Meet Rodrigo Souza – Weblog

Rodrigo Souza (he/him) is an Adaptive & Accessible Yoga instructor with expertise in educating yoga to of us who’ve gone by means of Trauma & Incapacity.

By way of direct private expertise with traumatic damage, and persistent ache, and discovering the necessity to take cost of his restoration to optimize long-term well-being, Rodrigo determined to turn out to be a Yoga instructor and educate from his personal expertise, creating Allihopa Accessible & Adaptive Digital Yoga Studio.

He’s targeted on making a supportive group for individuals who have skilled trauma & incapacity by means of Adaptive yoga.

You’ll find extra details about Rodrigo by means of his Instagram account @allihopayoga and his web site allihopayoga.com/.

Inform us a bit about your self and your yoga journey…

Hello, my title is Rodrigo Souza (he/him), a short-term undecided and long-term optimism. I acquired launched to yoga in my mid-twenties, I used to work as a bartender and a DJ whereas dwelling in London and used to go to a Bikran Yoga studio a couple of occasions every week to detoxify my physique.  For me, again then, Yoga was a bodily train. Yoga for the physique.  Time has handed and I suffered a spinal wire damage (T3 full) in 2014 after a fall accident, and as a result of that, I turned paralysed from the chest down and in addition a  full-time wheelchair person, and since my damage, I began deepening my Yoga apply. Yoga for the Soul.  Adaptive Yoga helps me cope with muscle spasticity, persistent nerve ache, nervousness, and plenty of different secondary circumstances that the damage introduced me.  Yoga has helped me to fall in love with my damaged physique and to just accept it as it’s. It allowed me to be who I’m and to just accept what it’s.

 

What does a typical day seem like for you?

My day is fulfilled with brief yummy self-care practices. As I reside with persistent ache and in a disabled physique, I must be very conscious of my power and ache ranges.  I begin my day with a brief & candy Yoga apply in mattress, then I ensure I’ve a fast apply each three hours after sitting within the wheelchair (it’s when my muscle tissue begin to tighten). I additionally all the time attempt to squeeze in a cheeky 30-minute Yoga Nidra after lunch, simply to maintain issues going and to floor myself. Then there may be all the time a category to show so I don’t must do any apply within the afternoon as I’m educating. To complete the day, I’ve one other mattress apply to scale back my muscle spasms and add a gratefulness/ mindfulness apply there to make sure I nurture my emotional well being earlier than calling it a day.

 

What do you get pleasure from most about sharing the apply of yoga?

I typically educate of us who’ve gone by means of trauma, loss and incapacity. So it brings me an amazing quantity of pleasure and a deep sense of duty and objective.  For me, they’re those who want Yoga essentially the most, and they’re those that have Yoga the least. A few of my college students are going by means of essentially the most troublesome second of their lives, a few of them have newly injured themselves, a few of them cope with heavy PTSD, and It fills my coronary heart with heat when I’ve the chance to securely maintain area to them and assist them to expertise every little thing there may be to expertise, with out concern, with out bypassing and denying something. To deliver themselves again to their ‘damaged physique’ and assist them see that they’re nonetheless complete. Sure, there may be a whole lot of grief, but additionally a whole lot of magnificence. For me, there may be nothing else on this planet there brings me extra pleasure. The chance to serve, to assist and to construct group. Happiness and long-lasting pleasure reside proper there and I really feel immensely grateful to have the ability to develop and do the work I do.

 

 What recommendation would you give to anybody in search of an accessible yoga apply?

The very first thing I’d say is that Yoga is already accessible. Yoga is for everybody when you breathe and you may apply Yoga. Each motion you do consciously is Yoga. Each time you turn off the amount of distractions and are available again to your physique, you might be practising Yoga. So, my recommendation is to let of us know what Yoga is as a result of it may be very intimidating to begin practising Yoga with a disabled physique when all you see in social media and advertising supplies are white skinny girls doing tremendous versatile postures. Yoga is not only that, it’s so rather more. Yoga is a robust instrument of self-discovery, self-compassion, self-acceptance, love and equanimity.

 

Do you could have a favorite quote or life motto?

Fall in love with taking good care of your self. Fall in love with the trail of deep therapeutic. Fall in with lengthy exhales, with self-regulating, with silence. Fall in love with life. Then go and unfold the love with the world.

 

Discover out extra details about Rodrigo by means of his Instagram account @allihopayoga and his web site allihopayoga.com/.