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amanda
Amanda was born and raised in Caracas
(Venezuela) and moved to Italy in 2007 to continue and finish
her architecture studies. this is how she first encountered Astanga
Yoga, as a young and busy student. the practice has kept her company ever
since. her first guide was Elena de Martin and her community.
by the end of 2013, after working as an architect and in international
cooperation for developing countries, she moved to Paris to pursue
her PhD. still, teaching wasn’t in her life schedule and her Sadhana
was there to serve her spiritual path and inquiry while sustaining the
rest of her life. she lived in Paris for three years and practised
with Linda Munro and Gérald Disse: they grounded her practice, made her
feel like family and encouraged her to start teaching.
all her travelling and studying has made her embrace the idea that as you become a more “experienced” or “ripe” practitioner you remain a beginner. there is always room to learn, or just to create space. this is how
she welcomed Chuck Miller’s teachings by keeping her beginner’s mind in-check.
in 2017, together with her husband, she opened a little shala in Arona, a
lake-town in northern Italy. ever since her inquiry has become deeper and
she has sharpened her community vision and her clarity around
the teacher-student relationship. the work around in their shala has driven
them both to study directly in Mysore with R. Sharath Jois since 2018 and
they intend to continue to visit this historically-infused
context. she is part of the SYC teacher community and authorised to teach full primary and intermediate series (L2).
Amanda has been practicing uninterruptedly since 2008 with discipline and commitment;
the mat has allowed rays of equanimity to shine in from time to time and this
has become the heart and core of her quest. she cultivates this
middle way through a growing silent sitting practice – free of dogma – which
helps her to maintain ongoing introspection. yoga has also made me her
a romantic. she now embraces a small web of relationships that
support her teaching through fruitful and beautiful exchanges. it is within this
love circle that she would like to walk the line. this web has lit up a
spark that nourishes a long-distance exchange with Angela Jamison who mentors
her through her words and challenges her to stay clear and
compassionate in her work.
along the way philosophy and chanting has been an ongoing study that supports her practice, her teaching and her deepening of Krishnamacharya’s lineage. this has been supported by Chase Bossart in the U.S and Jayashree and Narasimha in Mysore, they are incredible sources of knowledge and insight.
A. remains a student, open to change and to question and be questioned.
giacomo
Giacomo
was born and raised in Milan, where he studied architecture. he met Amanda in
2013 at a time when they were following a project of international cooperation
within the slum Mathare in Nairobi, Kenya. he didn’t know about yoga yet but
since some time he was looking… for answers to existentialist questions, for
clarity, for trust in himself and in the world, for a practice that expressed through
oneness of body and mind.
as
he finished his studies in Urban Planning and Environmental Politics he starts
attending hatha yoga classes twice per week. when he joined Amanda in Caracas
on 2015 he started to memorize the Ashtanga foundational sequence with Liz
Carrasquel. the same year he moves to Paris where he does an internship in
urban agriculture while continuing to practice ashtanga at AYP. since 2016 he
learns from Chuck Miller who gave him keys on how to approach his own practice
but also on how to pass it on with depth.
in 2017 he decided to join Amanda in the teaching/practice
room they founded together in Arona.
practice, practice, practice. individual study, assistances,
travels and sharing.
between
2017 and 2019 he frequently went to Rome to practice with Gabriele Severini and
started traveling to Mysore with Amanda to learn from Sharath Jois. he is an authorised Level II teacher and received this acknowledgment with Amanda during their third trip to the source.
in
2018 he met Angela Jamison; her bold and radical reflections about teaching
yoga nowadays and about the evolution of this practice really struck him,
heightening his belief in this path.
for
G. what really makes the practice special is the fact that it isn’t just
physical exercise but mostly mental training, and that the method is founded in
such a rich philosophy about living in harmony with oneself, others and the
world – in freedom and responsibility.
during
the pandemic traveling was limited but the possibility to stay close to
teachers with continuity was enhanced. with Jayashree e Narasimha
(Mysore) he studies chanting and philosophy. with Chase Bossart (USA) he
studies the sutras and with Angela Jamison he practices in all senses. it is in
this period that he strengthens his relationship with Angela who becomes an irreplaceable
reference in his teaching
what
he most appreciates in his teachers is that he finds in them precious examples of how to live yoga and its values through action, day by day.
G.
walks his teaching path faithful to the motivations that drew him to yoga since
the very beginning and trying to practice them day by day as a student, as a
teacher and as a human being.
