Some time ago, I answered Charlotte Saint Jean’s questions for her site Yoga Chez Moi…

You are the creator of a yoga center in Annemasse – what inspired you to open a yoga & wellness center and why in Annemasse?

Back in France after spending some years in abroad like London, New York, and India, I arrived in Annemasse because of my childhood friend lived there, who shared his life between Annemasse and New York at that time. I immediately felt that this city was in great need of love. For me, to open a Yoga center was the freedom to teach at my own pace and that of my children. After discovering the ideal place in the city center, I did not hesitate for a moment. I immediately knew in my heart that it was the right time for me and the best place to open the first yoga center in Annemasse! Then It was that I met people in great demand for well-being. It’s a fantastic adventure to create a space where people come to do good, listen to each other and practice yoga. It is a privilege for me to help them and to live my passion at the same time.

You teach children, pregnant women and young mothers – what is the main difference for you in your approach to these three categories of yogis?

The difference in approach for these three categories of yogis is their needs, totally different from each one of them! My approach is personalized and I adapt to their needs, I respect their difference. For example, for children, it is about understanding and teaching yoga, respecting their development and rhythm to allow them to flourish, to feel good in their body and to gain self-confidence. For new moms, the goal is to help them through a regenerating practice of yoga to allow them to better recover and thus gradually find their body, their mental and energy balance after pregnancy and childbirth.

Pregnancy accompaniment in yoga can help future moms how?

For future mothers, yoga has many benefits, it is a support that allows them to relieve the small pains of pregnancy to live in peace but also to refuel energy through a practice of postures, breathing exercises and mudra among others. Yoga is there to help them feel at ease in their bodies, which is constantly changing, to return to the essentials and thus fully enjoy their pregnancy, this time to refocus on itself. It’s time to take your time for a gentle practice. This will allow them during the birth to be fully present and the tools they have acquired throughout their pregnancy will take place naturally and they can live serenely not only maternity but also childbirth.

You teach children, pregnant women and young mothers – what is the main difference for you in your approach to these three categories of yogis?

The first month after giving birth is a time to recover and adapt. Once baby is there, you must continue to take care of yourself. We will practice outside the carpet and wait a moment before returning, but yoga is not just postures, it is also the daily actions made in full consciousness. Taking the time to sleep when your baby sleeps, for example, allows you to rest and regain your strength because the first two months it is especially the lack of sleep that is difficult. And then one day baby smiles and there everything changes, it is as if he showed us that he is ready to go out to meet the world. After childbirth, I advise small movements to moms, breathing exercises and wait at least 2 months before resuming a yoga practice and why not start with postnatal yoga with her baby!

What are the benefits of postpartum practice?

The benefits of postnatal yoga are many: practicing in a center or in a group is the way to meet first with other moms and to connect with his baby by giving him all his attention (without being solicited by phone, laundry, cleaning or internet) which also helps for baby blues. It is an encouragement to relax and to concentrate on itself which will allow them to rest and to mother, perhaps, once back home, incorporate a yogic attitude in his life and in his role of parent. Postpartum yoga helps anchor and strengthen the pelvic floor – smooth pelvic floor work before abdominal work – helps relieve tension in the shoulders and neck muscles, find a better position posture, to reduce stress and generally promotes relaxation.

Interview-Yoga

Can babies also benefit from yoga? How?

Oh yes babies too can benefit from a Yoga practice! From 2 months baby can come to class with his mom. The postnatal yoga classes I teach courses for mom & baby where baby also practices yoga using her mom. Lying on the back to start or held tenderly in the arms of mom, then on the belly and later sitting. These are very gentle movements that are practiced to allow them to sleep longer, to better digest, to offset the time spent in a car seat, cozy, etc. Thanks to these gentle movements and songs, baby moves gently, with gentle stretches to help awaken the world. I use, as for adults, categories of postures that bring each of the specific benefits.

You also propose a form of Yoga Therapy, what is this and for what purpose?

Yogatherapy is actually the heart of my teaching. As S.T.Krishnamacharya said « It’s not the person who has to adapt to yoga, but yoga that needs to be adjusted to each person. » Yogatherapy offers each person to find autonomy (it is the process of empowerment of people) through the application of the philosophy and practice of Yoga in order to progress towards an improvement of their health and of his well being.

Can yoga heal people?

If regaining self-confidence and gaining better mental health is important or essential, then yoga can be treated. Asanas are not prescriptions or medication, being a yoga teacher does not mean being a doctor, even if some are. It is a basic aid that is increasingly recommended by doctors. It is a compliment that allows talking. The practice can also help to relieve the certain body ailments, accompany or be complementary to treatments. More and more health professionals are recommending the yoga practice to their patient. It is a practice, it is not stopped.

This is done alone or is it always necessary?

The yogatherapy practice can be done alone at home, this is the goal by implementing exercises given by the teacher that we see in a particular appointment regularly. But if you prefer, you can also practice Yoga Therapy in groups … You are a mother of three children how you manage to juggle your work/center, your role as a mother and your personal practice? Like all moms I imagine … I organize myself to find my balance and my children, I think studying and practicing yoga helps me to stay connected with myself. Yoga helps me to unify all aspects of my being, being the daughter of my mother, a woman, a mother, a friend, a teacher … The yoga practice allows me to be balanced and to be present in the world.

What are your projects for 2016 and more!?

Ouh la, vast program for 2016, I have many projects that come with some changes too! In 2016, I have plans to organize yoga trips for women in India, to create an Yoga Anatomy module for yoga training, to publish a children’s yoga book, to continue to develop my professional training and even more. many things.

When you are traveling and what are the things you consistently bring with you?

I will not be able to leave without a book, a notebook, pencils and pens, my essential oils, my mat yoga and a half-moon trip!

What will be your words of wisdom or inspiration for all those who seek to do good in their daily lives?

« There is a place in me where I live alone. This is where the sources that never dry up are renewed ». Pearl Buck

Can you give some titles of books that have inspired your way?

Paramahansa Yogananda’s Yogi Autobiography From Here to Nirvana: Anne Cushman’s The Yoga Journal to Spiritual India Holy Cow: Sarah McDonald’s An Indian Adventure The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice by Donna Farhi’s TKV Desikachar Bringing Yoga to Life Sensing feeling and action by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen Relax & Renew by Judith Lasater Just kids by Patti Smith

If you can choose a person with whom to have a snack, who will it be and why?

Take a snack with Indra Devi, so that she tells me about her adventures and her meeting with Krishnamacharya…