find her to be an inspiring teacher and would like to have her share her thoughts about yoga.
What made you take up yoga and why did you become a yoga teacher and how long have you been teaching?
3 years ago I was attending a class, I used to leave before Savasana, running to work thinking “who has time for this”!, but once I decided to stay and I can remember when in Savasana I started breathing in the right way, allowing myself to face my feelings in the silence, opening my chest and feeling my whole body alive, it was a great and a huge inner experience. I’ve never felt so connected with myself before when practicing yoga.
At that moment I realized that I’ve been practicing yoga as a sport only, performing my postures but I wasn’t full minded and either connected with my breath. The more I practiced, the more I realized how important the silence is.
It took me some time to make the decision to become a Yoga Instructor. As soon as I made my choice I was completely motivated to share my experience. I’ve started looking for the way to start, lucky for me, I met the right person to help me to find a soft way to learn how to teach, without mirrors and listening to my body in the traditional hatha yoga way.
I’ve been teaching hatha and prenatal yoga since June 2011 and that’s what I share in my classes with loving, kindness and respect.
I’m a new yoga instructor, passionate about human contact. Teaching offers me the challenge and the joy of self-discovery though the process of yoga and to make contact with people out of the limit of the words.
How long you have been in Malaysia and what do you think of the yoga practitioners here?
Malaysia is a new experience for me, I arrived here in February 2011 straight from Switzerland. Originally, I'm from Peru and sincerely, I’ve found that my culture is similar as yours, despite the differences, we are friendly and as you, we like eating!
Yoga in Malaysia is part of your culture; lot of people is practicing yoga here. In my group classes I have people from everywhere, any sex, age, religion and different needs, it’s amazing. It exists so many possibilities to practice yoga. I have to say that in my prenatal class, I have ladies doing Sirsasana!.
The conscious of the practice is beautiful, “here people stay for savasana”.
What is a healthy yoga routine and how often do you suggest practicing?
I’ll suggest a daily practice. You do not have to practice a full hour and a half every time, as in a typical yoga class. Even a few minutes will do! A few minutes of practice is better than nothing, and every time you practice, you are enriched.
The best time to practice yoga?, I’ll say in the morning, yoga is especially beneficial because we tend to wake up stiff from the night of sleep. Yoga in the morning helps us loosen up and gets the blood moving so that we feel better more quickly.
It also helps to quiet the mind so that when we start engaging in the day’s activities, we can more easily maintain calm, clarity, and connection with our essence.
And of course, before bed, yoga is nice to help unwind from the day and to bring better quality sleep.
You can email Gianinna @ gianinna.yogakl@gmail.com if you would like to contact her about her classes and workshops. You can also find Gianinna on Facebook.
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| Gianinna & Raymond in a Partner Yoga pose |
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