Ambra Vallo ~ The Dance of Discipline, Yoga, and Spiritual Growth

Ambra Vallo is a renowned yoga instructor with a rich background as a former professional ballet dancer. She hails from an illustrious career in dance, having been part of prestigious ballet companies such as the Royal Ballet of Flanders and has extensive experience teaching yoga, holding certifications in multiple disciplines including Dharma Yoga, Rocket Yoga, and Forrest Yoga. Ambra has also worked with high-performance athletes, sharing her knowledge at football clubs like Aston Villa and Manchester City. Today, she leads a more peaceful life in the countryside of Buckinghamshire, UK, where she continues to teach and inspire through one-on-one sessions and workshops.

Visit Ambra on her website: https://www.ambrasana.com/

Key Takeaways:

• Ambra's journey from ballet to yoga teaches the importance of listening to the body and valuing personal growth over physical achievements.
• The stress of professional ballet instilled a high level of discipline in Ambra, which she beautifully translates into her yoga teachings.
• Yoga is a practice of presence and self-exploration beyond physical poses, and it can facilitate profound spiritual and personal growth.
• Ambra shares the benefits of integrating yoga with athletic training, highlighting the mental and physical enrichment it provides athletes.
• Her teachings reflect a combination of discipline from ballet and adaptability from yoga, promoting a holistic approach to life and practice.

Thanks for listening to this episode. Check out: 👇
8IN8 Ashtanga Yoga for Beginners Course Online- Learn 8 Limb Yoga in 8 Days - Get FREE coupon code for a limited time only (Regular price $88) https://info.nativeyogacenter.com/8in8-ashtanga-yoga-for-beginners-8-limbs-in-8-days/

Practice with Native Yoga Online - New classes EVERY day - Use Code FIRSTMONTHFREE https://nativeyogacenter.teachable.com/p/today-s-community-class

Subscribe to Native Yoga Center and view this podcast on Youtube.

Thank you Bryce Allyn for the show tunes. Check out Bryce’s website: bryceallynband.comand sign up on his newsletter to stay in touch. Listen here to his original music from his bands Boxelder, B-Liminal and Bryce Allyn Band on Spotify.

Please email special requests and feedback to info@nativeyogacenter.com

https://info.nativeyogacenter.com/8in8-ashtanga-yoga-for-beginners-8-limbs-in-8-days/

Chapters

• 0:04 From Ballet to Yoga: Ambra Vallo's Journey of Movement
• 7:07 Evolving Yoga Practices and Their Impact on Personal Growth
• 13:39 Exploring Ancient Yoga Texts and Their Modern Relevance
• 19:17 Exploring Life After Death and Spiritual Continuity
• 23:09 Exploring Intuition and Meditation Through Personal Experiences
• 32:41 Integrating Yoga and Meditation Techniques for Athletes
• 41:44 Exploring Diverse Paths to Spirituality and Personal Growth
• 44:58 The Dilemma of Choosing and Sticking to One Guru
• 46:28 Learning From Diverse Teachers While Honoring Their Unique Contributions
• 54:41 Embracing Diverse Paths to Self-Realization Through Yoga
• 59:31 The Power of Repetition and Lifelong Learning
• 1:03:09 Embracing Yoga as a Journey of Inner Presence
• 1:06:59 Sharing Experiences and Learning from Mistakes

Transcript

Todd McLaughlin: 0:33

Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. So happy you are here. My goal with this channel is to bring inspirational speakers to the mic in the field of yoga, massage, body work and beyond. Follow us at @nativeyoga and check us out at nativeyogacenter.com. All right, let's begin. Hello, welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast, and today, I bring to you a exciting guest. I had such a great time speaking with Ambra Vallo and go visit Ambra on her website, ambrasna.com. Get it. It's cool. I like it. ambrasana.com and then also, you can find her on Instagram at the same handle, and the link is in the description below. And one thing I really enjoyed about this conversation is just how excited Ambra is for yoga and how many different teachers and places she's practiced. I mean, she's talented, and definitely go look her up on the interweb. And I hope that you enjoy this conversation as much as I do, as I did. And thank you for your support. I really appreciate it. The channel is growing and listenership has been expanding, and I'm so excited that you're enjoying it. If you have any feedback for me, send it my way, please. I really am grateful for any ideas that you have. And if there's a guest that you would like to for me to bring on, send me a name and maybe an email of where I can reach them, and I'll reach out and bring your favorite person on. All right, have a great day. I hope you enjoy it. Let's begin. I'm so happy to have this opportunity to meet and speak with Ambra Vallo, Ambra, thank you so much for joining me today. How's your day going so far?

Ambra Vallo: 2:30

Very good. Thank you, Todd, thank you so much for inviting me to the podcast. Is a pleasure and an honor to be here with

Todd McLaughlin: 2:36

you. Well, thank you. You know I have had the opportunity of reading about your bio and your background, and it's really amazing. You've spent years as a professional ballet dancer. You've taken multiple teacher trainings from some of the greatest yoga teachers that we can access these days, such as Dharma Mitra and Larry Schultz from rocket yoga, and Anna Forrest from force yoga. And I notice you've taken many different teacher trainings for long periods, like 500 hours, 300 hour, which is amazing. I love meeting somebody else that is so passionate about yoga. Can you tell me a little bit about your journey as a professional dancer to the world of yoga and how these two have helped you share your passion for movement.

Ambra Vallo: 3:29

Sure, so the first time I practice actually in yoga class, it was when I was 12 years old, one of my ballet teacher, she was a Anusara teacher, and I took my first class when I was really, really young. Then later on, I didn't practice anymore. Once I changed country, because at the age 12, I go to France, the scholarship in one of the ballet school, Rosella high tower, which they are in Cannes in France. So I lived in France for a couple of years, and then I lived for six years in Belgium. I had another scholarship, and then I had the contract with the Royal Ballet of Flandres, that is the royal company, which is in Antwerp in Belgium. And I stayed there. So at the age of 17, I was a professional ballet dancer with that ballet company, and then I had another contract that he was in the UK, in England, in London, and I've been here for 36 years now, like in the UK,

Todd McLaughlin: 4:33

amazing. Wow. I mean, from everything I hear from ballet dancers that are current and ex ballet dancers, or they've, they've retired. It just sounds so intense in terms of the discipline and what you have to put your body through. What was it like for you, navigating all that?

