Tag: therapy

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On My Way to Atlanta, I Found Essaouira

My adventure in Essaouira and what it means to me.

It’s a miracle. One of those that happen in life—if you’re paying attention.

Essaouira. Morocco.

For years, my cousin Céline, who has spent a week there every year for the past 20 years, kept inviting me to join her in this fortified town by the Atlantic. But, well… Planning a trip to North Africa wasn’t exactly easy while I was living in Atlanta.

The right time finally came in January 2025. My first time on a plane since I left Atlanta in June 2022 for a vacation in France—before my life was turned upside down after receiving my diagnosis. My first time setting foot on another continent again. And then, there was this little sign, hinting at how significant this trip would be: Essaouira sits almost on the same latitude as the state of Georgia. On the other side of the ocean: Atlanta.

A strong, special energy

From the very beginning, I could feel a strong, special energy. I wasn’t the only one. Surfers from all over Europe gather on Essaouira’s beach, lifting their kites to glide and soar over the waves.

Just three hundred meters away, inside the medina, it’s a completely different world. I’m overwhelmed by the colors, the scents, the aromas drifting from the spice stalls, dried fruit vendors, the bustling produce market, the fish souk, and so much more.

Here, yoga isn’t an option. Instead, my yoga is walking two or three hours a day along the beach, feet in the water, face to the wind, soaking up the sun. My head filled with sea spray.

Berbers, Arabs, Africans, Europeans…

Back in the medina, Céline—my guide—shares her deep knowledge and touching respect for this city and its people. The artisans of an older generation—since younger ones aren’t interested in trades that don’t pay—work in rhythm at their looms, carve and plane wood, bend iron to their will.

With my cousin Céline. So giving. She generously shared so many things she knows about Essaouira.

Centuries ago, different ethnicities converged within Essaouira’s walls—Berbers, Arabs, Africans, Europeans—along with a mix of faiths: Muslims, Christians, and Jews. You can feel it. I can feel it. Just like the rich melting pot of the United States. Tourists stop here for a week, sometimes a few months, especially those working remotely.

Essaouira. In a way, I’m halfway between Paris and Atlanta. A necessary stop. How does the saying go again? It’s not about the destination. It’s about the journey.

A view from a rooftop above the fish market.

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Like Para Athletes, Strengthen Your Resilience

The Paralympics have shown that people with disabilities can be athletes. Their secret? They’ve managed to develop resilience. You, too, can nurture your resilience. And you know what? Yoga therapy can help you to just do that.

Paris 2024 has come to a close.

I was personally moved to tears while attending the men’s wheelchair basketball game between the USA and Spain at the Paris Bercy Arena, as well as a morning of para swimming at the Paris La Défense Arena in recent days. And it’s no surprise… I hold a Disability Card myself, so this is my world.

You have to see these high-level athletes, some with severe physical impairments, fully embracing who they are. They are ready to give it their all, with such strength and determination. It was so emotional to watch the Brazilian athlete Gabriel dos Santos Araujo swim—he won countless medals during these Games. At 22 years old, born without arms, and standing at 1.21 meters tall, he moves like a dolphin. He learned to swim instinctively. “There aren’t many things I can do with my body, so I fight with the tools I have, and I work on them to become stronger.”

Resilience is a natural process of survival

Through these Paralympic Games, I saw firsthand how resilience is a true strength. It doesn’t solve the health issue or the disability you may have, but it helps find a new form and rise from the ashes. Resilience is a natural process of survival.

When you think about it, we’ve all had—or currently have—a disability of some sort, even if only temporary. We’re all struggling with some sort of disease. Not to mention life’s accidents, such as breakups, loss of status, a job, etc.

Whatever your reality may be, I invite you to rise once again, to nurture your resilience. Therapeutic yoga is a practice that helps develop resilience—physically, emotionally, and mentally. So join us for our next workshops in Paris 15th, to give form to this extraordinary life energy.

Because until your last breath, and at every stage of your life, you are here to love, reinvent yourself, create, and contribute to the world.

Atelier du 14 sept. 2024
Atelier du 13 oct. 2024
Atelier du 27 oct. 2024
Atelier du 10 nov. 2024
Atelier du 24 nov. 2024
Atelier du 8 déc. 2024

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Slowing Down: “Doing Nothing Is Still Doing Something”

When you allow yourself to pause, to live more slowly—during a vacation for example—, you’re doing something essential for your physical and mental health. Good news—yoga therapy can also help.

