Interview

1. How do you balance your leadership role in the trade union with your role as a yoga instructor, and do you see any synergy between these two responsibilities?

I must confess that yoga has helped me in my life. As part of being a trade union leader, this has actually reinforced me has helped me to overcome difficult situations, which I may be facing with the present, which I may have faced or which I may be facing in the future. Yoga is a way of life. By implementing yoga in my life, it helped me in my leadership position and everything else in my life, in my free time, physical, mental health, and even my energy.

So all in all, I think it boosted my leadership skills to listen more, and be more of a mediator and be more focused on my work.

2. In what ways have you worked to improve the representation of the LGBTIQ+ and non-EU Spanish speakers within the GWU?

So in my line of work, I meet a lot of different workers who hail from different groups and minorities. A group, which I had focused and always try strive to help out being I am part of them as well, is the LGBTIQ community. This, in fact, I have been involved in the LGBTIQ consultative council when there were policy making for the equality marriage, for better fair treatment, gender recognition, I was involved in these consultations. I am still involved in this consultative body, which is a national body, and also in my life of work and in my day to day practice, I meet people who may come to terms with difficult situations in the line of work because of their sexuality or gender identification. Often, it is a question of individual cases which we handle. And also as a union, I have strived and implemented an equality policy, which encapsulates more equality for our members and employees. Furthermore, in our line of work, in collective agreements, I make sure that collective agreements are in the plural so they do not identify a person with their gender or sexual orientation so people are treated equally, like they are workers regardless of their ethnicities and other groups and other labels. So it's a day to day thing. And for the Spanish speakers being fluent in Spanish, I help with the interpretation of the language and guide them accordingly where the in different countries, they have different legislation. And I try to guide them the legislation and in this country.

And being then once they have someone who can interpret the legislation in their own language, they can understand better and help them to get out of abuse they may encounter at work, which unfortunately, with their country nationals hailing from Spanish speaking countries, I have met several who were being abused and we assisted them along the way.

3. With mental health being a significant concern in various workplaces, how do you believe yoga contributes to the mental well-being of employees?

I do agree. It is a significant issue nowadays. Thank god, there is more awareness about it, although there is still taboo. I encourage people to speak up, but yoga can help you individually. Yoga helps to calm the mind, just let go and accept the situation and it's a way to be in the present and not your mind be always in the past or what have I done, how could I have done and solve that situation, Ifs and buts and what happen a lot of anxiety, what will happen? Yoga will help you, listen, you're living this moment. All we have in this world is just this moment, the present moment. We don't know what will happen in the future. We don't know, we cannot solve what happened in the past. We can only live now and that's why we call it a present because it's a gift. So yoga really helps you to just accept and let go.

4. How does your varied educational background in communications, philosophy, and sports contribute to creating a holistic yoga experience for your students, and are there particular elements you prioritize to support their well-rounded development?

Yes, they were essential education and my skills communications helped me with understanding more people, listening and further more understanding how organizations work and how to use different medias of communications, which nowadays you cannot do without. Philosophy enabled me to understand more yoga. Yoga is not just physical, it's a whole life. There's a lot of philosophy involved in it. Nowadays, I'm striving more to understand more the eastern philosophy that yoga has. So I had a good background, educational background which helped me to become a yoga teacher. And sports helped me with the physical part of yoga, which enabled me to get my yoga certificate, international certificate to teach everywhere.

In fact, sports has helped me as well to understand poses and how to help people not to get injured. If the technique is not perfect, it's fine. We're there for our own good. It's not a competition, but I don't want my participants to get injured. So I'm always there to understand and help them physically and my philosophy background helps me to enable people to even relax more and speak up more so they can relax more for their mental experience and regain their energy. So they will have a balance in body mind and energy spirit.

5. What message would you like to convey to the general population about the benefits of yoga, and how it can positively impact their overall well-being?

First of all, I'd like to say that yoga is not gymnastics or athletics. It is your own journey. I have participants who are 77 year olds who come. I adopt the poses according to what the person needs. Every day is different. Today you might be the best at all the poses you do tomorrow, you might be feeling a little bit sick, you have some thoughts, and you cannot do many of the poses and it's fine. It is there for you, yoga, is there for you to make you feel happy, not happy; in bliss, in present, accepting, and to live life in a better way, accept the present, be present and be healthy, not only in body, not only mental, but even energy wise because sometimes you meet people and they say I don't know what to do in my life, I feel lost. Yoga will help you to find that path as well and to feel connected and that you are not alone in this world. I encourage people to do yoga in their own time, at least 5 minutes a day, so they can live a better life.