Ambra Vallo: 4:54

It was a great amount of discipline for a very, very early age. And of course, you know, I was living. On my own. So I was, like, homesick quite a lot when I was little. But then it just made me grow faster than a normal kid, I suppose. I mean, 17, I had a full time job. I was like, in a ballet company. And I think the hardest things he was, well, what make the difference? I think, with yoga was the full identification with the body, which was like the instrument of our profession, and it was very, very hard on the body. So from really young age, we experience quite a lot of pain in the body, and we learn to carry on and not to listen too much to the body, but just making sure that we can get to performance and to to be at the top shape of top performance, even if you are not feeling well. And I think that was the hardest part. I think of being a ballet dancer, this constant pressure on the performance and on the on the body, which later on in the years, I'll rediscover back again, like a yoga and the different parts of the yoga really helped me out to feel like comfortable back again, Not only with the body, but of course, with all the different parts of the yoga, like with the breathing and the meditation, find like a calmer state and a better version of myself back again, which helped me to perform better in the ballet as Well, which was great. And then my passion started there. I found this something that I could actually teach to the performer, and that is why I worked for quite a long time with with athletes, with the ballet dancer, with the gymnast, with the martial artists, and especially with footballers, it was one of the first people that I start teaching. It was at meet in the beginning.

Todd McLaughlin: 7:09

That's cool. I saw that you currently teach class now at a football club. Is that true?

Ambra Vallo: 7:15

I used to be the residents, like a yoga teacher at the Aston Villa Football Club. For many, many years, I did that, and now I live in the countryside. We are in the middle of nowhere here in the Buckinghamshire, just in the middle of the fields. So I made the choice of having like a more calmer life here in the countryside and the left Birmingham, and now we are much closer to London, but in the north of London, in the countryside. So I will just do one to one sometime with the footballers, different like a team, but mainly I was with the Aston Villa football team, and during the lockdown with the Manchester City woman, also, I was giving quite a lot of classes with them. Yeah,

Todd McLaughlin: 8:07

amazing. Now, when you made mention about the rigor of being a professional dancer, and that there was a lot of times where you were encouraged to not listen to your body, or to just kind of push, even though it hurt, and just like we're going to perform, have you come across that in the yoga world too?

Ambra Vallo: 8:29

So I suppose, like ballet dancer is very, very similar to gymnasts. And I'm 53 years old, so back then, when I was much younger, when I started, when I was five years old, I think the old system of the itching ballet was it was old fashioned. So it was about like discipline, and it was more forceful. I think now there is much more understanding. And I think the coach they are all have a background of psychology and of nutrition, which, back in the time, it wasn't like that, you know, like back in the time, you know, we were encouraged most of the time, you know, to look in a certain way, no matter what the side effects would be. So you were just asked to look in a certain way, and then it was your own way to get there, which was very, very hard, I suppose, especially if you're speaking to a child, you know. And I think you can do quite a lot of damage, I think,

Todd McLaughlin: 9:40

yeah, yeah. So you, I guess what I'm curious too, though, is that I've noticed that in the yoga world, that there are yoga teachers that are very forceful with the way that they teach yoga, and kind of expect that if you feel pain when you're going into. A position that, oh, it's just the body. It's your mind is more powerful than the body, so don't worry about the body. Don't worry about the pain. Just push through your body's opening. Do you have you found that like, that sounds to me kind of like the older school ballet style where you were just like, No, you perform, but it doesn't sound I don't know. I'm curious, have you found that in the yoga world much over all of your years in different places practicing? Or do you find that it's just so different that it doesn't compare?

Ambra Vallo: 10:32

So fortunately, I think my teachers, they were all very, very kind, supposed with the body. I started actually with Ashtanga, Ashtanga vinyasa, patavi Joy, Ashtanga vinyasa. But my teacher was Michelle Bernard and David Swenson, which they were the old kind of school. Michel Bernard, he actually studied with younger and with patabi Joy, so he had an approach to the practice, which was quite healing. And he allowed us to use the props and the belt and even try to do like shishasana headstand and all that. So I come from that kind of school. And David Swensen, he was very kind as well. And he was like, very careful, you know, in the poses. So I suppose I've been quite lucky with that. Yeah. And then, of course, it was like Sri Dharma Mitra and Larry Schultz. He actually changed and modified a lot of the really severe and kind of traditional sequences to make her a bit more like easier for the Westerner and Anna forest, she come from any younger kind of background, so it's a very, very healing practice. So suppose I've been quite lucky with that, but I can see why you're asking, because I know there are some practice that they are some teachers, and they can force and students into positions, which is, I suppose, is very easy to go into the trap of that, especially if you have a teacher that is telling you that the deeper you go into pose, or like, if you deeper You go in the pose, and the more spiritual you are. Or if you are going into series that they are more advanced, you must be a better person, almost. Or maybe they don't say that, my baby, you think that maybe you can become a better person by achieving certain poses, which I think is completely the opposite. Actually, it's actually completely the opposite, because once you do a pause and you think they're probably you're separating yourself because you think like, oh, if I can do that, and maybe someone else cannot do it, I must be good. And that is like you need to look at the mirror and go like, Oh, here is the ego. And you know, you need to pull yourself back, you know, like into the right road, you know, back again. But it's normal. I suppose a lot of people, they start from a very physical practice, and then with the time, they kind of discover, like, all the different aspects of yoga. You know, we all know in the beginning a bit like the point of the iceberg. And then we discover, for the one, that they want to go a bit deeper you put, you know, you start like snorkeling or deep diving to try to find out more and more. You know, what the real yoga is. But it's already good. I think then people, this starts, you know, some people, they say, like, you know, what the Westerner do is not the real yoga. But I think, in a way, is good that there is a fashion, even if people, they think that is a sport, which I don't think is a sport, because it's a philosophy, is way of living. By a lot of people, they start with that, and very often, then they come in class, and then you start speaking or giving like some reading or even a mantra, or speaking about yoga sutra, Patanjali, or you speak of Sri Dharma Mitra, or you're speaking of my teacher, Anna Forrest. Say that, and then they're asking for more. So they're really interested. So even though they come for the physical part. Slowly they become more and more interested. I think everything depends always on the teachers, because same attract same. So the people you're interested, they want to just go and do yoga. So now they will go to the teacher. They just teach that and but I think there is more and more study now, even on the on the anatomy of the poses and what poses they are good and how to do them in the correct way. While before the we didn't have all this that knowledge. So I think like yoga is changing a lot, at least for the yoga Sana kind of part, there is. Bit more emphasis on the breathing, because now there is all this fashion of breath work of all kind that they kind of transform it and distorted some of them. And you know, like there is all kind of breath work that they are using for different way for some of them, they can be for sport, for deep diving, some to go back, you know, into trial trauma, some to become having better health. But they're all like, you know, like a very ancient gift that be given through generation and through teachers to students for many, many years. Which they come from? The same you know place which they are like. You know Hatha Yoga Pradipika. They are like the the main like texts where you can find all this technique you

