My Story
This could be the story of someone whose life was radically changed and saved by yoga or by food, but it is not. It is simply me. And I believe that “simply” is a somewhat reductive word for what my growth process has been up to this day. Why? Because, just like you, I am also special and unique. I, too, have a path of highs and lows, of achievements and despair, and of influence on the lives of others.
Growing up surrounded by nature, with the smell of food in a wood-fired oven, barefoot in the fields and searching for gold nuggets in the stream next to my grandmother’s house, gave me this admiration for nature, for watching things grow and transform naturally. Spending summer nights lying on the porch, gazing at the vast darkness of the sky and admiring all those little points of light, made me question thousands of times whether, on the other side, I might also be one of those shining dots in the sky of an ET creature. And now I understand that this admiration and respect for the flow of nature has been part of me since I was very young, and that I love carrying it with me into adult life.
I am also aware that those moments of calm in my mind contrasted enormously with the whirlwind and hurricane of energy that lived inside me. Anger, anxiety and fear, what we often call a bad temper, played such a large role in defining who I was that perhaps only now I understand that the emptiness of the sky and my hands in the stream were moments of balance. Becoming the person I am today was a gradual process. It happened without me realising it was happening.
Because not every change needs to happen just because we have reached a point where we need saving. That change can happen calmly and with respect for the process. It can happen simply because life happens. And that is very beautiful.
From childhood and youth I also carry the sound of laughter, of plates and pots in the kitchen, of parties, many parties with the table surrounded by family, of dancing, games and many barbecues by the river, in the middle of the forest, or simply under the porch because it was winter and, even with freezing cold, there we were, on our Sunday with the family.
The mistaken certainty of what I wanted for my future made me stop for a year to improve my grades and look for a design course at the university near home. But in that year, my life began to change. And if we talk about life purpose, it was in that home for people with intellectual disabilities where I worked that I discovered mine. After nights of crying, of feeling that I did not belong there, of fully understanding that I was just a stranger to those bright eyes that saw me as just another person who was there for meals, baths, medication, to say what was done and when…
Little by little, I understood that I needed to respect that that place was those people’s home, that it was not them who needed to get used to me but me to them, and that routine was part of that house’s survival. Júlia’s scratches became hugs, the twins’ screams became smiles and, well, with Joaquim, the rain did not stop being a shadow in his life, but the radio was always tuned to the best Portuguese popular music so that there could be a ray of sunshine in his day, even when outside there were thunderstorms and inside the house there were cries of fear.
I thought I would not be capable, they thought I would not be capable, but the truth is that I was. The truth is that it was after being there that I decided I wanted to care for others, but not in that way. I wanted to care for those who care. I wanted to guide teams, to turn the places where they work into much more than just workplaces. I wanted to support the adaptation process and the way they see those places. After that, there is a lot of blah blah about an academic life without much interest, but with the certainty that I wanted to be different from the standard that was also shared there. Yes, I think I have always been a rebel! Haha.
Life in community associations made me grow. It fills my heart with pride because, throughout all my commitment, beautiful changes happened for dozens of families.
Ten years living on an island were challenging, and it is precisely what I defined for myself at 18 that I am proud of: having created a place where caregivers felt at home, where no matter how strange they might think they are, they are never strange alone. Life in community associations made me grow, to create Barco de Papel, to coordinate Velejar pela Inclusão. It fills my heart with pride because, throughout all my dedication, beautiful changes happened with dozens of families.
It was also there that yoga found me by chance after an extremely exhausting summer day. It was also there that children taught me what yoga is in life, what it is to live yoga off the mat. They were the ones who made me believe that everything we dream is real.
Now, after yoga entered my life by chance, after more than 1,000 hours of teaching, I am once again determined to change, to bring comfort into other people’s lives, to close one cycle and dedicate myself to the beginning of another. And this is where we meet, welcome to this new project where, through the simplicity of yoga, I want to help you understand that living in harmony with your body, creating a safe and cozy place within your heart, is easier when you are accompanied, and much more delightful when you add happy moments around the table, with or without company.
With love,
Ana
