HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH Pt. 1

-A message from Monica

Hi Pure Yoga amigos!

In celebration of the Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15), I was invited to share with you a little bit of my experience as a Spanish speaker and proud Latin American woman living in the USA.

My name is Monica Ossandon. I was born and raised in Santiago de Chile and I have been teaching at PURE Yoga Dallas since 2016. I can't be more grateful for the kindness and the inclusivity I have experienced at PURE from the entire community.

I have been lucky enough to travel around Latin America and different cities in the U.S. teaching Yoga, meeting wonderful people and getting to know a little bit more about different cultures. Every place is different, every yoga studio feels like a brand new world and a mind expanding experience. There is no place like another and sharing a common language is not synonymous with culture.

Since I became a Yoga Teacher in 2011, I have taught in multiple Yoga studios in Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires-Argentina, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Merida, Cancun, San Luis Potosi en Mexico and Cali-Colombia. I can't believe how lucky I am. I have created strong connections with so many wonderful people I met during my travels and I have seen so many beautiful places.

When I grew up in Chile, a very gray city, in a skinny country surrounded by big mountains and an extremely cold and violent ocean, I always felt trapped and suffocated by the geography and for what I thought it was a very limiting society. It seemed like there was no escape. I felt so much pressure from "the people". I felt like I needed to fit in this very narrow mold to be able to be accepted and do well in Chilean society. I was feeling stressed, very depressed and unhappy. But luckily I didn't want to settle in conformism and I found the strength to pursue expansion, happiness and fulfilment for myself. Every trip I did on vacation before I decided to leave Chile, showed me new horizons and possibilities, and they had the effect of motivating me to keep going and keep searching for a way to liberate myself from the pressures of fitting in that mold that wasn't designed for me.

I finished my studies in one of the most prestigious Universities in Chile just because that was what I was supposed to do. But I wasn't happy and a call that was loud and clear, I didn't want to be in front of a computer for the rest of my life and consumed by a stressful job. I needed to start my own search for happiness, so I applied to a very special school of acting and theatrical creation and got in. It was one of the most transformative experiences of my life. It was there where I learned to see the world with a different perspective, I reconnected with my inner child, I discovered my potential, increased my self esteem and learned to be disciplined, to work hard, to be a team player, but I also learned to stand for myself and seize every moment and opportunity, among many other wonderful tools for life. It was hard but absolutely worth it. I didn't know at the time but, those two intense years in "La Mancha, International School of Image and Gesture" was what I needed to be ready for the biggest discovery in my life: BIKRAM YOGA.

Since 2008, after practicing my very first class my world has turned upside down for good. One thing led to another, I moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, then I went to Bikram Yoga Teacher Training in L.A., became a traveling yoga teacher, I learned English on the way (a thing I refused to do for years and years, as it just seemed an impossible achievement) and finally settled down and started my family here in Texas. Now I also teach other styles of Yoga and Hot Pilates and I am very happy and grateful for my life and every single person I met on the way and every single part of this amazing journey.

I had realized recently that at this point I have been teaching in Texas, and specifically at PURE Yoga Dallas longer than in any other place. I LOVE IT! Here I have found home, there is no doubt that here is where I belong. I just feel so proud to be part of the PURE Yoga family.

I think my teaching style has been influenced not only by my own life experience and yoga practice, but also by all the different cultures, people, teachers, students, studios I had visited along the way. I hope you can find motivation to expand your world by traveling more and being open to learning from people with different backgrounds. Actually you don't have to travel far, you can do it here at the Yoga Studio. I am always open to share time/thoughts/experiences with y'all and please, just look around, we have a wide variety of students practicing every day at PURE, there is so much to learn from each other. We just need to be more open, opportunities are everywhere.

By the way... Are you coming to my next SPANISH/ENGLISH Yoga Class?

It could be an amazing chance to expand your world and it really is so much fun! Half In English, Mitad en Español. The classic 26&2 series you love with more encanto y sabor.