Todd McLaughlin: 15:55

mentioned the text Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Can you tell me what you think of some of the really like, All right, so let me like back up a little bit. So maybe a yoga practice that seems really easy. Maybe we could just pick and say, easy to do an asana practice and bend over and maybe touch your knees, kind of like a chair pose. So we say, okay, that's not so scary. Then we open up the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and we read about drawing water up through a little a little tube, and, you know, and then pulling this out, and pushing that out, and all these things that like from, from from my perspective, when I first read it, I was kind of like, what is going on here? And this is such a really interesting book, because it's like an anthropological study of a group of people that were doing stuff before there was electricity, before there was, like entertainment outside of this spiritual like, this really deep, intense longing to go, to go deeper. So I'm really curious, um, what are your thoughts when you read the Hatha Yoga Pradipika? How do you translate that into your current, modern life?

Ambra Vallo: 17:13

No, the Yoga is the main text of the Hatha Yoga, which is, have the five most principal element that asana, pranayama, kriya, Mudra, banda. So it's quite important for the practitioner that won't actually go into all this cleansing technique, but also using energetical law, Mudra, the Seal of energy, which, before they were together, the mudra band and then they separate them. So the people that they are doing a lot of pranayama, I think is one of the main texts that they can see, like the technique, I think is very useful, is a very strange book at the beginning, when you are reading about suppose, under the guide of a guru, or like a good teacher, they can explain to you. I never did all the technique also, because I experiment all like this technique with the Sri dharmamitra, and he taught about all of them. But then we do like the the easier one, which will be like the kapalabati we're doing, like the shiny school we are doing the neti, which is like with water through the nostril, the quite easy one. Or the dauti, which is the very the simple, the simple one, not the the really like complex one, the one with the hot water in the morning, with the lemon and, you know, like, if you're not vegan, maybe with honey or otherwise with agave, or, like, something just to make it, like, a bit sweeter, you know, in the morning, that is the one that's we practice the most. And trataco We did also with Sri Dharma Mitra, with the the candle as the part of the kriya, the other kriya I read. I actually teach them even in the future training. But I don't really like made them like do to the students. I know that they are some places and some teacher training, even in India, where they made them do each one of them now, also some of them. I think we are in a modern world, and you can go like in a clinic, if you want to do like a, you know, like in a gastric wash, or you want to do a colon colony irrigation, you can do this kind of things. But also, we must think that he will. They are very, very old book, and I'm pretty sure, like, maybe, if they were rewriting some of this technique, probably they would transform now, because there are many way even like just brushing the teeth with the hearth and the tool and the finger, you know, or bringing the the finger into the ear. And cleaning the ear. You know, they're like, someone, take it. You're going, why would you do that? You know? And I they're important. They're part of the tradition there. I think is very important that we need to read this book, because they're really important. I mean, Sri Dharma always said that we just need very few book and read them many, many times, yoga sutra, Patanjali, and then the Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. So, like these three book so like, you don't need to have, like a bookshelf full of book that you are not reading, but few of them, and then read them many, many time. So then every time is a bit like watching a movie again and again and again. You can see, like different things. And then, of course, because we change through the years, and we experiment new things, and then we see different things either in the same book, and they are incredible, like, I mean, the sacred scriptures, they are like, timeless, that's amazing. And hatha yoga, pratipika as well. You know, it's quite a complex is a big book, and it's not the easiest one, but if you want, like, all the even breathing technique, all the main creation of that, everything is there. But, yeah,

Todd McLaughlin: 21:14

I agree, it is fascinating. What book are you currently reading about yoga? Or what is a book that you've picked up recently that you've just been blown away by? Because I know it's such a huge topic, and there's so many branches and avenues. Is there something that you've been enlightened by lately?

