Marina Buedo: «Yoga is a really powerful tool»
Conscious TV
June 22, 2021
"Never forget the power within you. Bring out this power as when, each time you met the darkness, you learned from it to celebrate and radiate light. What you say to yourself is EVERYTHING. We are no more or less than any other being on the planet. Maybe we all know this already. Maybe we don't. We are all ONE. And in the end, we are all walking towards the same destination. Let's do it better together." Marina Buedo.
We start today's post with the reflection that our yogi Marina Buedo makes on her Instagram account for International Women's Day. I'm sure you've been wanting to know more about her. Here you have the interview that the girls from our team have done with her.
When did you enter the wonderful world of yoga and what made you start practising it?
I started practising yoga a little over five years ago, although I had already heard about it from my sister many years ago (when, ignorant of me, I used to laugh at her when I saw her practising "those weird postures"). I started out believing that it would be a good remedy to relieve the stress and anxiety I was suffering from, and indeed, it did help, but I would never have imagined then where it would lead me.
It changes a lot of people's lives - has it happened to you, and what are the benefits?
Of course! Few people remain the same person before and after maintaining a consistent yoga practice (because, sorry, just a couple of classes won't do!).
The benefits I guess come from the whole set of changes you bring to your life through knowing yoga (when you start to know yourself, to listen to your body, to maintain a healthy diet, etc).
I have noticed hundreds of benefits, but the most significant is the one that has happened in my mind and spirit, I am a very different person to how I was before and how I took things or reacted to what happened to me. I think yoga has made me see everything more clearly.
Which style of yoga do you like the most and why? If you practice several styles, which are they and when do you practice each one?
I have practised different styles over the years. The one I practice at home and the one I usually look for when I go to a studio is traditional Hatha yoga or Vinyasa Flow (I like the dynamism and I enjoy the movement, although I like to combine the static Asanas and keep them with the flow and the coordination of the body with the breath).
What is your perfect time to do your personal practice?
Normally, morning is my favourite time for meditation, it's like a preparation to design the day the way you want it and attract positive experiences into your life. For Asana practice, I don't have a favourite time of the day, any time is good! Although I might prefer after breakfast or mid-afternoon when it starts to get dark and the atmosphere is quieter and there is less noise.
What made you want to become a yoga instructor?
After I had been practising for a few months, I went through something in my life that marked me forever, the suicide of a person really close to me. It was a very hard time, but the practice of yoga helped me to feel good again and to heal an emptiness that I didn't know how to deal with. So, if something was healing me in that way, I realised that it was a very powerful tool and I wanted to dedicate myself professionally to something that I knew could help many people.
How did you start your Youtube channel? Tell us about your experience, approach, how you integrate yoga into social media, feedback from your followers, what style you like the most, what do users find on your channel that is different from other Youtube profiles, etc.
A year before I officially started the channel, I had the idea of doing online yoga classes in different places around the world. At that time, a Kickstarter-style platform was gathering people who wanted to fund your travels if you were working on a project related to your wanderings around the world. But as I was still studying my degree at the time, I had to postpone it. When I finished university, this platform no longer existed, so I started making videos at home (ok, the scenery wasn't spectacular, but sometimes you just have to start, using whatever you have at the time).
I try to approach it as something away from the cliché "boring, serious or old people", because, everyone will feel the benefits of yoga, but many times, because of these prejudices, some people never start.
Conscious TV was born with the intention of bringing the practice of yoga to everyone, what would you say to a person who is thinking about starting to do yoga?
I would tell them that it's great that they have started! And to have a lot of patience and not to get frustrated if something doesn't work out the way your mind was thinking at the beginning. Not to get carried away by patterns ("I want to do what this girl does", "I want to look like her", etc), comparing yourself to someone else can be very harmful and toxic, besides, everyone is different and everyone has their own path, and we have to learn to enjoy ours!
Part of the yogi-mood is food, how do you eat, what are your routines?
Well, eating routines, apart from warm water with lemon in the morning, that's all I have. I've been eating a vegan-vegetarian diet for five years now, and I eat everything, and I especially love trying food from different countries (and well, vegan burgers are awesome!).
In Conscious TV we bet for working the mind-body-spirit tandem. Do you think so too? What do you think? (I mean, many people practice yoga from a deeper and more spiritual plane, as part of a personal growth path and others as "simple fitness").
Well, for me there is no fitness yoga or spiritual yoga. Yoga is a spiritual science or pseudo-science. And if your practice is based only on doing Chaturanga Dandasana, planks or the pine tree, for me, personally, that is not yoga. It's acrobatics, it's fitness, it's healthy living, it can be many things. But for me, that is not yoga.
Do you practice meditation, do you understand meditation as part of your practice, or do you think it should be practised independently? Tell us how you practice it.
Yes, I practice meditation because it is something that I believe is medicine for the mind and soul, and it is so transformative, I wish more people would take up the practice! Sometimes I practice it before the Asanas, and sometimes independently. But meditation in the morning is almost sacred and I find it very hard to do without it.
What skills do you feel yoga has given you that help you in your daily life?
On a physical level, I am stronger and more flexible than ever! And that doesn't mean that I am able to do super advanced postures, but all the benefits behind it: a healthy and strong body is more difficult to get sick, it ages more slowly, etc. But the changes on a mental and emotional level are much more deeper. I react to things differently, and in the end, that's what it's all about. sometimes we can't help what happens to us, but ALWAYS how we react to them.
What is your relationship with your own body and what changes have you experienced since you started practising yoga?
Now I know myself better, I accept myself as I am and I start to know how to listen to it. When you understand that our body is wise, you realise that it is constantly sending us signals. Then, it is much easier to take care of yourself and stay healthy (you notice what is good for it and what is bad for it and hurts us, and staying healthy is not an effort, but you yourself know what is good for it and what is not, and you no longer feel like, for example, getting drunk as if there were no tomorrow).
Do you think yoga makes you happier?
Definitely, of course! As I said before, we can choose how we take things. So we can be happy and be happy constantly if we really want that. And this is something that can be learned (although it obviously takes effort).
Why do you think yoga is attracting so many people?
I guess some advanced Asanas started to be seen as very cool thanks to the rise of social media. This is good because more and more people have wanted to start practising and getting into yoga, but the downside is the misinterpretation of the practice.
Recommend a yogi reading that changed your life.
Books about yoga have taught me a lot, but I don't think any of them can claim to be "life-changing". However, I recommend The Book of Yoga, by Suami Vishnu Devananda, which is very comprehensive and a-must for anyone who wants to learn more about yoga.
Share with us a quote (phrase, proverb...) that is your "life inspiration", something that moves you, excites you.
When you feel that something is not going as it should - I mean, as you would like it to be - take a long, deep breath in and a long, deep breath out. Come back to your breath and to the present moment. In the end, it's all about how we take things. A change of attitude means freeing ourselves from unnecessary worries, conflicts and bitterness.
Also, in the end, remember that everything is going to be fine.