my life after the hot 26+2 teacher training

I never thought my life was going to make a 180º change. When I enrolled to the Teacher Training I had a very naive idea of improving my physical/mental skills from a hobby approach. But no. It took me by surprise. A very nice one, though! Everything has changed since then – my life, my sense of being, my awareness, my heart.

Let me introduce myself. I’m Paula Jiménez, 28 years old, Colombian and an Evolation Yoga Teacher.

During the teacher training I really did experience joy, and I came to understand what that word meant. It was blissful, kind, hard, sweaty and a lovely experience at the same time. Being in a room with 15 people everyday – people that share my passion – and spending afternoons talking about life from an academic point of view, practicing yoga daily, and beyond. For me, that was just priceless.

When I went back to work nothing made sense anymore. Literally. I had a corporate job like everyone else, 8 to 5 every day and basically living on the edge of my nerves. Yelling to get attention and playing tough to get the numbers didn’t excite me anymore. Wearing high heels again was a nightmare: 4 months after I got back, I quit. I couldn’t take it anymore.

Teaching became my Facebook Job presentation. Since then, I haven’t been able to stop teaching. It’s just right and changed my life dramatically. I really think that doing the teacher training gave me the strength to see what I wasn’t able to see before. I was unhappy and I didn’t know it. I wanted a life where I could be myself, without knowing what that meant at the time. And since this teacher training everything became so easy to take. I went through a lot of changes, but my sight became more open and kind. Kind towards everything but most important, kind towards myself.

I moved to Buenos Aires last year (2016) and spent there 6 months with my boyfriend who had been living there for the past year. I did a Vinyasa Power Yoga Teacher Training to become more competitive as a teacher, and all of a sudden everything that I wanted became real. I got the opportunity to open my yoga studio! Without flinching, I moved back to Colombia with my boyfriend and now we are living in my home town and working towards our dream.

I think Yoga has built my path.

I’ve been a witness  of my own thoughts, I’ve been an outsider of my own life since I did the Evolation Yoga Teacher Training. I really understood what it is to trust and let go, and everything has been there for me. Everything that I ask for, with my true heart, with my humble heart, with my whole power, has been displayed there for me. Thank you, God. And being Thank-full (I believe) is the principle of abundance.

Somehow doing the same postures everyday has helped to make that “space” between your inner muscles and helps you to breath again, to feel alive, to feel and be in control of your life, but at the same time, out of it.

I’m beyond thankful for being in this yoga journey with my partner, being able to share the same passion with a person everyday, is just art. He’s a Yin Yoga teacher and we are building this yoga studio brick by brick.

Casablanca Asana Yoga is a yoga studio where you will find three types of yoga practice: Vinyasa Power Yoga, Yin Yoga and 26+2 hot yoga series. We have one hot room, one non-heated room and a deck with a fountain with enough room for 12/15 students. It’s beautiful.

I am beyond thankful for this project and I would love for everyone to come. Villavicencio, Colombia (my hometown) is a small town situated two hours away from Bogotá. This city is 30ºC all year around. We are right on the equator, so we do have nice weather, awesome fruits and vegetables all year around.

We are part of the Evolation Yoga Collective and we want this place to be a house of yoga, nothing exclusive but Inclusive; a place where everyone can practice and be themselves, a place where you can feel at home.

Everyone is welcome. Mi casa es tu casa, and in this case Casablanca Asana Yoga is your house as well.

Casablanca Asana Yoga Co-Founder

FB: casablancaasanayoga

IG: @casablanca_asanayoga 

Paula Jimenez

At Casablanca Asana Yoga, Paula Jimenez works hard to create a safe teaching environment as an important act of love, and shares that love for practicing yoga in effort to inspire and transform her students as much as she has been personally transformed and awakened through the practice. Paula is a graduate from evolation yoga’s 2015 teacher training class, and we sat down to both congratulate and learn more about her new and exciting business, Casablanca Asana Yoga.