Ambra Vallo: 21:33

So at the moment, being interested in always, like, you know, spirituality has, like, a very broad umbrella in the ranges whatever is like, getting you close to the Spirit. At the moment, what I'm reading and what I'm like, really interested is what's happened after we die. And there is, I always had from very young age, a kind of feeling that there is no end when we, when we go away from the this life, you know, from this physical body, even she dharma. I remember, like when we were in the in the in the teacher training, was one of the girl lost the mother. It was no long before the training. And you say, like, don't worry, we all will meet again. No one never die. And I remember those words. They were already inside me when I was really little. And I remember when my grandma, she was very old. She was like, 97 or something like that. And she was going like, I'm scared because I gonna die. And remember as a child, I used to say, like, grandma, no, never die. We don't die. And it's something that you always been with me, like, I I know that that is not the end of it. And he was a feeling that I had forever. And then, of course, with the yoga, gets closer and closer, you know, speaking about the real essence, and, you know, like the, you know, like the the parallel life that they are like once we leave the body and, you know, and we have, like, big projects. And we came here like we came here to school to do something, and then we forget, of course, because, like the Maya, and then we forget everything. And then we came in this life to do something, and then we will go back home, back again. And then we have a time that we're gonna pull like everything together and see what we actually learn from this lifetime. And then some of us decide to come back, and some they've gotten finished things. So I'm studying that at the moment, and I'm following, like quite few people, that they are in that world, and I'm very interested. It's everything is the same because they are when they are speaking, they're speaking with different analogy, but we're speaking about the same things, the real essence, yeah, which, of course, the soul, the spirit, they are a bit like, different. But I can probably like one of the movie that they they are, like, really nice. That is Brazilian is like, no solar. I don't know if you thought you ever seen no solar.

Todd McLaughlin: 24:35

I don't think I have. How do I spell it?

Ambra Vallo: 24:38

No solar is N, O, S, A, nos, double, S, la, l, a, r, sola, down

Todd McLaughlin: 24:47

and check it out. I have not seen this is

Ambra Vallo: 24:51

one of the most famous psycho Chico Xavier. Which is one of the most famous medium that existed since Brazilian. And he wrote, like 400 book on the canalization that he had from, you know, what's happened after we died, because he had and he wrote all this book, and then he gave everything in charity. So he lived a very, very simple life, giving everything, charity, through this canalization, and then the deeds like a movie. And there are people that have got this sensitivity that they can actually, you know, have they've got, they can go during the night, or maybe they can move in between the two words, and then I find that very interesting at the moment.

Todd McLaughlin: 25:46

That is so cool. I'm really glad you told me. I love hearing about that, because I'm fascinated by the same thing, and I I can't wait to check out the the author, the book that you're talking about. That's that because I've never heard of. So I really appreciate getting introduced to something new and and I just to share a real quick story, I along the lines of what you're saying, I came across a website where somebody said one way that you can practice developing intuition to be able to potentially gain insight into some of the questions like You're mentioning, what was my past life, or what is my dharma or my duty while I'm here, if I'm here, what did I do to deserve this? And what do I need to do to try to work through some of that? And so somebody said, Well, try out this website where it's called remote viewing, a remote view target. So you go on the website and it you just type in anywhere on Google remote view target, and it'll say, Okay, we've selected a picture. And so then you sit and you meditate, and you just, what's the first thing that flashes into my mind? And you just write down, and you just kind of investigate, like, is there a smell? Is there a color? Is there a shape? Is there something? And then you so you just try not to intellectually judge yourself while you're doing it. And then you hit the button, and it shows you the picture, and you go, Oh my gosh, I got a few of them, right? How is that possible? So then you reset it and you do it again. And it's such a really interesting exercise, because I'm always fascinated by trying to get my intellect to not question everything so intensely and to just feel so I'm I would love to hear about your journey with trusting your intuition and learning how to balance your intellect with your intuitive

Ambra Vallo: 27:49

so there is when I was like younger, I suppose we do quite a lot of things that's Thinking with the mind. And I think the smarter part to ourselves is when the mind is quiet, and so we are more so much more intelligent when the mind is quiet. And that is a bit when we are going in meditation. So that is the process of the meditation is we arrived to a place which is where the mind is, put it on the side, and then it's almost like we do this journey. We are in a center of a circle, and we are here, and then outside the circle, we are so much more intelligent. That is the moment of meditation, when we can transcend the speaking mind, because it's constantly distracting us. And once we arrive there, we get so many information, and it's almost like we have a bag that is broken or has little hole, and then by the time when we come back, we have got just one little piece of sand. So we are, is almost it was too smart out there to be able to remember when you go back. And then with this little bit of light that we bring back with us, we try to find back again, the way to go back to that point. And every time we bring back these little fragments of what we collect down there, but we can never actually bring the whole thing. So we get there and we have this sensation of, I am the sand now and then when you come back, is just a little fragment. And this little fragment is the one that is like giving you the wheel and to go back and go back and do like your part of the sadhana with the meditation so that you can get to that point. Yeah. I don't fans were actually here. That was

Todd McLaughlin: 30:01

great. Yes, that was exactly. No. I love the way you explained it, because it's a hard con. It's a concept that's not easy to put into words. But I love the way that you painted that picture. That was really cool. And I like hearing I'm trying to ask everybody this question, because I I find that each person's interpretation of how and how you access that and how you put it into your practice, but that's so cool. I like the way that you're saying like from the grain of sand, and you can't pull all of it back with you, but maybe you take a little tiny bit. Have you had any recent situations where, through your process of sadhana and or meditation practice that you've gotten a little glimpse of, like, Oh my gosh. I can't believe I just experienced that, like I had a feeling, or I had a sense, and a Derek just popped up in front of me. Have you had any do you have those moments, or have you had anything like that happen lately?

