MEET US & OUR TEAM

MEET ROSA!

I definitely did not have a normal upbringing, my childhood until early 20's was a rock star rollercoaster of highs and lows. Born and raised in Oaxaca, Mexico by two women I see as my role models - my mother, Gudelia and my grandmother, Rosa - the way I vividly remember them the most is through their love in cooking as I would spend long hours in the kitchen, exploring and preparing meals together. From them I also learned what loyalty and unconditional love means in family, friendship, and in life - these tools have been engraved in my heart and by living them, I feel their presence and I know they are with me, always.

THE EARLY TRAINING

When I took my college studies in central Mexico, I suddenly discovered that my mom was very sick. Before I had the chance to process it all, her health rapidly deteriorated to the point where I decided to take a break from my studies and come home, as I wanted to be there for her. Instead, I had to cross the border to USA, to earn money to support my mother's medical bills, tests, and treatments and this led me to my first job as a dishwasher in a Mexican Restaurant. After a couple of months, I managed to send enough money for her to get treated and take the necessary diagnoses - which revealed that she had a malignant tumor and immediate surgery was her only option. But, she didn't survive the surgery. All this happened in what felt like the blink of an eye to me.

THE INTUITION AND CURIOSITY

I was 21 when I lost my mother. With $20 in my pocket and a one-way ticket, I decided to return to USA. With holding one piece of advice from my mother - "Get up each morning and make the new day better than the day before" - I started working hard and gradually I gained my resilience and independency. Over the years, I eventually found myself in a place where I had a decent job, good loving friends and even married to a good man - an ideally perfect life in my head - but deep down, I felt empty.I divorced my husband and suddenly I started to suffer from chronic back pain, overweight, allergies, digestive problems, and weak immune system to name a few. This was the turning point in my life. I was depressed, angry, and frustrated with my life. I knew I needed help; I needed to heal my body. My doctor recommended medications and I did that but the painkillers didn't work and only created more damage to my body -  a friend recommended me to exercise and I did. I tried many different things and nothing really seemed to work until I found a Bikram Yoga studio. I honestly didn't have any knowledge of yoga until then but I was curious and desperate so I tried it, and my first class was horrible! Pretty much similar to most people's experience but it was also the first time I slept all night long without pain - that was the reason I kept coming back and in no time, with regular practice, I started to see results and was amazed by them. I  had just discovered my other and ultimate passion in life: Yoga.

BUILDING UP

I was 38 years old and finally feeling like my body was starting to look the way I always wanted - that gave me confidence and satisfaction, though on the inside, I was still a mess and I knew, I had to keep working towards the realization of my dreams. I spent a lot of time and money learning about the benefits of yoga - seeking teachers to help me and guide me to go deeper into my yoga practice.

I changed my diet, quit my job as Operations Manager in a Hilton Hotel and became a certified Medical Interpreter, working in the medical field amongst doctors, psychologists, a wide range of therapists, nutritionists and all kinds of holistic practitioners allowed me to expand my knowledge of how the body works and the connection between mind and body. Healing is such an exciting process! Working as an interpreter allowed me to find out how much I love helping others on their journeys towards wellbeing and happiness. The pieces of the puzzles started to connect on me. I was determined to continue healing myself and helping others at the same time.

I was again in a place of joy - I was 43, feeling pain free and took my very first professional yoga teaching training with Bikram Choudhury and since then, I have continued seeking senior teachers, learning as much as I can at any given time and possibility through seminars, teaching trainings, workshops and private mentors. I ended up opening my own yoga studio with another yoga teacher but unfortunately the business idea didn't work out and I lost my investment. It was another lesson that took me a lot of time to recover from, but this time I had the tools: my yoga saved me! I took my belongings and decided to leave my town, Seattle WA and travel the world, carrying only my backpack full of yoga clothes. I travelled non-stop, teaching yoga, spending all of my free time and money exploring and studying all forms of yoga, to name a few of my certifications and experiences are as follows:

Inside Yoga Teaching Training, Ubud Bali, Indonesia with Sarah Powers

e84 Teaching Training, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia with Esak Garcia

Bikram Yoga at Bikram Yoga College of India, Los Angeles, CA with Bikram Choundhury

Ashtanga Vinyasa at Sthalam8 Yogashala, Mysore with Ajay Kumar

Pranayama Breathing at Mysore Krishnamacharr Yoga Foundation with Guriji Sri B.N.S. Iyengar

Kids Yoga, Yin Yoga and Raw Food certification in Bali and Jakarta, Indonesia at different schools with several senior teachers

Meditation and Hatha Yoga in HridayaYoga Center, Mazunte, Mexico

Reiki Master with Deborah Miller and Sammamish Medicine at Bastyr University in Washington State, USA

I LOVE MY LIFE!

