- Tell us a little about you
My name is Laylee I am a yoga teacher based in Abu Dhabi, UAE, a green food junkie and used to be serial entrepreneur, started yoga as a way to relieve the stress and struggles of everyday life.
I am Loving my yoga life of being a teacher as well as a determined student with a daily practice. I worked over 8 years in a stressful corporate environment and then lived on an entrepreneur life for few years. Traveling back to back between countries, working long hours in restless work places until found a new home off the stress and the only hole that could keep my mind off the work struggle.
Aside from yoga I am specialised in coaching mobility for athletes and am an accomplished CrossFit athlete myself. In my spare time I enjoy deepening my knowledge in more of spiritual yoga path and meditation as well as of nutrition and creating healthy recipes designed to help live a well- balanced life.
- Tell us about your yoga journey; why and how it started and how did it change your life
I met yoga at the age of 18 in one and only home yoga studio existed in my home town, Shiraz, Iran in 1999. Sadly left the journey for few years due to studying, immigrating to new country and all troubles that comes with the city life.
I managed to get back to regular practice in Ashtanga and Bikram at first in age 30 and found yoga the place of freedom when discovered the fluidity of Vinyasa.
Following my instinct, I enrolled on my first teacher training course in Thailand at the Bryce Yoga academy. It was a decision that would ultimately change my life I returned feeling empowered to make the life changing decision of walking away from business entirely and to pursue my passion for yoga. My learning continued to advanced teacher training, encompassing Yin and Chinese meridians, deeper anatomical courses and Kids Yoga training.
- How did it change the way you think and the way you view life
I see yoga as a tool for living with the most effective purpose. Yoga is “Practice of finding the edge and refining that edge”. it’s a self discipline and a life style. The more you do, the clearer your purpose will become. I have taken my yoga practice a little deeper into Bhakti (Devotional) Yoga with all its rituals and finding a huge transformation in practicing mindfulness.
In teaching life my favorite part is watching students evolve from seeing yoga as something to “do” to something they “become”. I get the opportunity to watch them unfold into a Yogi.
- What type of yoga do you practice and why
My favorite style of yoga is Yin & Yang.
I usually start my practice with applying Kriyas (cleansing breath), Pranayama and meditation to create balance and focus, widening into a deep sense of conscious. Then a few Yin postures to open the gate of the body and connecting tissues also to increase the receptivity of senses by softening on passive yin holds before flowing into asanas. My intention for Vinyasa practice is to create a light, yet powerful space and this is how I withdraw from the world and enter the bliss.
- What is your favorite quote
Are you searching for your true self? Then come out of your own prison, leave the little creak, enjoy the mighty river that flows into the ocean. Don’t pull the wheel of this world on your back, take off the burden and arise above the wheel on the world, there is another view! ~Rumi
- Share with us LIFE tips
Love yourself a lot that people’ departure don’t feel like funerals. And their absences are the constituent to love yourself even harder.
You become a master of your life when you learn how to control where your attention goes. Your job feels the best when its aligned with your passion. Your diet defines your mood. Your circle of friendship values your time and spirit, change your mind as often as you want& so on…
what you give your time and energy to defines YOU.
There is no strict and perfect diet that works for everyone. Simply because we are all different. We have different level of hormones, genetics, body shapes, men and women are different and most importantly our lifestyle varies; how could there be ONE diet serving us all together under the same category?!
Try different things, see which one gives you the best mood, lightness and optimizes your energy stick to that.
Nothing meant to be in your life ever requires you to abandon, to sacrifice and forget yourself in order to keep it. Live your truth.
At the end, its your choice how you show up to this world. Whatever you are not changing you are choosing. You are 100% responsible for your own healing, growth and happiness.
Namaste
Layelee Behnia