Ambra Vallo: 30:59

Yeah. I mean, I have this those moment, and I get very, very excited about it. And again, I try not to get too attached to it, because even that is an attachment to get to that point. But what is very, very nice, which is, I've quite a lot of students that they actually do painting, and they do quite a lot of pranayama with me. And I had, like I did Coach like few young people, and when they were injured, I gave them like routine of pranayama and meditation, very easy technique. And they come back with the painting, with the color of the chakra, with the Kundalini. And even people that they were saying, like, you know that that actual visions. And I think they, sometime, I'll go like, Oh, that is amazing. They are such a simple technique, and they can go so deep. I think because they are like, very because they are young, they are very pure soul. And I think they can see quite fast. I think things, they can immerse themselves like quite easily, and I get quite excited. And then there is a part of me and go, I cannot get there. How come they see all these things? I never saw these things, you know, but then I get very excited. It is great. I'm a good teacher. I can tell them to go there, even though I don't know how to go there. But the little I actually, you know, the few time that I go a bit deeper, it was, you know, like when i i actually less expected, let's say sometime I think, is like the moment that I'm alone at home and there is no noise and and actually, the I Say, into a concentration kind of states, but not really in deep meditation. And then sometime it can be sometime even like that is not a meditation. Like sitting by will be like, I'm just relaxing and being in one spot doing nothing, and then suddenly I'm concentrating naturally. And then are getting to that state, and that's been probably the moment that I had the deepest connection with that piece that we want to find with. I think it's quite hard to describe it. And I think we all have a very different way to describe it's a bit like someone that never loved to say like, oh, when you are loved, that is what you feel. And I think you know, is this not peace? Is is you feel at peace? But you feel like love, but love is you, is you cannot really explain it. It's not something that you can explain. It's something that you feel like you want to go back to. That is for sure, because it's so much better there, and then, you know, you're very little here, and you feel very big there, even though you're very small in where you're this really big place. But is, is incredible. I just wish people, they teach a bit more like even simple technique. Because I always find like pranayama, for me, is like the pranayama is the meditation for the people that they cannot meditate, because sometime, even doing a very simple pranayama, even without counting, you know, in the in, out, through left nose, rep, selling right in and right, exhaling, left and additional, if you do for very long time, it can become very meditative. And he. An effect on body mind that he much higher and is so powerful, I think. And that was one of the technique, most technique that I was like teaching to the footballers as well. It was like a breathing technique and visualization, because I did sports psychology as well. So I was bringing few techniques together, like, you know, with the pranayama, the visualization, using mantra. But there were different mantra with them. They were more like positive affirmation. And, yeah, it's a bit like being in the bubble of Michael chissemi Yaki. You get in the bubble then, you know, it's like the total experience, that it's the same. So when you are an athlete, the moment where the time transform, you feel stronger in the world you actually normally are, and everything goes so seamless, generally, in their total experiences, because of intrinsic motivation that you are experiencing, that is something that you love doing so much. And then, you know, you get absorbed in what you're doing, and then the time transform. And then that is called the total experience of the flow state of Michael chisumiaca. And I remember when I start studying like yoga. And with the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, the word the difference, like from the pratyara, which is the bridge in between Raja and going towards the raja part, which was concentration, meditation into self realization, was like, Oh, my God, they are like the same steps that they are doing in the athlete when they are going into the auto Talika experience, which is, you know, like going in the last is so similar. You concentrate so much that you become the point of attention is the same. You become that so like in, like in the, in the different set of the of the, the eighth limb of yoga, exactly in the same way.

Todd McLaughlin: 37:03

I know, I think that's really cool, that you're able to bring attention to an athlete that what they're already doing is a aspect of yoga. Because, like, I think a lot of times, maybe an athlete looks at yoga and says, I mean, there's so many different things that people think, right? We think like only, that's for ballet dancers only. Like female ballet dancers are going to be good at Yoga. But me, this old guy over here, how could I ever do that? How could I ever or but the fact that you're trying to bridge that gap, and you can see the similarity of the athlete being able to put their mind so deeply in touch with what they're doing that that is a deep state of Samadhi, in a sense, or a deep state of concentration, like you're saying, is the same as that jump from pranayama over to concentration, or, like you said, Pratyahara, are you? Do you feel that when you have new students and that are like really new to yoga, and you're attempting to convey some of these ideas. What is like if you have a situation where you feel like you're teaching to maybe a more advanced level, and then you have that person that's brand new, how are you bridging your gaps to include everybody.