As the summer season unfolds, I wish you a chance to SLOW DOWN, and if possible, to do so in nature’s embrace. It’s vital for healing, for finding ourselves again, for reconnecting, for feeling deeply, and for being fully present in this life we’re given to experience—with all its joys and challenges. Because, let’s face it, we all go through tough times, no matter our age, gender, skin color, social status, or mental and physical health.

But, slowing down isn’t always easy, is it? Caught up in the whirlwind of daily obligations, you might often feel like you’re living on autopilot, without the time to truly connect with yourself.

Ideas, clarity and emotions can emerge

However, when you give yourself permission to live more slowly—like during a vacation—when you stroll through nature, pausing whenever you feel like it, you allow yourself to connect with your feelings, your deepest needs, and even your creativity. Ideas, clarity, and emotions can emerge.

As my friend, reflexologist Rodrigue Vilmen, says, “Doing nothing is still doing something.”

Rite of passage

A few weeks ago, I went “glamping” (mix of “glamorous” and “camping”) in the French Alps. During this trip, I was surrounded by breathtaking landscapes. I lounged around, took short walks, and read under tall conifers. This “doing nothing” unexpectedly turned into a kind of inner journey, where I felt, at times, sadness from unresolved past experiences. Slowing down also means giving yourself the time to feel what’s been buried and unexpressed, allowing it to be released from its emotional hold. Fully experiencing that sadness was healing because it allowed me to accept it, not fear it, and start to move past it.

Renewal in the French Alps!

Starting in September, you can reconnect with this idea of “doing nothing,” this letting go, by joining my therapeutic yoga workshops. Together, we’ll dive into the art of slowing down. We’ll feel, and continue to untangle the knots, tensions, and restrictions that are deeply stored in the body’s tissues. We’ll breathe and learn to live with more freedom and joy.

1 st Sept. 2024 workshop
14 Sept.2024 workshop
13 Oct. 2024 workshop
27 Oct. 2024 workshop
10 Nov. 2024 workshop
24 Nov. 2024 workshop
8 Dec. 2024 workshop

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The Pause

My arm lymphedema recently got infected. It’s been a great reminder that I need to listen to myself and my body. At all times.

April 22nd started like any other day, doing yoga.

I had taught a yoga therapy workshop the day before and was feeling super energized. I performed the bridge pose and twisted my shoulders in a way that compromised my circulation. For someone with breast cancer-related lymphedema in my arm, this was a misstep. Off-guard moment. I knew I wasn’t supposed to twist my shoulder that way. The result? My lymphedema got infected.

Since then, I’ve put my foot on the brake. I revisited my schedule—once again—to have more breathing room (I’ve always overdone).

These days, I need nature. I walk. I lay down in the meadow. I read. I create space for myself. Trees, birds and the sky are there for me. To help me repair myself. Yesterday, I practiced yoga for the first time in three weeks, with so much more compassion.

Remember–honor your own wellness journey. In every possible way. That too is yoga therapy.

A nature park, close to home, five miles South of Paris, has been
my favorite place to rest.

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How Breast Cancer Has Made Me Who I Am

It’s precisely because cancer is a life-threatening disease that it has helped me find who I am. I would have preferred to learn without paying that price. Nonetheless, since two breast cancers were on my paths, I’ve decided to make sense of it all.

The universe threw two early stage breast cancers my way, ten years apart—one in 2004 (stage III) and another in 2014 (stage III that had spread in two lymph nodes). Looking back, they’re atomic explosions that have shaped my life and—as odd as it sounds—helped me find who I am.

Within weeks of my first diagnosis in 2004, I came across yoga for the first time and met my teacher, Aline Frati, in Paris (where I’m from and where I lived at the time). I also consulted with a doctor who was a nutritionist, Dr. Ithurriague. Charcuterie, cheese and wine was part of my diet back then. Hell, that’s normal for a French! Here I was listening to Dr. Ithurriague explaining how nutrition impacts the immune system. I changed my diet, practiced yoga, discovered reflexology, and did pretty much whatever I wanted during the year of my treatments. I could do that since I was on a sick leave while I received 100% of my monthly salary, as part of the French universal health care system.

