Interview with Bianca - Yoga teacher
A partner in our Astro-ludiques yoga stays, Bianca has been teaching yoga for almost 20 years. Trained at the École Française de Yoga de Lille, she also studied at the Institut des Arts de la Voix to learn the yoga of sound.
For Bianca, the practice of yoga is above all an individual experience: through movement and breath, she invites everyone to become fully aware of their bodily sensations, and in so doing, to find the path to their inner self.
Bianca, can you tell us what kind of yoga you practice?
Although there are many variations, the yoga we practice in the West is still known as Hatha yoga, i.e. a practice based on postures (also known as asana yoga). There are in fact several currents of Hatha Yoga, corresponding to different teaching lineages. Breathing is central to my practice, and my classes are always adapted to the profile of the participants.
How do you adapt your lessons when your students' profiles are not homogeneous?
In reality, differences in level between people are no problem at all, because the practice of yoga is always personal. To guide my students, I don't just show them postures to imitate. On the contrary, I guide them with my voice, so that they can concentrate entirely on their bodily sensations. This is one of the fundamental principles of yoga: the senses, which are usually turned towards the outside world, are invited to turn inwards. In this way, everyone can develop their own body schema and improve their proprioception, i.e. their perception of their own body and its movements.
You're also a practitioner of sound yoga, what exactly is it?
Sound Yoga is a tradition based on mantras, which are sacred Sanskrit formulas. The mantras are chanted, but the aim of this practice is not to sing in tune. Rather, the idea is to free the voice to resonate with the vibration of the mantra. When I give a yoga class, I always end with a meditation, and sometimes I add a mantra. There are many, and I always choose them according to the person and how I feel at the time.
The workshops you run at the Moulin are coupled with introductory astrology workshops. Why such an association?
To understand the connection between yoga and astrology, we need to remember the inseparable links between body and mind. Yoga teaches us that it's possible to influence the mind through the body, and vice versa. What's more, we've known since ancient times that our bodies are composed of the same matter as the stars. As Hubert Reeves put it, " We are stardust ", so there's a link between our bodies and the universe, and astrology confirms this. Our birth coincides with a certain configuration of the planets, and drawing up our natal chart gives us the opportunity to know our strengths, but also to identify potential obstacles on our path through life. In turn, yoga can provide concrete solutions to these obstacles or difficulties. To put it another way, yoga offers the possibility of resolving the problems of the mind through the body. When we perceive the power of the link between body and mind, we realize just how interconnected everything is: we can then break out of duality and rediscover unity and harmony.
Finally, can you tell us about your meeting with Marie-Pierre?
Marie-Pierre already had this workshop project in mind when she contacted me, and I was very touched by her enthusiasm. And as "chance" does things (very) well, this project immediately resonated with me, as I had already made the link between yoga and astrology. In fact, there was something necessary about this meeting, which became clear when we realized that we were neighbors (I live only five minutes from the mill!). I then met Maïthé, and the complementarity between her approach and mine definitely convinced me to take part in this project. I must also say that the Moulin de Salazar offers an ideal setting for this kind of activity: it's a real blessing to be able to practice yoga in such a place!
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