Amanda DiGiovanna from Revolution Yoga shares her understanding and deep-seated passion for the practice of yoga with MysticMag.
What can you tell us about the beginnings of Revolution Yoga?
Revolution was partially a manifestation, and also, I believe, simply what was meant to be. I always knew that I would one day own a yoga studio and offer retreats. I remember 7 or 8 years prior to owning the studio, I was going through an interview process with lululemon and I was asked to script a 5 year plan. I remember voicing that I would have a yoga studio and do retreats.
I also remember, much later, whilst trying to find a name for the studio I had a dream of walking into a yoga studio which was called Revolution Yoga. I can still remember the floors and the ceilings and the feel of the studio. Revolution Yoga was definitely meant to be. I had two partners when we first started, and then for various reasons, I ended up being the sole owner of the studio.
How would you describe your style of yoga and why does it differ from others?
I would say that when it comes to the context of yoga in America, it is like making a meal of a condiment. A lot of people teach yoga focused more on the body and the material. However, yoga is really a contemplation or an experience of something beyond the material. The material during the physical practice is one tiny little part at the beginning of the practice to get our bodies comfortable on the mat to be in meditation.
At the studio, we have a very traditional approach that is very comprehensive and includes all the limbs of the practice. A huge portion of this involves the philosophy of yoga, meditation and how to do the breathwork. We are trying to help people transcend the material and find enlightenment. This is the goal of the practice of yoga.
Covid forced us to practice in different ways and this ultimately led to us spreading our wings. Our trainings are now really prevalent in many Arab speaking countries, and our students span into countries all over the world as they come online daily to practice with us from anywhere.
People are interested in using yoga as a supplement to the other spiritual practices they undertake. I always tell my students that yoga is not a religion. It is a spiritual practice and will enlighten whatever religion you already have. It brings everybody closer to themselves and closer to their version of God – I feel really honored to do this work.
What role does Ayurveda play in your practice?
Ayurveda is the sister science of yoga. If you don’t feel well in your body it is really hard to sit and meditate. If your nose is blocked or your body aches, this becomes the main focus. We use our bodies as a vehicle to access the deeper parts of who we are. Ayurveda creates a really healthy system and links the seasons and their effect on our physical form to the kinds of lifestyle choices that we make, the yoga postures and the breathwork practices that we should be doing. We change people’s diets, put them on herbs and try to bring our clients to balance.
What is one likely to achieve with regular practice?
The hope is ascension, self-realization and enlightenment. We are trying to get people to reconnect with a part of themselves that our culture unfortunately forces them to disconnect with.
What other services do you offer your clients?
In addition to our principal activity of yoga, we offer massage, all the ayurvedic treatments, acupuncture, Reiki and all sorts of other healing modalities.
What advice do you have for newcomers embarking on a journey of yoga and healing?
Don’t get overwhelmed, take it slow and don’t be a perfectionist. The real meaning of yoga is to ‘yoge’ your identity with who you truly are rather than with all the things that are external to us – money, job, nationality – all these impermanent things that cause us so much suffering. Yoga brings us back to the identity of consciousness, to that being in ourselves that never changes. I always tell my students that it is impossible to be bad at yoga as we are simply being who we truly are.
If you would like to find out more about Revolution Yoga, visit https://www.revolution-yoga.com or follow on https://www.facebook.com/RevolutionYogaOfficial/ or https://www.instagram.com/revolutionyogaofficial/