This was a time of transformation, churning, grief and rest. Dr. Ithurriage also mentioned this guy who had been diagnosed with an incurable cancer and who had decided to live his dream—spend the rest of his life on a sailboat, traveling around the world. The guy ended up being cured and living many more moons. “If there’s something you’ve always wanted to do, DO IT. It can make a huge difference,” concluded Dr. Ithurriague.

I had always wanted to live abroad

His words resonated with me. A year after our conversation in his office, I met an American (who lived in Atlanta) during a Thanksgiving dinner in Paris. We fell in love. I had always wanted to live abroad. After a year of a long-distance relationship, I moved to Atlanta and we got married. It was the first time I followed my gut feelings and did something for me.

Eight years went by living in a marriage, working as a freelance corporate writer, and dipping my toe in the water of yoga therapy. The news of the second cancer was just as big of a shock as the first one, especially since my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer at the same time. My medical team did their job while I went on a mission to understand the disease on an emotional, almost spiritual level.

It was time to look at what my breast cancer was saying to me. I worked with a psychologist, Laurent Malterre, who guided me. I searched my soul and my childhood years. I realized I had been left unseen and unheard. I became aware how much that had left a powerful footprint in me, and pushed me to develop a strategy to be seen—all my life, I had given abundantly to classmates, family, life partners, friends, bosses, clients, whomever. I had given to the point of exhaustion, of illness. An exhaustion that had led to cancer. Twice. On the other hand, I had helped others heal for as long as I could remember. No matter how damaged a person was, I saw the diamond they were. This is still true today.

“What is it that makes you, YOU?”

The psychologist asked me the questions I needed to hear, “Stop waiting for others to see you. It’s time you look at who you are. So, what is it that makes you, YOU? What are your beliefs and values? What speaks to your soul? What are you here for?” Each question felt like a wake-up call. I literally had a “a-ha” moment. All of what made me who I was—my yoga practice, my ability to listen and name emotions and feelings, and to see the diamond inside the other—came together. To be me, I had to help others heal and create my own yoga therapy practice in a way that deeply resonated with me.

While creating my yoga therapy practice from the ground up, I learned to value my own needs instead of putting the needs of others before mine. I divorced. The time came when I said “no” to friends who were used to me being present for them whatever my circumstances. I started dancing—another life-long dream.

It’s been a long road, full of turns, trust me. An ongoing process. That’s why I’m so proud of what I’ve accomplished so far.

Photo: at a weekly contemporary dance class provided by Fly On A Wall and their visionary teachers (here: Jimmy Joyner and Anna Bracewell Crowder) at the Windmill Arts Center in East Point, GA.

Read also:
– “Pinktober, aka The Month of Over Giving” (Oct. 17)
– “Pinktober — Intuition saved my breast” (Oct. 18)

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Our Body has All the Answers. We Need to Listen to It.

Our life experience expresses itself in our body. That’s why I invite yoga therapy clients to dive in the depth of their flesh to listen to the body’s messages. Then, I encourage them to speak their truth to truly meet another and, ultimately, to free themselves from emotional wounds.

It’s during the course of two very serious diseases that I started doing work on the body and how it relates to emotions. I have learned a lot along the way. I have learned any trauma, any information that is too painful to process consciously, any suppressed emotion finds its way in the body in the form of tension and, sometimes, disease. I have learned our psyche strives to forget these painful experiences and feelings. We take refuge behind our masks and protections and, often, we set our body aside.

However, if we want to go deeper in our wellness journey, if we want to live a life that is in harmony with who we truly are, we need to feel, become aware and accept those suppressed emotions so that we re-integrate them into our life’s journey.

To do that, we need our body’s help simply because our psyche and body are intimately connected. They are like the hand and the glove. If the hand moves, the glove moves too. In other words, our life experience always finds a way to express itself in our physical body.

So how can we heal emotional wounds with the body’s help?

The body speaks to us but, most of the time, we don’t pay attention to those signs, we don’t feel anything. That’s why any healing process starts with allowing ourselves to pause–so we can go inwards and listen. Aline Frati, my yoga teacher, used to say, “There is no healing without taking a pause.”

“What do you feel?” is the fundamental question

Because of this, my yoga therapy method includes a style of gentle yoga that brings the person to focus on a slow, deep yogic breathing while going in and out of simple poses at a slow pace.

