This was such a fun interview with my friend Mariana Suarez where we talk about our friendship, the journey of yoga and how it has contributed to a more empowered life and how to support kids and teens through yoga and wellbeing practices.
Mariana shares her journey of finding yoga through her pregnancies, how she trained as a Dru yoga teacher and then a Dru kids yoga teacher. She never expected to teach kids and teens, but the universe kept giving her signs, which resulted in her creating a programme for teen girls based on the concept of a women's circle. This highly successful programme has lead to the creation of her latest venture - The Teen Villa, an online space for teens to connect, grow and contribute.
She shares what teens can do to support their own wellbeing, as well as what parents can do. And ultimately, she shares that life is really really simple and gives us beautiful insights into finding what is most important for each and every one of us.
Mariana Suarez is a Certified Dru Yoga Teacher, who has been sharing her passion and love for Dru Yoga with hundreds of people that regularly come to her classes since 2012 and is currently doing a Dru Postgraduate Mastery Course. She loves to expand herself with continuous self-development, education and experiences in yoga, meditation, spirituality, and nature as our main tool for healing.
Mariana is also a Dru Kids and Teens teacher as she is a true believer in the power of the younger generations to heal our world. She has brought the gift of yoga and mindfulness to girls in the Melbourne Youth Justice Centre as well as children of all ages in child cares, primary schools and high schools. She volunteers some of her time to support the Shine Program for girls.Â
She is the creator of The Whole-Hearted Girl & Teen Program, a monthly space for teen girls to learn simple tools and practices (like yoga, mindfulness, meditation and others) to manage their emotions, reduce feelings of stress and anxiety while cultivating authentic connections and deep friendships. She is recently working on a new venture called The Teen Villa, a space for teens around the world to connect, grow and contribute.
Find Mariana here:
Instagram:
You can listen to it on Sound Cloud over here.