Portrait of Armelle, a Yogini passionate about Hatha Yoga

Armelle has been practicing Yoga for 17 years. She was 29 when she firmly decided to try this practice: "I was very stressed at the time, looking for a better professional life accompanied by a search for a better life, period". Since then, she has always been faithful to this activity even if she practices other sports (Nordic Walking, beginnings in horse riding and goes to the gym to accompany her partner at first, and in the end, she also enjoys it).

The desire to teach came later for Armelle, after a professional reconversion (from Import / Export to natural and organic aesthetics); she completed her new activity with a Yoga class per week, then other classes which were added to her weekly organization.

Today, she wants to deepen her knowledge of mantras, sound and singing.

It was only natural that I asked him a few personal questions about his yoga practice, which I am sharing with you today .

How did you get into taking care of yourself?

As a teenager, I think, when the image you project is important and because I enjoyed it, in a period that was difficult for me to live through (as for many of us); yes, it started by taking care of my skin and it was consciously. But I think back: before, I practiced sport, outside or inside, quite simply because I do not come from a sporty family.

"Taking care of myself" started with body movement because without even being aware of it, I was enjoying myself at that moment. Then, this was completed by the care given to my envelope (in adolescence when I was much less comfortable in my body). Then, later, not immediately when starting Yoga, came the importance of nourishing myself spiritually, of growing, differently ;-)

What practice for your well-being?

It evolves. Today, I like to stay in postures for a few seconds, which is not necessarily the training I received.

I practice Hatha Yoga. Rhythm is important but I like to enter and exit postures slowly and gently.

What is the ritual of your practice?

I like to start a session with the mantra "OM". It sets the tone J. It puts "everything" back in place, it recenters, aligns. Then I experiment, try to live the postures or transmit this practice (in the teacher's position). In the end, a long or short relaxation to deepen, refine the session, the relaxation, the receptivity of the body and the mind.

What do you get out of it?

Yoga has brought me and brings me a lot: it helps me to find myself, to accept myself, to love myself and to be better. I then discover the Other, the World with other eyes, with a better quality of listening and seeing.

What do you carry in your yoga bag?

My mat, my zafu, my water bottle, a blanket and a pair of socks almost all year round (for relaxation at the end of the session, to stay warm).

What is your favorite accessory?

Not really a fetish object but I always like to have paper and a pencil on me to write down what is important, what I have to look for because I don't know it. This concerns all areas but also in Yoga; moreover, the teacher, I want to be as precise as possible, as sharp as possible.

Tips for Tayrona Yoginis?

In moments of doubt, of discomfort, tell yourself "that the World has a precise place for me, that I am in my place, here and now and that I must not act so that others love me but because it is the right action."

How and where do you practice?

I practice in multipurpose rooms with my students, in a living room with students in private lessons (their living room), in a room with a teacher, at the French Federation of Hatha Yoga Normandy and at home, in my living room, sometimes in my garden and wherever I am on vacation.

My first practice, daily, getting out of bed and standing in front of a large window and looking at nature, every day, contemplative, NEVER forgetting it, both feet on the ground.

Favorite phrase?

What I am going to tell you is not a mantra but I like this quote that may seem harsh but it is so true: "help yourself and heaven will help you". We are at the origin of change and the rest follows, it is up to us to give the impetus, to give the note and then, it is a whole that enriches, diversifies our lives.

For all information: https://contactarmelobio.wixsite.com/yoga