Mariagrazia Pradal: A journey into the fluid

Buongiorno from Vento, Italia - I am Mariagrazia!

I was born in a small town in the North-Eastern part of Italy, half way between the beautiful Dolomites Mountains and the magical Venice, in a traditional middle class family of five members. I still leave in the area, in the Veneto region.

As the only daughter arrived after two older brothers, I had to stand up a lot for making myself heard! I was a very independent child, I loved singing and dancing. I remember myself standing on the sofa or on a chair entertaining family's friends with songs that I liked. Classical ballet was my main after school activity up to the age of 19. It taught me the importance of perseverance and dedication, of moving the body with precision and at the same time gracefulness and harmony, it taught me the magic of classical music.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND

My background is in languages, my official profession tour guide, a fascinating job that I have been doing for 25 years. Dealing with people of different origins, needs and demands taught me the art of patience and tolerance. And it gave me the possibility of seeing places I would have never visited on my own.

HOW DID YOU FIRST DISCOVER YOGA?

In the years, parallel to my professional life, I have been cultivating and deepening my personal research, from the world of natural cures as an alternative to chemical medications, to the world of Osho, to the Buddist practice of Nichiren Daishonin....always longing for well being, harmony and balance. When in 2003 I first met yoga...I was ready. After a trip to India, it flowed as a river into my heart. I felt at home, landed, in peace. Since then I never stop practicing. I started with Satyananda Integral yoga. A structured and precise practice, a combination of alignment based asanas, pranayama, singing mantras and yoga Nidra. Always with a soft eye kept on the body and on the respect of its “limits”. It was the perfect practice for me in those years: it helped me recovering from neck and back pains caused by past car accidents. The Sanskrit mantras satisfied my love for singing, healing my spirit through its powerful vibrations. The precision of the asanas reminded me the precision requested by classical ballet ....everything in harmony...perfection and constant dedication...

HOW DID YOU FIRST MEET yogaSOMATICS?

Then, something changed. I started feeling constrained in the rigidity of the form, in the seriousness of the practice. I needed more flow, more softness...more lightness. That's when Ateeka and YogaSOMATICS appeared on my path in 2010. It was love at first sight. I was captured by the softness and fluidity of the movements, by the feeling of freedom and space emerging from them. I felt in love with this more feminine, intuitive approach to yoga, more connected to the heart and to the sense of gratitude. No perfection required...finally. My practice started changing, gradually. The integration took time. Leaving the rigidity of the form and patterns of movement to a more free way of practising is to me a never ending and continuous journey, and it has not been always easy. I experienced inner conflicts, doubts, sometimes feeling lost in the wide open space of movements, missing the “safety” of precise alignment and sequences.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR YOGA PRACTICE TODAY?

I would describe my practice today as a sort of “union of the differences”, where elements of a more classical yoga find their place without contradiction in the open sea of free movements and spirals of YogaSOMATICS, in total respect of the body, acceptance of its natural rhythms and cycles. YogaSOMATICS is the practice of my heart, a self care practice. It's movement turned into poetry. When I teach I am transmitting with gratitude to my students the importance of what I learnt from Ateeka: trusting the body, being in the body, finding pleasure and freedom in the movements, abandoning goals and desires of perfection. Being gentle to ourselves, grateful to our bodies. Respect and contact with Mother Earth. My classes are soft, with a continuous awareness to the breath. They include nervous system resets, inner excercises, unwinding, easy asanas, sounds, and lead to a final relaxation or Yoga Nidra. Sometimes I play some music, mainly during integration times or unwinding: Gayatri Mantra or Moola Mantra by Deva Premal, Healing Music at 432 Hz by Ella and Shantam, Seed by Klaus Wiese.

Parallel to yoga I have been refining my body perception through the practice of Byodinamic Craniosacral becoming an officially certified operator. Tuning into the world of fluids was a fascinating discovery, a gift received from the practice of YogaSOMATICS. Giving session is to me a nourishing way to deepen my presence in the here and now and at the same time to be of benefit to others. The two practices, YogaSOMATICS and Craniosacral are very similar and complementary to each other, they both awaken the Natural Intelligence focusing on health and to the ability of the body to heal itself.

Besides the holistic practices of yoga and craniosacral, I love swimming in the sea. I'm a summer person and the perfect environment for me to regenerate is by the waters. I love riding a bicycle on flat surfaces, it makes me feel on holiday. I also love slow walking on the hills or in the forest, dancing, singing, eating healthy and organic food.

I feel lucky to have opened the door to yoga into my life years ago. I am grateful to my present teacher, Ateeka, that has introduced me to YogaSOMATICS and has been supporting me over the years with her experience, encouraging me to develop trust in my body and my “inner sciamanella”. I'm grateful to my past teachers and all the guides I met on the path. I am grateful to Life.