MY STORY
One of the first inspiration that brought me to my current path, was my family. My mother placed great importance on a healthy life style. By that she also managed to heal her asthma. Whereas, my father, who is a doctor of medicine, was quite fond of the alternative approaches of TCM, psychomatic origin of illness and the way our thoughts affect our life and health.
Even though, I had these fantastic examples throughout my life, I have not paid too much attention to the lifestyle that I was leading. I was going beyond my boarders overhearing the signals of my body. Thus, I was heading towards a direction that was not in line with my nature, which had an impact on my health. In 2014 I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. As there is no history of the illness being in my family, I’m convinced that the main trigger was my hectic lifestyle.
At that moment, I have realized that I cannot continue to go about my life as I did before and this is where I started changing my lifestyle. This change became my greatest remedy to the challenge that I was facing. Every day, I found out more and more information that showed how little change it takes to influence our body and mind in a positive way.
Not only was my body changing but also my values, priorities and my perspective of life have changed. This is where I have realized that the real me was finally coming out onto the surface. I started to evaluate what I do, why I do it, how and where do I invest my time, and how my actions affect me. All of this has awoken an urge in me to get involved in an activity that I truly believe in. Something that, not only had a meaning for me but also for others. An activity that I could really see myself doing throughout my entire life.
ME AND YOGA
Since my childhood, I was involved in sports, where I have been professionally involved in gymnastics, as well as aerobics. The first time that I got introduced to yoga was in 2001. I have found a book on hatha yoga, which belonged to my grandmother, and started learning the moves and practicing them at home by myself. The more I got involved the more interested I became, so I decided to attend some yoga courses. My sister was also the one that has encouraged me to practice yoga. After her travel and stay in Asia, she has expanded her knowledge of yoga and meditation. Not only was she my inspiration but also an inspiration for my mother. My mother has practiced yoga occasionally throughout her whole life but after my sisters influence she decided to study yoga therapy at the FTVS Charles University in Prague. This fact also helped me to learn more about yoga. Besides physical practice, I was getting more interested in deep yoga philosophy. The more I learned the more I felt closer to it. Finally, I have decided to apply and complete yoga teacher training.
HORMONE YOGA THERAPY
During my yoga practice, I was often looking for some special training and positions that would support and increase the function of the pancreas (which is related to diabetes). I found many positions but not completed series. I was focused in finding a workshop that would help my body to cope effectively with the condition that I was facing. I did a lot of research and after I gathered enough information, I found a workshop (Organ Yoga) that would satisfy my needs. After attending the workshop, I have learned a series of exercise that made my body and soul feel good. However, I wanted to evolve in this field even more and was still looking for something that was even more specific to my problem. When I heard about hormone yoga therapy for diabetes, I became overly excited. I tried to apply for the workshop with a certified instructor; however, the courses were full. Nevertheless, I didn’t give up and when I found out that the author of the book ‘Hormone Yoga Therapy’, Dinah Rodrigues, was coming to Prague, I knew I had to attend, no matter what the circumstances were. Having completed the seminar, I started practicing hormone yoga every day. My sugar levels have started to balance, I started to feel even better than I did. Dinah has left a deep impression on and has helped me find a way to cope with my every day challenge. Her inspiration led me to complete a certification not only in hormone yoga for diabetes but also in hormone yoga for women. Currently, I teach both series (hyt for diabetes and hyt for women).
ME AND NUTRITION
Nutrition has always played an important role in our family. My father, who originally comes from Turkey, a country where food is an important aspect of the social life, loves cooking. As a family that has traveled a lot, our love for food and healthy nutrition allows us to experiment with different types of cuisine.
At some point, nutrition and healthy diet was a subject in my life that I didn’t pay to much attention to. I was consuming a lot of unhealthy food to spare time and get back to my hectic work. I didn’t pay attention to the combination of my food and how it affected my body. Coffee and chocolate were the main source of my energy. However, all has changed when I was diagnosed with diabetes. My doctors have specifically pointed out to me that nutrition is an important aspect that can help balance my sugar levels. They specifically mentioned carbohydrates, I had to start controlling the intake of carbohydrates as they contain a large amount of sugar. This was quite a shock for me as I never interested to know what type of food contains carbs. It was unimaginable for me to say good bye to chocolate, pizza and other food that is high in carbs. However, I got used to the new lifestyle fast. I started preparing my meals carefully, I eliminated sugar, white flour, alcohol and processed food. Additionally, I reduced the intake of caffeine and theine to the minimum. My meal intake became regular with smaller portions, this allowed me to control my hunger. With these regularities I was never too hungry nor never too full. I also started paying attention to the combination of food, the speed rate at which I consumed the food and many other factors that have a large effect on the body.
All these changes had an incredible effect not only on my body but also on my psychological state of mind. It was unbelievable how great and energetic I felt. Not only did my digestion become better but also my hair, teeth and my sleep improved significantly. My skin improved as well, I have long battled skin impurities and I never thought that nutrition can have such a great effect on the skin. Furthermore, the taste of food became more intense. It seemed to me that I was rediscovering new tastes. Eating “real” food, kept me full throughout the day. The urge to consume food that I thought I wouldn’t be able to live with out was gone. These new discoveries made me even more eager to learn the deeper aspects of nutrition, so I decide to take on a nutrition course. The course allowed me to understand how healthy nutrition works and how can we gain energy from healthy foods.
Diverse working experience that I have obtained in different fields, including multinational corporations, has helped me understand people in a better way. thus, allowing me to customize my practices to meet my every client’s needs. My bilingual background, the knowledge of different cultures and long term stay abroad, enables me to enrich my work. I would like to share my experience and my knowledge with people, by helping my clients to find a way for them to feel better and more energetic in this very hectic world of ours.