My greatest achievement was marrying my soulmate, Gry, we reside in her native Denmark, together with our two beautiful daughters. We both love cooking, yoga, and sharing our passions, which lead us to launching Pacati Yoga.

I can see now the map of my life. Tracking back the parts where I fell down and the lessons I learned, I can honestly say that I would do it all over again because every single event in my life has taught me something good, something very valuable about who I am and what my real purpose in life is. I am proud of myself and the choices I made. Today I am in peace, yet, I know that I still have a lot to learn and grow - this motivates me to get up each morning with a smile and open my heart to welcome whatever comes my way with gratitude. When I am not in the yoga room I love spending time in my new business adventure doing private tequila tasting with tequila-tasting.dk .

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MEET GRY!

I was always 'my own' from an early age - curious, loved to explore and didn't care much about blending in - yet my childhood was filled with good memories shared with my parents and my siblings. Born and raised in Denmark, in a house filled with the melody of my father's trumpet and the warmth from my mother's passion for teaching, I grew up loving music and books.

THE BEGINNING

I was the odd, bright girl in jeans and sweatshirts amongst all the other girls wearing dresses. Not blending in, I was an easy target for bullies and most of my years in school until the age of 15 was tough. Even though the bullying at times was really hard to cope with, it also forced me at a young age to mature and learn how to stand for what I believe. At 15 I got my first after-school job in a local supermarket where I met a very special lady who took me under her wing, with patience and kindness - teaching me everything she knew about life, hard work, and the importance of standing up on my own two feet. I looked up to her as my mentor and as my friend. I learned and gained trust within myself, the way she believed in me even when I doubted myself. I brought that with me when I entered business college, met a man whom I married and made New Zealand my home for two years.

BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE

24 was the age I was blessed with my first child and my second arrived 3,5 years later. In between I lost two babies and found myself asking for divorce 6 months through my pregnancy. So, there I was, a single mom with a 3,5-year old daughter and her sister who wasn't yet born. It was definitely foreign to me and therefore challenging, yet, my two daughters showed me strengths I never knew I had and fears on a level I didn't know existed.

One evening when my daughters were 5 and 8 years old, I got hit by another car and I had a serious whiplash injury. I was in and out of physiotherapy treatments, sessions with rheumatologist and neurologist over the next year - strong painkillers were my only option for relief. I desperately needed to find something that would give me more than just temporary relief. This led me to yoga. Bikram Yoga. I was intrigued from the first class, though I felt like I could hardly do any postures but it turned out this was exactly what my post-injury body needed. A slight relief on certain muscles, certain movements, less pain and in time, I began to feel my body growing stronger. I knew then that my body was in the right process of healing.

After some time, I found my confidence back and started exploring and actually living in my physical body again - that was when I found and fell in love with Yin Yoga. What a sensation I felt in my body! It freed up heaps of energy from my tissues that wanted to move through in a rather subtle way. I also felt calm and balanced - it was like the perfect complementary to the nature of Bikram Yoga which is constantly changing, moving, and dynamic. I knew then that I wanted to deepen my own practice and I decided to get trained as a teacher with the hope of sharing my healing journey with others that I created for myself first. In October 2017 I took a 200 hour Yin Yoga teacher training in Bali with Jo Phee and Joe Barnett (both senior teacher from Paul Grilley) - a super intense training, mixing the insights of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Anatomy with that of Yin Yoga.

I have always been passionate with making a difference for other people and to make the world a better place, by bringing with me my experience working with human rights and sustainability in the professional industry, yoga somehow completes the big picture that connects my passion and my purpose in life on a deeper and meaningful way.

THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE

My experiences thus far have led me to the place I am today with the invaluable support of my dear parents who were there for me through rough times. Today I'm lucky to be healthy, deeply connected to my body, a mom of two wildly beautiful daughters, married the love of my life - the amazing Mexican Rosa - who I will share my forever with! We launched Pacati Yoga together with the hope of creating a platform for sharing and healing. This, all this, still gives me goosebumps to recognize the serendipity in what has taken both of us to arrive at this point in our lives. I have spent many years on a journey to find peace with myself, with my body post injury and I know intimately what it feels like to be out of balance, unsettled, and unsure. Nobody should live in that space for too long. Life is beautiful, too beautiful to be anything other than your healthiest and happiest version of you! It will be an honor to welcome you and witness each other's growth and healing as we embark on this journey called life together.

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MEET OUR TEAM