“What do you feel?” is the fundamental question that needs to be asked. The goal is to bring us to feel our body and listen to what it says, to be on the lookout of what the body is expressing about ourselves, about our emotional and physical wounds. The point is to become the explorer and the observer of what triggers our emotional and physical pain.

Once we have listened to what the body says, then we can move on to the other aspect of the healing journey: to put our feelings, our life experience into words. We need to share our wounds and our dreams with others who can listen. To heal, we need to truly meet another. This is the reason why all my classes start and end with a healing circle. I ask participants to participate regularly to the classes. That’s because each person heals thanks to the yoga practice, the work I do as a facilitator and also thanks to the relationship they build with the others.

This healing journey is a hard road. It requires courage and patience. However, the effort is a small price to pay for more wellness and joy in our lives.

Photo: Femme Accroupie (Crouching Woman), 1880-1882, Auguste Rodin. From the”Picasso-Rodin” exhibit, Musée Picasso, Paris, June 2021.

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A Place To Be Reborn

Atlanta has one of the best cancer wellness centers in the country. As a survivor, I have attended their classes and been blown away by the patients’ creativity and aliveness.

I found out about the Piedmont Cancer Wellness Center in Atlanta, this past autumn, while I was looking to teach yoga therapy to cancer patients. With that goal in mind, I met the manager, Carolyn Helmer. She suggested that I, as a survivor myself, start by attending classes and workshops to get a vibe of the place, the people who look to the center for support, as well as the healers and the teachers in the support team.

I was a little annoyed by the idea. I was passionate about teaching yoga therapy to anyone affected by cancer. Nevertheless, I wanted nothing else to do with people looking like zombies.

I met people who were dealing or had dealt with breast cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer, pancreatic cancer. You name it.

I also came across something I didn’t expect—aliveness.

I attended soul collage sessions, yoga classes and personal development workshops. We all shared a common experience–The experience of facing or of having faced, at some point in our lives, the effects of a life-threatening disease.

During a lunch break, I talked with Cookie, a woman who had had pancreatic cancer seven years before, now in full remission. I had noticed her witty look and remarks during the class. “If it wasn’t for this place, I wouldn’t be alive today,” she told me.

During a workshop on how to cultivate self-care, the counselor asked us to come together in groups of three and brainstorm to write our own quote on self-care. Adele, Elizabeth and I were ecstatic with our quote: “Drop the mask of perfection and replace it with authenticity. Allow the development of creativity and reach for the unknown”.

After the workshop, I left the center and took the elevator to the building’s lobby. Suddenly, I stopped walking. I became aware that people I came across—employees, visitors, etc.–looked dull and drained. A thought came to my mind. I had just spent three hours with a bunch of cancer people who looked more alive than the “healthy” people. I smiled while realizing that, after all, I liked the zombies.


The visual at the top of the page is a card I created during a soul collage session at the center on Jan. 5, 2019. The card is titled “I See You”.

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I Am Good Enough

Feeling “good enough” is vital. At least for me. Why? Because over doing or always putting the needs of others before my own has come with a high price.

Piedmont Hospital’s Chapman Cancer Wellness Center provides free wellness and personal development programs for cancer patients and survivors. Last week, the center offered a workshop that spoke to me, “Good Enough: Letting Go of Perfectionism and People-Pleasing”, so I went. It made me reflect on my own—sometimes painful—journey towards feeling “good enough”.

Twelve years ago, I moved from Paris to Atlanta. I was coming out of breast cancer, and I believed that my (new) marriage and a complete change of scenery would make me happier and prevent me from getting sick again.

I was wrong.

In 2014, I got sick with a second bout of cancer.

The ordeal forced me to face something that became clear—I had spent most of my life pleasing others and helping them fulfill their dreams. I was convinced I had to do a lot to be loved, and I was constantly looking for the love and approval of others.

It was time to change, and to start seeing and acknowledging who I was.

Two years later, I did a big step towards feeling “good enough”. I let go of a 25+ year corporate career that was draining me, and I allowed myself to do something I loved—teach yoga therapy.

The workshop at the cancer wellness center, last week, was a new opportunity to check in with myself. What are the areas in my life where I may not feel good enough? How come this is happening? Feeling good enough is my life’s project.

