June Ambassador: Marco Vinci

Welcome Marco to the blog!! He’s our latest Yoga Ambassador.

As a studio owner, I have the opportunity to meet some of the most beautiful souls in the world. When people walk through our front doors my heart lifts and jumps every single time I meet someone new. Especially if they are full of love, laughter and happy vibes. Marco is JUST THAT PERSON. He walked into my life just a few months ago and I can’t quite remember the Shala without him. His happiness spills over his mat onto others and his strong, fierce practice is something to marvel at. I cannot wait to teach, practice + play with him all year in our teacher training and watch as he explores this new avenue in life.

I am so excited to present his interview and dig deeper with all of you to get to know Marco a little better!! Without further ado…

1) How long have you been practicing yoga?

My yoga journey started 3 1/2 years ago, December 21, 2012. Yes 12/21/2012, the same day the Mayan calendar ended. I’ll always celebrate this day as a holiday of spiritual growth and renewal.

2) What drew you to the mat?

The universe gave me an open invitation to come and play. The open heart and divine love of another. My first instructor and long time family friend, Marlena Bruno, summoned me to a remote location before she built Mantra Yoga Studio. The poses were extremely challenging and at times defeated a number of claims I had through my personality dominating ego. The 10-15 minute savasana felt like an eternity of bliss. Through guided meditation, I could feel my mind body and soul unify after missing that connection throughout my entire adult life and most of my childhood. Divinity drew me to the mat and calls me back every day since.

3) If you could tell your pre-yoga self anything, what would it be?

Enjoy the junk food lifestyle while you still can. Pretty soon you will question everything you were once sure of until the weeds of what is are ripped up to become what was. All that will be left is vacant soil to begin anew. You will manifest most everything through positive affirmation and by attracting it with good intention. The only thing proven about hard work is that it’s simply hard.

4) What do the words SOUL WARRIOR or SPIRIT JUNKIE mean to you?

A Soul Warrior is one who fights for justice through the ethics of their spiritual being. A man or woman who can see into themselves what is truly calling. To be just on a spiritual path is to be honest with oneself. A Soul Warrior can pick out the rouse of ego driven behavior and replace it with intuition and love. Soul Warriors know the value of saluting the sun. Being the sun in someone else’s life should be the goal of any Soul Warrior.

5) Why did you choose to practice at Barefoot Yoga Shala?

BYS has the best energetic frequencies out of all the yoga studios I have downward dogged my way into. It feels like a loving family lived in this Shala and had yoga dinner together everyday. I can’t say enough about how good it feels to practice in this space. The people who invest their energy, sweat, and time into the Barefoot Yoga Shala everyday are the reason I choose to practice here.

6) What’s your favorite pose?

Toes Pose. Because it’s equally fun to say as it is sensationally painful to hold. I remember wanting to cry the first time I sat on top of my heels with my toes buried in the ground. The benefits of toes pose appeared to me immediately after the instructor showed mercy and said we could hop off. This showed me the light to cleansing by facing your own negative thought. Wrenching through the joints of my little piggies made space where there once wasn’t. If I can improve the base in which I support my entire body in 90 seconds, what else can yoga do for me?

7) Tell us a fun fact about you that we wouldn’t expect!!

I collect vinyls. Even though I pay for a Spotify account and have over 1000 songs on my iPhone, I prefer to listen to music through a record player. The first time I listened to the Rush album Moving Pictures on vinyl, my media preference was made up. The sound is undeniably richer. Geddy Lee’s bass riffs in the epic classic YYZ never sounded better. It is something you can only really know for yourself once you try it.

Thank you, Marco for coming into my life! I am lucky to know you.

Love Sweet Love + Happy Vibes!
Namaste
Jenny

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