My Story
The Lotus only grows in the mud. The thicker the mud, the strongest the bloom above the ground. I want people to find the beautiful lotus (treasure) that lies within us all, we have all have hardships and challenges in our paths that have shaped who we are today, but we can use those challenges for our transformation I believe that each and everyone of us can live in peace, harmony once we accept and embrace our lives just as they are.
Bliss is our birthright, it is always there, within us, waiting to be uncovered from all the layers we have built on top of its light
"You are the soul of the soul of the Universe,
and your name is Love." ―Rumi
I am a believer that by living in the present moment we can tap into a sense of harmony and ease that we cannot really access when we are living in “time” (past or future events in mind). But, as a way of being truthful of how I got into yoga, it is worth mentioning that before I found yoga, I had been very lost (especially as a teenager) not knowing who I was and feeling stuck in darkness and depression, bad decisions leading to bad outcomes, suffering the consequences of my actions which affected not only my life but the lives of those around me. Like many teenagers, I used to judge myself and felt like a victim of the world, I lacked confidence, self love, and drive for life... It was a bit of a dark stage in my life , not knowing who I was, I just simply existed! Until I made the choice to stop living that way (as there was not real meaning for "living".)
For the first time in my life, I started to make conscious choices of only allowing the good to enter me ...I removed myself from toxic situations, people, environment and most of all, my own toxic thoughts, I took a time to reflect on my life and the things I wanted to change….
I started reading and this sparkled a light in me that I had not felt before, there were a few books that were particularly powerful for me and somehow shaped my life in the way I live it today, those were The Alchemist” by Paulo Cohelo,
“A New Earth” and “The Power of Now’ by the master Eckhart Tolle
"If you had not suffered as you have, there would be no depth to you as a human being, no humility, no compassion." Eckhart Tolle
Once I made the decision to re-write my story (and let go of the story that kept attracting sadness and drama to my life!) Life became much brighter, I felt that I could breathe for the first time =) I started to awaken to my true eternal existence as I started to pay attention to the content of my mind, observing it while practicing meditation, asanas and pranayama and most of all, in my daily life.
I started to replace negative conditioned patterns by positive ones+ and from there, my life and dreams started to become a reality ❤
“And, when you want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Paulo Cohelo
I was determined to live life more fully, I felt alive and happier for the first time when I realised I realised that there was so much more to who I am than what/who I believed myself to be! That the little voice in my head (with which for so long I identified with) was pretty much the cause of most of my life's drama at that time and, it is was only an intrinsic aspect of myself yet not my Self =)
I became more and more aware of the content of my mind, and I started to take my thoughts less seriously, which gave me a sense of freedom from my mind's prison... This attracted more and more beautiful inspiring people into my life, one of them was an Australian girl I met when I travelled to a surf town in my country (Chile). She has the brightest most authentic smile I had seen, she was a traveller, a surfer and a yoga instructor, and I just knew that she had this special spark that I needed in my life, she taught me and a friend yoga for the first time and I loved the experience. Once I went back to my hometown (this was in 2007) I started attending Hatha Yoga classes, I was still a University student (doing an English teaching training program) back then, I felt stressed every time there was an examination period and yoga really helped me deal with it all (and helped me tick the goal of getting a bachelors degree as an English teacher, translator and consecutive interpreter).
During the classes, I observed how yoga helped me become calmer in my mind through the cultivation of awareness of the present moment and of my breath. I found balance, peace and self love through the practice of yoga including meditation, pranayama and chanting mantras.
"Yoga is the space where a flower blossoms"
One of my dreams took me to Australia for a year where I practiced Vinyasa flow for the first time and fell in love with it. When I went back to Chile, one of my great friends introduced me to Iyengar Yoga which challenged my body and mind with more advanced asanas and helped me surrender to it all allowing me to open up internally and externally by releasing old emotions and blockages.
"Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
I am a big believer that the Universe not only listens but RESPONDS to our hearts' desires and it gives us whatever is in alignment with the life we are calling, through our thoughts, words and actions. I was able to overcome everything that which was covering my light making me feel unworthy of love, kindness and gratefulness, and I know with certainty that once we change the way we SEE life, miracles begin to happen <3
My goal as a yoga instructor is to help students to get to know themselves from the inside out so that their mind, body and soul are in harmony.
May your thoughts, words and actions be kind and serve your highest good!!
Love & light,
Amor Armitage
Namaste ॐ