Ambra Vallo: 39:06

So here in the UK, I mean, London is very, very physical people. They love the yogasana, and there is no many studio that they are interested in doing, like the part of the even, like a bit of pratiara, like withdrawing of the senses into a little breathing technique. Sometimes we struggle a bit, so it's quite important to bring it into the masses. This technique sometime changing the name, even with the athlete. I never call them, like, you know, like the name of, for example, if I doing positive breathing, I will call like, you know, Surya pranayama. Will say that his technique that he is feeding the left hemisphere of the brain, which is logical, the four, you will feel more confident. So it will be like, you know, for breathing, for confidence, to increase the confidence before, before, like the match is, I think is, is using the right analogy. And I think is education so educating, like, you know, like the the people that they are coming to classes to have a all rounded class, instead of having a class that is only focusing, like on the on the yoga center, which is a lot of fun, which I think a lot of people, they are sitting at the desk, I'm pretty sure they probably arrive after work and they just want to sweat. And instead of going to the gym, and maybe they say like, Oh well, let's go and try nine. Instead of doing a yoga because it become like so popular, you know, like in the west, to do like the yoga practice. But I suppose if is up to the teachers to give them like some of the technique in the beginning and the end of the class, and because otherwise they are like identifying even more, you know, like with the body, and you do not want do that, because people, you know, one day, they gonna become older and they cannot do anymore the handstand and put the leg behind the head and doing all these kind of things. So I think if it's good for the health that they are moving, but also very slowly giving. I give always intense in the classes. So in intention, you help people to do the practice for a reason and search for a truth that is much deeper inside them. I'll even like a guide them so that they can use the breath, so that they can heal part of the body, or they can try to find where something is hidden, like an emotion is got hidden in a part of the body, and then that is why we're having, like a problem, and because most of the time, you know, like the, yes, we have, Like the physical body that he get injured, or we have a pain somewhere, but a lot of time is not only the body, but it's like an emotion that you got trapped inside the body. So sometimes we try to cure the body, but actually we need to cure the mind and not the body. So it's what we are thinking and how we are feeding which thoughts with which thoughts are we feeding the body? It is what we are thinking is going in every cell of the body, and they can make make us healthy or sick. And sometime, what is more important with the students sometimes actually working on the mind more than on the body, or making work on the body with a very serene mind, so that they are not doing the position in a competitive way, or just to try to achieve a shape, because that is, like, pretty pointless. You know, there are, like, people that they can do contortion, and we are not able to do that. So we're doing all they can stand on one hand. And, you know, they do like performances in Cirque du Soleil, and they can do a handstand so much better than what we can do. So we are defeating the whole point of, you know, the yoga, it needs to be taught in the correct way that there is many, many parts of the yoga, and they are all important, but if we're focusing only on one part, which, unfortunately, is the one that is the most common, but in a way, it gives us access to people starting to come to class, and is a first introduction. And I think you know, when people, they walk for the first time in the studio. You know, they are coming at least here in England, we have many ethnicity, we have many religion, we have many belief so even like speaking about, when we are speaking about doing the OM, I just say in the beginning of the class, I sometimes need to explain. You know, it's like Amin Amen. And, you know, when we chant the mantra, which I love, chanting the mantra, we are like, not chanting to something that is external, but is a quality that we already have within us. And we are trying, is a bit like a drum inside the heart, and we are trying to start, you know, like a back again, feeling this vibration that they are through the words. But then those words and this mantra, which mean beyond the mind, the Manas and tra which is beyond the mind, they are awakening something that is already within us. And so I tried to explain, you know, you're not doing you're not chanting to another god if you believe in something. And I try anyway, to teach in a very, like neutral kind of way, yeah, not as a religion, even though come from the Hinduism the Buddhist, the journey is not bad, like a lifestyle. So it's a way of living. And I think when people, they can find their own way. Because I think there is no one way. There is many way. There is many things out there, and each one of them, they need to find the what work for them. And it's not the one is wrong and one is right, what can work for you, and then maybe in another time of your life, something else it will work for you. And maybe you go back to what you sort it, and maybe even in different time I was saying, or the week or time, or the month or time, you know, you will feel like you need different things sometime I like to, you know, some the feet on the ground and do like, you know, like, really, like a ritual with, you know, with the feathers and with the drums. And with, you know, sage, I mean, here in the Shala that you can see here, I've got like Shiva. And the Shiva there is all the around the neck has many, many like japa, but to do the japa Mala, many, many Mala. And then he has two feathers that they are like the shaman kind of art, together with the Shiva, which is, it's a bit like, you know, come bringing together, like my teachers, you know that they come spirituality has many, many aspects, you know, and there is no one that is more spiritual than another. Is different way of expressing whatever is getting you closer to the spirit, to the real essence, to what we really are that is spiritual. There is not one way to be spiritual, many, many ways that we can be spiritual.

Todd McLaughlin: 46:29

I agree Ambra, I think that's extremely important to talk about, and I know because you are from looking at your hearing from you about your experience of taking serious study with multiple different teachers, with Dharma Mitra, with Anna forest. I'm guessing and correct me if I'm wrong. I also take the same approach that you take. I initially, upon embarking on yoga, was very forcefully told that you have one guru, only one one. You don't mix, you don't match, you don't blend. And so I was like, oh, okay, I get it. I get it. That makes sense. I get it. I have one. I have one. And then that particular guru did some stuff that got him into some trouble. And so then he had to flee the country and run from the karma that he created through his actions. So then I thought, Well, wait a minute. Now, I have to worship this one guru or be true to this one guru. But Ah, man, I'm just not feeling the vibe off that right now. I need to find another guru. So then I go looking, and I find another guru, and and then I hear, you want to study with me. You have to sign a piece of paper that you won't go study with anybody else, because you had to have one guru. And you come to me, and I went, Oh boy, here we go again. Here we go again. But of course, when I go to the new guru. I don't say anything about the other guru. I don't bring it up. I don't come in and say, Oh, well, I studied with this guru, and I stayed with that guru, and I'm here with you now. But I want to say that like what they do is cool, but I like what you do too. And I think, no, I just keep my mouth closed, because why? Why would I stir that pot? Right? So I feel like more out of respect, like I respect you, so I believe, personally, it's possible to learn from everybody, to still respect everybody at the same time. Can you talk? I feel like you already expounded upon this and what you were just saying, but I want to put a little more attention here. Can you talk a little bit about the artfulness of learning from many, but being respectful of each and every one that you are with in the moment?

