Humans of Ōtautahi - Kotte
Kotte - Sydenham
“I think a lot of my struggles came from my own experiences, which are a direct link to my upbringing. But I refuse to run away from hardship and challenges, mainly when I’ve done nothing wrong. I have this thing where from suffering, I think I create the most beautiful things. So I’m grateful for my pain.
“Seeing the therapist is horrible. I hate her, but I love her – because I’ve seen through her why I deserve healing. I think my desire to help comes from the help I needed.
“I was born in Argentina. I was raised in Chile, and I moved here when I was 18.
“I’ve been heavily influenced by the Kiwi culture; I believe it’s because I wanted to learn about it and my interest in te reo. I think the more I showed interest, the more doors were opening for me because people could see that I wanted to learn.
“One of the big things was the earthquakes. The impact on people’s mental health and the impact of yoga in my life forced me to share it. I’m paying it back. I owe yoga to share it because it saved my life. And I think I owe that to the 13-year-old me, the kid with bad experiences. Shouldn’t we all take an issue we care about and turn it into something good? Why wouldn’t I teach kids in prison? Or in the hospital?
“I recently got a phone call from a yogi. I met him in 2014 at Te Puna Wai Youth Justice Centre; he was on a really bad path. He phoned telling me that he’s 25 now, and he said to me, ‘the tools that you shared with me I use up until this day.’ Almost 10 years later, the fact that he wanted to tell me that it’s like I became a very small part of this kid’s life. What a privilege.
“Your vibe attracts your tribe. I think authenticity makes people come back. The people that come to yoga and to my events are people that can just relate with me. I know my values and my worth now. People come and go, and sometimes our values won’t align. That’s okay. I’m not going to follow the crowd; I kind of refuse to.”