By In Trieste
We interviewed Edoardo Gustini, a well-known yoga teacher and physiotherapist in Trieste, who organizes Yoga Mondays in Porto Vecchio.
What does it mean to be a yoga teacher?
Edoardo: More precisely, I am a teacher of yoga therapy and as a physiotherapist I work both in the neurological and orthopedic fields. My job consists in helping people find more health through various techniques many of which use body movement as a therapeutic tool. When we talk about posture and movement, almost all clinical disciplines draw inspiration from the oriental tradition of both Chinese medicine and yoga.
Body posture and movement used as therapy sounds a bit strange in the Western world. Could you explain it better?
Edoardo: Western medicine, which is often based on external intervention, believes the body cannot heal itself, and we must intervene by giving substances – the amount of drugs we use demonstrates this very clearly. In the Eastern world the body is thought to have a strong self-healing capacity, we only need to create the appropriate circumstance and the process of healing happens on its own.
What about Yoga Therapy?
Edoardo: The positions and exercises of Yoga Therapy do just that: they release the vacular channels and stimulate the internal organs with calibrated pressures and normalize the neuromuscular tone, all of which creates the optimal situation for self-healing. It should be remembered that the movement, if done correctly, produces very powerful positive effects. We however often do not practice it out of ignorance or laziness. Movement cannot be replaced with a drug. If there was a drug that mimics the effects of movement, it would be the best-selling drug in the world.
How does a yoga therapy session work?
Edoardo: There are two types of sessions: Individual Yoga Therapy and Group Yoga Therapy. In Individual Yoga Therapy, we evaluate the person as a whole (joints, alignment, breath, organs, fascial tissue, neuromuscular tone) and we do specific exercises to encourage the natural self-healing processes. In Group Yoga Therapy we give collective lessons for all those who want to feel better, very suitable for people with common orthopedic (mechanical back pain, neck and shoulder disorders, arthritis) or neurological (stress, insomnia, depression, anxiety, phobias) pathologies. Obviously, these pathologies must be of minor intensity otherwise individual treatment is advisable.
Could you tell us a little bit about Yoga Mondays in Porto Vecchio?
Edoardo: Kàartik, an experienced yoga teacher of Indiemotionart, and I organize Yoga Art Therapy sessions every Monday night, from 19:30 to 20:30, until August 10 at Porto Vecchio. We practice outside on the beautiful square of the Hydrodynamic Power Station. We do a series of yoga postures starting from the therapeutic variant, suitable for people with small joint disorders or for those who have never practiced yoga before. We also gradually integrate more complex variants for expert yogis, but gradually so as to not lose the therapeutic effect of this ancient art. The classes are open to all levels and ages.