Ambra Vallo: 48:56

So I think the daughter of many father and others, and I love them, each one of them, because they were all so important. They gave me many, many tools, and they gave me the and they still give me so much inspiration. They are the inspiration. And I'll bring them always in my heart, and I share many, many of their teaching to my students. And I keep saying to the students, sridharma Mitra say that. Anna Forrest say that. And you know, Larry shows used to say that actually didn't study with Larry. Larry died just few months before I took the first training with its yoga and they just died. But I took training with 10 different people that they were, like, really close to Larry, so I kind of put together a bit like, you know what Larry Schultz? I used to go in the training. And I remember I used always to go to the student disciple, that they were the closest to him, and they were like, just speak to me about Larry. And I want to know Larry as a person, how he was. So I kind of collected all these pieces a bit. Is like going to the beach and bringing all this little shell and put the pieces to a bit of puzzle I kind of made with the Lary shorts and that, it was like the I always say, like, I've got mama Anna, Papa Dharma and Uncle Larry. This is like, yes, yes, the three pills and they are. Like, even in the personality, they were like, there are this incredible character and so different in between them, but they make like sometime, the more serious part, the more discipline it's part, the more hurty, the more lighter, the more like funny is. Is almost like I they gave me all the color. And, of course, each one of them let me paint the way how I want to paint. Of course, when you go to a teacher, even the people that they I have many people that they were in the same class than me, when we wearing the in the in the training with the SRI Dharma, or with Anna forest, we were like hundreds people inside this room, and we all came from the same training, but we all teach so, so different. Why we cannot say, Oh, that is the real dharma. The real Anna is like each one of us with our own lens. We saw a part of them, and I think we all reflecting, probably the side that he was. We were most attracted to them, and then we are sharing that part of them. But of course, he's done sometime now. In these days, there are people that they did study with Dharma many, many years ago. And some people, they go like, Oh, that is not dharma yoga now. Go like, yeah, it's Dharma 20 years ago. 30 years of course, it's still but he was like, in a different time, and he was teaching different they evolved. They are practitioners all of these Larry's and Anna forest and Sri lanmitra, they all like practitioners. So of course, keep changing, and lately I've been I've been assisting Anna forest, but a lot in Bali. For one month, I was with her the 200 hour. And then I did Vienna advanced training, and I was like in Naples. And then I did the Ibiza with our many and she's so different than 10 years ago. Everything is so different, but it's normal because, like, they keep evolving, they keep changing, and Sri Dharma is exactly the same. It's very, very different. When it comes to London, like, I love one thing that I love being with a student. I love being a student. I think it's really important to completely get like, you know, taking off the dress of the teacher and going, like, teaching me everything back again. I know nothing. Tell me back again. I think it's quite important, and I quite like it. And I remember, like, some people go, like, you have your own training. You do your own things. Why you shouldn't do the assistant? I was like, I need to be an assistant, because I need one. I need to control that color as well the ego, because it's good that sometime, and two, you need to be fed and someone need to tell you sometime, because you cannot see. And I think it's good these new things, you know, not always you completely agree with them, you know. But of course, there is such a deep respect, you know. And Anna, she's like the curandera. She's the healer. She is the one that she's healing people that they are in such of, you know, she come out of trauma, and she's still helping people to walk in beauty. I respect Anna for all the work she's doing. And Jose Calarco as well. That is, like, you know, the husband, and he was he actually, Jose, did the training with me when we were in, like, in Chicago, and this the part of you know, like the ceremonial party come actually from, from Jose. I think they are helping people to live a better life, even though they come from huge trauma. And the Dharma is giving me the way of living well for many, many life, because he's teaching us, and it's such an easy way, such a complex concept. And I remember studying with other people and going like, I don't really understand, but I will just learn it from the book and then just repeat it. But then with Dharma, he was like, he explained it with so many metaphor and it was so easy to understand. It was like he was speaking to children's the way, how he spoke to us. And sometimes he didn't even need to speak. We just understood because we were next to him. And then somehow, I don't know how, but you just knew it. You know, it's like, very like, you know, for me, there are these amazing character, these two that they are like, they are almost the yin and the yang, but together, they are like, so complete. And I feel like I'm a bit I've got these two sides. You know. And then, of course, Larry Schultz, for me, is like, you know, I used to come from Ashtanga, and then coming from all this modification and make it like a practice, which was easier for the Westerner. And, you know, invented the power yoga, the way I may remember his manual. 200 hour of Larry short. So they were beautiful. It was a poet, you know, on the flower power, kind of era of San Francisco that he was speaking to the people that they were there. It was incredible. It was reaching those people. And it's a bit like Anna. It reached the right people with the right analogy that they need. You know, when I come back from teacher training with Dharma, was teaching Dharma all the time, even with Karma Yoga, I was doing quite a lot of karma yoga, and I realized in a certain point I couldn't use the same word and the same analogy for everyone. With certain people I need to transform and make it okay. Is Arjuna, and he's like with Krishna, and he's asked the two family, and is the good and the bad level between but how these are Luna that is like in London, that is the real Juna, that is a tomb that is with a family, that is with a friend, that is like in the red light, and someone is crossing and someone is doing something that you shouldn't do. So how can we bring it in a very easy way, in a way that everybody can understand? And sometimes, if you have, like, three four way to explain, it is much easier. So maybe you cannot reach everyone with only one lineage, but with different lineage. You know, you have got many tools. And in the end, the yoga is like, you know, and it's not to yoke, because we are never separated. We forgot that we were separated, but is to bring it together the moment that we said there is only that, or this one is the real, like lineage, and the other one is not. I think we are separated. We're not doing yoga anymore. So I really hold the flag that they're all incredible. I love everything. Sometimes people laugh because they say, like, every time you speak about something, you go like, Oh, I love that. I love that, of course. And if I go in the studio, artist with the owner, even if he's a lineage that I never did. I love Kundalini, you know, I did. You know, if Alan go and do like big, grand class, if I'm in the Austin and I won't do like big, you know, anything, you know, because I think is important that we are open. Of course, there are some practice that they feel like they get us more benefit, or they make us feel better than other. Is completely normal that I think is very important to be open to try everything. And you know, and I always encourage the students, it's like they are not my students. There are no one students like, please go and try. You need to try many, many things. You need to do that. Yes, you know, because there is no one way to do things, you know, like a bit like Google Map. You put Google Map A to Z, and then there is the way that you can go through the little road and you see the countryside, the way that you're exploring the coastline, and the other one that is straight motorway you're getting there. So there are many, many way. There is no way that is better what you like doing and how what is your road. Because even like the guru dharna, always say that the real guru is within us. So we know what we You always say that again, dharma sometimes say, like, I don't know what I'm doing here. Like, why you're kissing my feet. You're that my feet make you feel better, then he's okay. That the the Guru, the real guru, dharma said, is within everything is within you. You just need to seal the mind in order to hear the answer. But the answer, they're not outside us. They are inside us. It doesn't matter if they're different than someone else answer, but if they are, your answer. That is guru is bringing the light, is not dragging you like someone is just telling you that is the way, and that's where you might find different way. But the path is your there is the end of the path is the same Self Realization, which is realizing our real nature. And if he is with a yoga practice, if he is true, sometimes people can be surfing, and you get to a such a high state that you become one with the ocean. You're doing the same. You're going back to the greatest source there is exactly the same, or is being like in the not dream time, but is like, you know, getting. Closer to what is the parallel state that is in between this life and other stages or life in there are parallel, yeah, where we have, like, you know, different, like, layer of existence there beyond what can be seen in by the human eye, because we are vibration. That is yoga as well. It's the realization that we are a soul that is incarnated into a body. And we go back to the mothership, like there is a big ship, mothership. And then we come and do what we need to do. Then we finish. We go back home, we put back again, like the electric like you know, like you know, so that we charge back again. We realize what we need to do, back again. We detach back again. We go back and do the mission. And then we go back, we have a little rest, and then we go back, back again. And the T we are speaking about the same things, yeah, even though they seem like different discipline or different things, but we're doing the same thing.

