Meet Trailblazer Mariana Suárez De Stefano

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mariana Suárez De Stefano.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I will start with a little bit of my background…
I was born in Venezuela, South America. I was raised by a single Mom. My dad was always around but did not live with us.
I had a “normal” life. I went to school, got a bachelor’s degree in computer science. I had a decent job and a boyfriend… it was a pretty normal life.

I had the opportunity to start traveling to work with different clients around the world with my boyfriend at the time. We moved to Spain, got married and worked as Programmers and Project Leaders for five years.

During all these years, I always felt there was something missing. I needed a change.

Even though, I had already started doing YOGA, I could not find myself yet. I was not aware that all these feelings inside of me were screaming for a change. It was my Yogini journey that had just started without me even realizing it.

Not knowing what was the change I needed to make, my life started to crumble. I got divorced and I got laid off by the company I worked for. Little did I know, this was the biggest blessing in disguise, I’d ever have received in my life.

In 2012 I stepped out of my comfort zone and took a year off to dedicate myself to dance (a dream come true). I worked as a dancer for a couple of months and moved back with my dad to Miami, FL in 2013. I kept on pursuing my dream as a dancer, doing some yoga, fell in love again and remarried.

So, I thought; ‘Well, Now I AM happy”… and then BOOM!… it happened again, I got a stress fracture on one of my toes and I could not dance anymore.

I had to learn that happiness can not be found on the outside, on people or things, you can only find happiness on the inside.

In 2015 I moved to Los Angeles with my husband at the moment, but once again, trying to find happiness by changing things on the outside.

Once in LA, I decided to immerse myself back into YOGA to heal my foot. I tried to go back to dance a couple of times to only feel pain or re-injure my foot. My depression and anxiety kicked back in.

My relationship ended one more time and I found myself dealing with all the same problems or even worse.

I had to struggle, I had to cry, be angry, be sad, depressed, anxious and feel all the pain so I could be reborn and be able to appreciate the calmness and peacefulness in the subtleties and simplest things of life.

At that point, I started realizing how beneficial yoga was for me. I needed to stop dancing so I could do yoga not only to heal my foot but to heal myself, so I did.

Yoga helped me (and it still does) to heal my anxiety and depression. It helped me to control my negative thoughts and helped me to forgive other people for the things they had done to me.

And this is why I decided to train to become a YOGA teacher because I wanted to be able to spread the benefits of YOGA. Not only in the physical aspects but also in the emotional, mental and spiritual aspects that I had experienced for myself.

If I look back and connect the dots, I can say that…

Without leaving my first husband I would not have found DANCE.
Without Dance I would not have moved to Miami, remarried and BROKEN my toe.
Without breaking my toe I would not have gone back to YOGA.
Without my separation with my second husband, I would not have found the STRENGTH to be by myself and I would probably have  not become a YOGA Teacher.

Without all of these, I would not BE ME and would not be WRITING THIS.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Sometimes smooth, sometimes very rough. But that is what made it interesting and worth sharing.

I would not be ME if it wasn’t for all my experiences, even in the struggling ones. It all has shaped me into becoming this version of myself and I am grateful for every single thing that has been given and taken in my life.

Sometimes, we get stuck in our lives asking for a change but not being able to take the step forward and that’s when life pushes us out of our comfort zone.

We have to struggle, we have to cry, we have to be angry, we have to be sad, depressed, anxious, etc. We have to feel pain so that we can learn to appreciate the calmness and peacefulness in life.

I believe that in the struggles there is an opportunity to become aware of all the amazing things that are surrounding you and sometimes that what we call our worst experiences will become our biggest blessings.

The journey to get to know yourself is sometimes a lonely journey. Life will get rid of all the people and things that can not be part of your evolution so that you can find your inner strength, trust yourself, respect yourself and of course LOVE yourself.

Through your downfalls, you can also become aware of all the love from friends and family and how their support and love can help you to overcome all your obstacles.

And at some point you will simply start to feel grateful even for your struggles, realizing that life is not happening TO YOU but it is happening FOR YOU to become the best version of yourself. To evolve into a better, more lovable and more peaceful human being,

And by appreciating and being grateful, we can learn to understand that happiness doesn’t come from the outside, from people or things but rather it is a feeling that you can build and that can only be found on the inside.

My personal recommendation is that you try YOGA, It will help you to connect your mind, body and soul.

YOGA (or YOG in Sanskrit) means UNION. By uniting your mind, thoughts and intellect with your breath and your physical body you can find stillness. Through stillness, we can listen to ourselves, notice our sensations and feel our emotions. By becoming aware of sensations and emotions we can understand ourselves better. By knowing ourselves we can start to notice what are the changes that need to take place in our lives. By making little changes we are able to evolve into a better version and maybe one day BE THE BEST VERSION OF OURSELVES.

The universe (or life force) is always talking to you through other people, things, situations and events. It is guiding you to become what you have to become to be here reading these lines today.

BECOME THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THIS WORLD.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am a Yoga Instructor certified by yoga alliance and I have been teaching yoga for three years now.

I got my 200h certification at a yoga school in Rishikesh, India, where Yoga was born.

I teach yoga and meditation at multiple studios, holistic centers, fitness centers, corporations, hotels, etc. And I also offer my services to lead mindful yoga session for private events like birthdays or gatherings in general.

I host different yoga events on the weekends like:

– Yoga and Hike (Yogike), and Sunset Yoga by the beach. These 2 are donation based events.
– Full moon or new moon circle with yoga.
– Gong Yoga (Gentle flow and sound healing).
– Aromatherapy and Yoga (DOTERRA essential oils session followed by a yoga class).

– And I will be hosting Yoga Retreats in the near future.

As I see myself growing my business, I am proud of not only being able to be a yoga teacher but to be able to open space and let people discover themselves, reconnect with themselves in many different ways.

It doesn’t matter if it is walking or hiking in nature, doing aromatherapy, listening to the sounds of singing bowls and gongs, breathing in and out, stretching or strengthening your body, for me what’s most important is to realize yourself, to get to know yourself so that you can love yourself and then be able to not only love others but to also know you are worthy of being loved.

Finding a mentor and building a network are often cited in studies as a major factor impacting one’s success. Do you have any advice or lessons to share regarding finding a mentor or networking in general?
When the student is ready the teacher or mentor will appear.  Being open to receiving is the key to finding anything in life. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yinyangyogadance.wixsite.com/yinyangyogadance
• Phone: 7868374411
• Email: yinyangyogadance@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anairamyogidancer/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anairamyogidancer/

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.