Elka Vlahovskа 11 May 2021
Read on eva.bg
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Nelly is the founder and co-owner of the Yoga Vibe chain of studios. She has worked for more than 15 years as a corporate lawyer. Through yoga and meditation, she finds a way to release herself from everyday stress and calm her hectic mind. She is a Yoga Alliance Highly Accredited Yoga Teacher. She often participates in international yoga festivals and trains future instructors.
Her classes are fun and her goal is always to make everyone on the mat happy and aware of their own body and inner world. Nelly believes that yoga practice makes us better people and is the true way to express love and gratitude. She is inspired both by the physical progress of her students and by their spiritual growth and attainment of inner peace.
Right, you’re a corporate lawyer. What made you turn yoga from a hobby into a working business with 4 yoga studios, your own cosmetics line and an online health platform?
For a long time I practiced yoga just to feel good, to be calm and not have pain in my body. However, when something begins to change your life obviously for the better, you need to share it with others. I traveled a lot and gathered impressions from the teachers and yoga studios abroad. I missed a modern type of place in Bulgaria, where it is bright, spacious, beautiful and where everyone feels accepted, regardless of whether they are young, thin or flexible. The concept that yoga is for everyone and everyone has the right to take care of themselves is at the heart of Yoga Vibe studios. I believe that with them we have made yoga accessible to the modern people, regardless of their religion or age.
The majority of practitioners are ladies. Why are more and more women turning to yoga?
At first glance, ladies feel more comfortable on the mat than men, because they are more flexible, more mobile and the movements for them are more intuitive. But there is much more to it than that – the depth of the practice lies in connecting with our body, which yoga achieves through a perfect fusion of breath and movement. I’ve seen it all the time over the years – yoga helps women love their bodies, accept themselves, stop competing and resisting.
Does it matter what practice/type of class the ladies choose?
The incredible richness of yoga is that, regardless of age, body limitations or physical capabilities, there is a suitable practice for every woman.
Казват, че йога ни освобождава от тежките мисли и негативните емоции. Как се случва това?
They say that yoga frees us from heavy thoughts and negative emotions. How does this happen?
Yoga uses many means to achieve this. Movement is a very powerful tool for changing the focus from the outside world and what is happening around us to our own world of sensations. We use a variety of meditative and breathing practices to calm the mind. A simple example for all readers – in a moment of strong negative emotion or worry, they can try to inhale for 4 seconds, hold their breath for 4 seconds, exhale for another 4 seconds and again hold their breath for 4 seconds before the next inhalation. It sounds easy, but the cleansing effect on the emotions and the mind is enormous – following a simple breath control principle known as 4-4-4-4.
In your seminars, you name energy investments the small actions that do not take much time, but improve the mood, energy and radiance of women. Will you share some of them?
As women, we often think that taking care of others always comes first, and we often neglect ourselves, believing that this is for the best. We forget that we radiate what we feel. If we are dissatisfied, disappointed, if we don’t like each other, that’s what other people see in us. How can we be content, peaceful, and filled with joy? By doing more of the things that make us feel good. These actions and habits increase the quantity and quality of our energy – it could be a nice bath, a divinely scented body scrub, writing in a journal, taking a walk, meditating. For each of us the list is different and that is the beauty of the process. During the trainings, I make the ladies include in their daily schedule of tasks and the most important task – to take time for themselves.
Yoga uses natural aromas from essential oils. How do they work?
Our mind and emotions are controlled by aromas (essential oils and blends) and sounds (Tibetan bowls and other sound healing tools). In yoga we use both. Two years ago, I created Yoga Vibe Sense, a series of high-vibration oils that affect our moods and help us feel strong and energetic. Each of them harnesses the power of nature and the ability of essential oils to transform us. Yoga instructors often use them during classes, but anyone can use them at home.
More about Yoga Vibe studios: https://www.yogavibe.net/bg
Yoga Vibe Online Virtual Studio: https://yogavibe.online/
