“We live in a happiness dictatorship. We don’t need to be thrilled the whole time.”

What is your concept of spirituality?

It’s always so complex to explain something that you live more than you rationalize. That’s in fact the first characteristic I would point, and since we live in such a scientific paradigma, and people always try to find out explanations, it totally makes the difference. My concept of spirituality is pragmatical. I believe it’s about our connection with the universe and that is in everything. It was this idea of “me” and “the other”, that made us lose spirituality.

When I was with indigenous tribes in the South American country, I could see how everything for them is sacred. That’s my concept of spirituality, every second is sacred, every bit of food, every person. We are a tiny part of the universe, and at the same time, all the universe is inside us. But then we need to bring it to our everyday life. Your colleague at work is also sacred, for example. There’s no point in meditating at home or blessing your food but not be kind to the ones we share our days with.

Spirituality is also knowing that that connection is always and will always protect me, that my limitations are physical and mental, but my essence is unlimited. Is also trusting in the order of what happens to me. It’s always the best and I can always learn from it. At the same time, it is knowing that I need to make efforts, to put my heart and energy for the things that I love and to build a better world. That starts with our families, friends, workplace. If we make something for our small community, I believe we are doing a lot for a better world. My base is the Vedanta, but most of all, my experiences in the outside world contributed to creating my concept.

What do you do in your daily life to be and to feel more connected with the mother earth?

The first thing is to breathe! Well, to consciously breathe. We are always doing it, which makes us forget how vital it is, and at the same time that we are only alive because mother earth gives us the means to. Because I have been traveling the world, I’m cultivating this habit of contemplation. No cellphone, no photos, no computer, no music, just me looking at the horizon and letting my thoughts come and go. I’m grateful every day. I meditate.

Those are two things I want to bring to my work life. Disconnect more while I perform tasks because it will make me more productive, and set me free. And also, better! Breathe at the workplace is also a magic key, especially for anxious people.

One of the things that I always try to do is to touch the ground. One of these days I was in the Atacama Desert and that sense of disconnection I previously mentioned. These tours are based on the idea that we are something else that not nature. So I sat on the floor and I put my hands on the earth. I asked the desert for permission to be there, and to give me all the lessons I need right now. It brought magic to that moment and I can still feel the temperature of the sand.

3 favorite amulets or belongings.

Paper and pen! I feel naked and disoriented without it, you know. I write down ideas, but also when I need to organize my thoughts when I’m preparing yoga classes or my meditations. Since I’m two that I’m always chasing and carrying pens and papers, it’s crazy. Besides that, I have my Arhuacos bracelets. The Arhuacos are a Colombian indigenous tribe. Before leaving, they put me a bracelet in each hand. It symbolizes the yin and yang, and it protects the way. I know one day they will fall, but right now it gives me an important sense of protection.

What is your relationship with travelling?

Addicted! You know how for so many people traveling is getting out of the comfort zone. I would be lying if I say the same about myself. Traveling I feel myself more, I feel happier, lighter. But I also recognize the need of stop and being grounded. Right now I’m in a love affair with traveling and enjoying it as much as I can. I don’t travel so much for seeing beautiful places, I travel in search of cultures and knowledge.

It’s not so easy to access culture and knowledge, but I feel I have been lucky enough. That’s how I want to keep going for now. I’m over-excited to be closer and closer to Peru, for example, where ancestral knowledge is so spread and recognized nowadays. I’m also thinking more and more about heading off to India and study yoga there.

Do you have any advice to give to someone who may feel kind of lost right now, apart from the hopes and dreams of their childhood?

Yes. The most important advice when I got lost myself. We live in cycles of death and rebirth. Being sad, being lost, is usually part of the death of a cycle and it means a new one is about to start. Depression, anxiety, are consequences of our resistance to left in the past what no longer serves us. A moment of suffering is a wonderful moment, in fact, it’s an opportunity to build something new, to let one part of our life behind and move on. I learned how to love my bad days, how to accept it, but also I to move on from that place.

Also, there’s no need to fight against it. Nowadays we live in what I call a happiness dictatorship. We don’t need to be happy the whole time, and thrilled and excited. I think peace is way more about what we are looking for than happiness. This is different than feeding sadness. That can’t happen either! We need to let it come, look at it, see what’s telling us about our lives, and then let it go.

I would also say for people to look for help. If they don’t know how or which help to look for, just ask for the answers to appear in their lives and they will come.

Last but not the least, 3 wishes for the new decade?

That people support, appreciate and value education, in every country of the world. Especially the value of History and how it prevents us for repeating mistakes, but also the value of mindfulness and meditation.

That we find a new society model that allows us to live more instead of surviving. That more and more people have a comfortable life so that they can turn to investing in themselves.

My wishes are very political, because I know a person needs the minimal means to be able to focus on themselves and we can all evolute as a society. Otherwise, people need to be worried about the next meal, or escape the next bullet. There’s not much space for spirituality if you live like that!