Portrait of a yogini adept at Energy Yoga: Audrey

Audrey has been practicing Yoga for 10 years. After a long career as a dancer, she discovered Yoga with Gilberte Faury in 2007.

After training in different styles (Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Prana Flow and Yin Yoga), she found her way in Energy Yoga and became a professional at the Evian Yoga School (EYE).

Member of FIDHY (Inter-teaching Federation of Hatha Yoga), she perpetuates the teachings of Roger Clerc who founded, in 1964, the School of Yoga of Energy in Paris.

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

How did you get into taking care of yourself?

After years of illness (my body has always had a tendency to somatize a lot), from type 1 diabetes declared at the age of 6 to an increasingly weakened immunity in adulthood, I understood that the illness simply wanted to tell me things, to tell me about my illness, perhaps deeper than the only physical symptom apparent on the surface. So I began to consider health as an overall state of balance, and not just as a list of symptoms to stifle.

What practice for your well-being?

I have a sadhana of my own. A recurring practice that has imposed itself on me over the varied years of practicing yoga of all kinds, a series of postures that my body needs. It is the practice that came to me intuitively or instinctively, like a call from the body to slip into certain postures every day.

What is the ritual of your practice?

I start by refocusing myself in the seed or shakti posture, I let go of the mind towards the Earth and round myself as much as possible. I choose a breathing technique to calm the thoughts and come back to Me. It is the only way I have found to calm my body and my mind which are both very… aerial and moving!

I continue with sun salutations to awaken the muscular structure and the heat in the physical body. As my heart beats increase, I manage to move into a more energetic, more sensitive practice.

I then perform a series of Vinyasa, often with many heart-opening postures, like a surge towards Life, something that helps me dare to be myself, while rediscovering the pleasure of a dance practice. This comforts my inner little girl who has spent a lot of time in dance studios.

Then I finish with very Yin postures on the ground, to balance my fire of action with a necessary letting go and a softer, more feminine side. I often play with hip opening postures to let go of fears. I practice  the hero pose which warms and opens Manipura Chakra. It helps me a lot to balance diabetes since it is the pancreas that opens energetically to the sky in this pose.

Finally I choose an inversion (Candle or balance on the head or hands) to reverse my view of Life in order to open myself to all possibilities.

After a final relaxation on the ground, I meditate for a few minutes in order to return to my mantra of the moment and bring all my best energy to it.

What do you get out of it?

A feeling of immense lightness, both mental and physical. As if I could see more clearly, and that everything was much simpler in my Life. This allows me to go straight to the point in my actions without scattering myself and by sorting out priorities. Finally, it helps me a lot to dare to live my life, leaving the past where it is, without worrying about the future, staying present in the moment T.

Maybe it helps me to just Be.

What do you carry in your yoga bag?

Lemon water, my computer for my playlists and the texts I read to my students (poems, legends or sacred texts from India), a koshi, a candle and the book of the moment.

What is your favorite object/accessory?

A necklace made of rudrashka beads. It never leaves my neck before and after class, my wrist during, and my mat during meditation.

What would be your advice for Tayrona Yoginis?

Be you! Don't be perfect, even in your Yoga practice. Be persistent and diligent in your practice and then leave yourself alone and let yourself Live!

Where/how do you practice?

Everywhere! In the studio, at home, during training, on vacation, outdoors, on the lake thanks to my paddle board, in my bed, in my garden, on a pontoon… Every time I can take my practice off the mat is a gift that I give to myself.

What is your mantra/favourite phrase?

I surf a lot when I travel and I like the comparison of the adventures of Life like waves on which we take pleasure in surfing, even if the search for Balance is sometimes long and laborious... Life is a wave, catch it! And even if you spend more time underwater than on the board,  come out of the water with a smile on your face!

Don’t hesitate to find Audrey on her Facebook , and to visit the yogaIam website.