Could you tell us a bit more about your background?
“I was born and raised in Brazil from a family of Hungarian immigrants. My childhood was happy and playful though with its limitations and challenges growing up in the 80’s in a country like Brazil. I’ve always had the desire to go see the world, to explore beyond the familiarity of my experience. When I finished college I moved to Mexico City where I got to work and study for three years and then I moved to Barcelona to get my Masters in Arts and stayed there for another four years. This multicultural background, I believe, is also part due to my curiosity and my understanding that we are in constant flow and change. I met my now husband and moved to Los Angeles, his home town, eleven years ago. Shortly after I moved to California, I began my studies in Buddhist Psychology and my training in Contemplative Psychotherapy and on the way had a baby girl, who is now 6 years old (practically a teenager)! I think more and more how home has a very different meaning for me these days and how our stories have so much value in informing our present and the directions we want to take in our path.”

What was the first moment you caught yourself being interested in mindfulness? 💭
“I grew up in a home where contemplative practices like prayer and meditation were always around. My parents, in their own way, were spiritual seekers and brought home different rituals and tools to support silence, self inquiry and exploration. I’m not sure I can pinpoint an exact moment I became aware of mindfulness because it’s always been there in one way or another. As I grew up, these practices also evolved with me. I not only wanted to continue deepening them but I wanted to understand and study their origins, the teachings, the meaning – this is when I found Buddhist Psychology and Contemplative Psychotherapy.”

What is the difference between meditation and mindfulness?
“Mindfulness is more of an all encompassing quality, a way of living. We can cultivate it formally – using for example a meditation practice or informally through cultivating our attention when we are doing tasks or eating, listening etc. You can practice mindfulness anytime, anywhere.
Meditation is a more specific type of practice – it’s what we traditionally think of when we get more quiet, find stillness, connect with our breath.  There are many different types of meditation practices and through the practice of meditation one can develop mindfulness, however, you don’t necessarily have to meditate to practice mindfulness.”

What is your personal daily mindfulness practice (in relation to yourself or to others)?☀️
“Outside my formal practice (sitting meditation), I think my daily mindfulness practice is to pause and reconnect with my body. This helps me to bring an inquiry when I feel a difficult emotion coming. I ask myself “What’s happening right now?” and “What do I need?”. This allows me to immediately check in where I’m feeling the emotion: belly, heart, throat. This slow down process is fundamental for the pause I need before reactivity begins. The follow up question: What do I need? is a self compassion practice that points out something to me. Maybe I need to take a full breath, step outside, go for a walk, call a friend, etc. I’m not always able to do this, but the idea is that I can come back to it even if I caught myself after the fact.”

How does practicing mindfulness make you feel?
“Mindfulness allows me to feel more spacious within, it allows me to create more pauses in between the push and pull of the outside world. Mindfulness allows me to remember to pay attention to myself, my body, my emotions, my needs and boundaries. It’s a practice that is constantly helping me to reconnect to my experience in the moment and helping me see with more clarity what is that I’m resisting, what is that I’m really frustrated about, what is that I need. It’s a very personal and intimate way to relate to myself.”

What would you like to add to the lives of people or our Goodiebox members?📦
“These types of teachings, practices and tools are invitations. Invitations for our own exploration. There aren’t solutions or quick fixes. The purpose is for us to create a deep and intimate relationship with these practices to start our own journey. I like to think that in a world that makes us feel how we need to be fast, better and know all the answers at all times, these practices allow space for gentleness, for welcoming all the parts that makes who we are, allow for pauses, to go slowly. At our own pace.”