Todd McLaughlin: 1:01:44

I think so. Ambra, and I love that you brought attention. I haven't thought of it like this, but earlier in the conversation, you had mentioned, if you have like, instead of having a whole bookshelf full of books that you don't read, and then you but if you take, like, a couple of books and you reread them, and you reread them, and then every time you read you you get more out of it. Or, like you said, with a movie, you watched a movie over and over, you see more. And I love how you brought up when you assist, and somebody brought up, why would you need to do that again? Ambra, you already are good at this. Why would you need to be humble like a student like this again. And I think maybe you said, or maybe I read into this, that if we treat our teacher almost like we're reading that same book again, I'm a brand new this is a brand new chance for me to now read this same book again. What am I going to pick up? I've really, never really thought of a book and a teacher as the same thing. I mean, maybe I have, but that just really dawned on me when you said that, that the teaching of the teacher what we're gonna pick up on in the moment and the time that we're with them, when we go back five years later and we're re reading the same book, like we're meeting the same person again, but no, it's like I'm reading it all over again. There's so much more meaning that I just couldn't have picked up on five years ago, right? And that is so cool. That is so amazing. And I do love your analogy of the spaceship, where we come down and we do what we do, and we go up, I know we remember what we do, and we come back down again and we go up. Because, I mean, we I think life is really exciting and fun when you start to see some more a bigger picture, when that bigger picture. So instead of like no known to just one teacher, one teacher, you have to stay with one. That's the way you're you show you're good and you're seeing the bigger picture. Everybody's good, everybody's part of the one. So let's learn it all. So I really appreciate your enthusiasm. I I love it. Thank you so much. I have so much fun meeting other teachers and practitioners. And I really, I love how passionate and excited you are. It's infectious. So I think keep doing that, keep keep doing it, because it's really, I really enjoy hearing your enthusiasm. It's, it's really important, and I, and I'm, I'm excited. Do you know, in the attempt to be respectful of your time and to try to steer us toward a closing of our conversation together? Is there any I hear birds? But I think that's on my end. Sorry. Is there any thing you want to leave us with? Ambra?

Ambra Vallo: 1:04:31

Then maybe, like some advice with people you know, like when they start in their journey, I think what is important that's they shouldn't rush. And they shouldn't like treat yoga, especially when they are new. Because we say that generally they are. They get there, they arrive into a yoga studio, and they think a bit like is in other sports. So they shouldn't treat yoga is another achievement to chase. So in the beginning, is really easy, I think, to get caught up in the physical practice, which is completely normal, or comparing ourselves to other people, or thinking that we need to master certain poses. But Yoga is not about performance. Is about presence. It is about being there. Is about the breath, is about feeling every instance that we are. There also, I think people that need to be careful of attaching their self to external validation, because sometimes they want the teacher to tell them if he's the guru or if he's so. Someone else, you know, whatever is it can be from a teacher, or maybe like even the person that is next to them, you improve a lot, or how flexible you are in that structure, or how many classes you are doing in a week, then you must be better than someone else, or the deeper work they need to understand there is not about the position, but is the deeper work is actually internal, and I think, is what a lot of people they are missing in these days. So one of the pitfall I experienced was ignoring also the rest, and taking time for yourself, I think.

Todd McLaughlin: 1:06:20

And that's great advice, especially

Ambra Vallo: 1:06:23

in the beginning, I was seeking to do more. It was always the more I do, the better I become. And it was even with the meditation, the more I do, pranayama, meditation, the better we become, and the more I will get to that stage. And then at a certain point, I was like, It's not that. Now I know that some of my most profound tests has come from the stillness, or from chanting mantra, or from simply, like sitting with my breath, simply just with the breath. So I would encourage anyone that is beginning to explore this inner practice as early as they can, of course, alongside the physical practice, because I know how enthusiastic they can become and how attractive they can get to the physical practice, and they need to trust that the path will unfold for them exactly as it should. There is not everybody has a different path, so just follow the one that is the heart. He's telling you, because in the end of the journey, no matter what you're doing, the connection with your real nature, which is the spirit that is your path, is remembering back again in this lifetime that we are a spirit incarnated and not a body with it, with their mind and a soul inside. But we actually an incarnated soul. But we are a spirit that is inside the body with the mind. And we try to bring the body and mind into stillness so that they can be the better version of ourself, and then we can leave a better life for ourselves and for other as well.

Todd McLaughlin: 1:08:10

Yes, so yeah, I agree. I second that motion that is well said, and I appreciate you pointing out pitfall and and what to avoid, because you're absolutely right, and I agree. I've my experience has been very similar. So think it's so good to hear somebody else say, Yes, this is what I did, and I've learned from it. And I think if you're new, then you could just, if you can just kind of slow down like you're saying, oh my gosh, umbrella. Well, thank you so much for for joining me. I really appreciate your generosity with your time. It's very kind and and I appreciate your willingness to jump on and having not even not knowing me, but trusting that you do enough to be honest and tell me, tell your story to us. I really appreciate it.

Ambra Vallo: 1:09:07

Thank you, Todd, for having me. It would been a pleasure. Thank you. Thank you.

Todd McLaughlin: 1:09:15

Native yoga. Todd cast is produced by myself. The theme music is dreamed up by Bryce Allen. If you like this show, let me know if there's room for improvement. I want to hear that too. We are curious to know what you think and what you want more of what I can improve. And if you have ideas for future guests or topics, please send us your thoughts to info at Native yoga center. You can find us at Native yoga center.com, and hey, if you did like this episode, share it with your friends. Rate it and review and join us next time you

Unknown: 1:10:13

Oh, yeah.