I met Gaia about two years ago. We had first crossed paths on Instagram, she was traveling around the world teaching yoga. As soon as she returned, she contacted me and we arranged to meet. From there, we never left each other: thanks to her, I rediscovered my love for yoga and the well-being I get from it, and together with Gaia, we built the Selvaticum Atelier.

Hi Gaia! Where and when were you born? 

I was born in Piombino on December the 11th 1979 at 11:50 p.m. under the sign of sagittarius, it was a Tuesday and the moon was in its last quarter. 😏

How did you get into yoga?

I approached yoga for therapeutic purposes, I was looking for a solution to states of stress and anxiety accompanied by panic attacks during the day and sometimes at night. My therapist advised me to try a Yoga class to deal with the emotional walls that had quickly become real curtain walls.

What in particular motivated you to practice before you became a teacher?

The thing that inspired me the most was the therapeutic power of conscious breathing. From my first classes as a practitioner, I experienced the power and benefits of mindful breathing through some simple Pranayama techniques. Even without practicing the asanas (postures), the breath gave me energy, presence and vigor on a physical level but especially on a mental level. When you experience panic attacks during sleep, you wake up with your heart racing and a state of panic that is sometimes paralyzing. Learning to use the breath to calm the mind was a real cure for me during the acute phase of the 'attack, and over time, also to learn how to control one when I felt it coming. Through Pranayama techniques I learned to reduce their intensity until they disappeared. I learned firsthand what it meant "if you control your breath, you control your mind, and if you can control your mind, you will be able to control the rest" (fear, anxiety, frustration, terror, etc.).

This feeling was the engine that brought me to the mat every day, again and again.

The Pranayama teaches how to breathe with presence, through techniques it teaches us how to lengthen, hold and modify the breath to improve the quality of life. Improved breathing promotes attention, concentration, mental and physical balance, can even improve vision and brings serenity and calm.

Why did you decide to become a teacher?

Teaching was not in my plans; I just wanted to deepen my theoretical-practical knowledge of this extraordinary thousand-year-old discipline. In 2012 I decided to participate in a teacher training course in India for this purpose. Those 4 weeks were shock therapy, there were difficult moments, physical fatigue, language difficulties (I was not fluent in English at the time), feeling everything that such an experience brings to the surface being thrown in my face, it was not exactly a vacation but I wanted to grow, wholeheartedly, and I hung in there even though, at the end of the first week I said to myself, Did that experience transform me in just 4 weeks? Yes, profoundly.

By the end of that month I had not become a yoga teacher, sure I could safely teach asanas and Pranayama techniques, but becoming a teacher took years, lots of training and even more experience in the field. The teacher's role for me is an ongoing role, because I myself am in the process of becoming. Keeping the mind of the beginner, the student is crucial.

After those four weeks the "suffering" part of me was gone, I was getting to know totally new, creative, daring sides of me. I had received such valuable teachings and benefits that I decided to start teaching, just to give back a small part of what I had received.

Never in my life had I received such profound teachings that I was able to trigger beneficial and radical changes in such a short time. Of course I was motivated because I wanted solutions, new tools and a new vision of myself. It took all my willpower and a lot of discipline, but Yoga also taught me where to go to find this strength without asking may I? or sorry.

Do you have a yoga "guru" that you always follow?

I don't have a Guru that I follow, the word Guru from tradition can be translated as spiritual guide, master of religious life, worthy of the veneration of disciples. By nature I am not a person who worships, I did not have a myth even as a young girl, let alone a Guru, it does not belong to me.

I am a dedicated practitioner and a passionate teacher, with time and through practice, I have learned to honor and respect my instincts, my inner teacher, and I must say it works wonders. Otherwise, I have a long list of teachers who have inspired my training and creativity in my work. The list becomes very short, however, as far as teachers who have provided me with really good tools for evolution, personal and spiritual growth.

To them goes all my respect and immense gratitude.

What is your yet unrealized dream?

Well of unrealized dreams I have several, I am someone who dreams a lot and does everything I can to turn them into lived life. I am very lucky, in my life I have met amazing people who have helped me turn dreams into reality.

My next dream to achieve? Create spaces where people can return to being human, empathetic, creative, inspired and free from judgment. Containers in which they can forget who they were told to be, and give themselves the time and space to remember who they really are.

There is so much strength in learning to take responsibility for what we feel, what is ours. 

What has Yoga really done for me and why do I recommend trying it at the cost of sounding biased?

It brought me into a new, different space, a space that united because it excluded nothing and valued everything.

Thank you Gaia. 

CURRICULUM

Gaia is a senior teacher at the Tribe International Yoga Teacher Training Registered School.

She teaches teacher training courses around the world.

È una degli insegnanti di www.nosade.com with whom she co-organizes Yoga Retreats in Morocco. With them since 2015 he has been collaborating on the Female Empowerment at Dar Moustqbel: an organization in Marrakech that takes in girls from small rural villages by offering them a home and vocational classes and training, giving them opportunities to grow while fighting gender inequality. Whenever Gaia is in Morocco she volunteers at the center, sharing yoga classes with the girls there who are always very enthusiastic and participative. The energy is wonderful.

The therapeutic aspect of Yoga practice is the pillar on which so much of Gaia's professional offering is based from Yoga therapy programs for The Female within the "Goddess Clan".
Gaia also organizes Pranayama and Yoga Nidra workshops with tailored programs against stress and anxiety.

Gaia was trained in England regarding the protocol Yoga4Health.

The program Yoga4Health was commissioned bythe NHS (national health system in the UK) and designed by experts to help patients improve their health and well-being in a supportive environment. It is particularly aimed at those suffering from stress, anxiety or mild depression.

The Yoga in Healthcare Alliance (YIHA) Yoga4Health program is accredited by the Personalised Care Institute, the accreditation body established by the Royal College of GPs and NHS Improvement for training courses in the areas of social prescribing and social care as part of universal personalized care.

Gaia is currently finishing a specific training called YONI SHAKTHI YOGA THERAPY taught by Uma Dinsmore-Tuli: writer, visionary, radical yogini, advocate of Total Yoga Nidra, eco-feminist activist and author of the famous book Yoni Shakthi.
Yoni Shakti Yoga Therapy (formerly known as Womb Yoga) is the term for yoga that nurtures every aspect of our lives as women. Practicing Yoni Shakti Yoga Therapy means honoring and embracing the original wisdom of your womb, or the energies of the womb space, as the source of feminine insight, connection, and creativity.

If you would like to get in touch with Gaia, you can write to her at gaia.ceccarelli@yahoo.it

To organize a yoga class with Gaia, a retreat, or a workshop at the Gualda Vecchia you can contact us here.