What about you? Do you tend to overdo yourself and please others? If yes, what has motivated you to do that in your life? And what is the cost you are paying to overdo and please others? These are important questions as they may lead you to better physical and emotional well being.

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Pinktober–Intuition Saved My Breast

Intuition is a powerful tool, especially when recovering. Listening to my intuition helped me conserve my breast and, ultimately, overcome cancer.

Intuition came into my life when I was diagnosed with my first breast cancer and started practicing yoga therapy, all at the same time, 14 years ago.

That first time I was diagnosed with cancer, my surgeon carried out a breast-conserving surgery. That means he removed part of the breast tissue as opposed to all of the breast (mastectomy).

Yoga therapy helped me navigate the medical treatment and become more in touch with my intuition. It brought down the level of chronic stress, and allowed me to move into more physical and emotional peace, giving me access to clarity about how to move forward in situations of daily life.

Fast forward ten years. I was confronted with a second bout of cancer in the same breast. Here I was in my new surgeon’s office. Without hesitation, he said he could perform a breast-conserving surgery, just like my first surgeon had done a decade earlier. I breathed a sigh of relief. For years, I had struggled with insecurity and not feeling feminine enough and had embarked on an emotional healing journey. So, conserving my breast, no matter how messed up it would look, meant the world to me.

I had a few weeks to get prepared for the procedure.

Two days before going to the hospital, my surgeon called me, trembling, “I forgot about the committee… I had to submit your case to a committee, and they just let me know their decision. They want a mastectomy”.

I froze.

I found out that French healthcare had recently introduced “cancer committees”. Any doctor who diagnosed a patient with cancer had to submit their patient’s case to a committee. There were–and still are–hundreds of committees all over France. Each committe is made up of a dozen experts, including an oncologist, an MD, a social worker, a radiologist and more. Its mission is to bring experts together to to determine the patient’s needs—most of the time without meeting the person. The idea is to avoid a single doctor to misdiagnose, and, ultimately, to save lives.

In almost all cases, patients go with the committee’s decision.

My surgeon believed the breast-conserving surgery was enough, and that the mastectomy was not a must. He left the decision up to me, “I will support whatever decision you make.”

I was shaking. “I need to feel this out. I’ll give you an answer by tomorrow”.

The next 24 hours were among the most intense of my life. Every cell of my body was telling me to conserve my breast.

The next day, I called my surgeon. “Let’s stick with our first decision. I want you to take out the tumor and leave the healthy tissue alone”.

Two months after my surgery I had my first appointment with the oncologist who was going to walk me through chemo. It was the first time I ever met him. I knew only one thing about him—he was the one who headed “the committee”. When I stepped into his office, he said, “so, it’s YOU”!

When I told him I was a yoga therapist, a strange smile came onto his face. We saw each other every three weeks for eight months. Not only did he know my medical situation, he also knew I was divorcing and losing my father of lung cancer, all at the same time.

Ultimately, I recovered. And here I am four years later—healthy.

I remember what he told me right at the end of my treatment, “Keep doing what you’re doing”. And that’s what I do—I practice and teach yoga therapy, and listen to my intuition.

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How Raina, Five Months, Reminded Me Of The Power Of The Mind Body Connection

While a client went through her pregnancy with emotional turmoil, her unborn baby showed physical symptoms. My client worked through her emotions to find peace, and her baby found the way back to health.

This time last year, I starting seeing Ronika, a client, during yoga therapy private sessions to support her during her pregnancy that was emotionally challenging.

Childhood trauma came up to the surface. Ronika was also facing a feeling of abandonment in her couple. She was overwhelmed with anger, fear and sadness.

Four months into the pregnancy, doctors told my client that her baby had five or six cysts on her kidneys.

From that point on, Ronika was considered “at risk”, and went to visit her doctor every week. There was nothing else the doctor could do except wait until Ronika’s baby was at least three months old. The doctor would then check the baby’s kidneys.

When I first heard about the unborn baby’s cysts, I connected the dots between Ronika’s emotional turmoil and her unborn child’s physical symptoms.

I called a mentor in Paris to have his point of view. “Kidneys are connected to fear. If your client finds peace and is able to welcome her baby with love and serenity at birth, then everything will come back to normal,” he said.

During her private yoga therapy sessions, Ronika became in touch with suppressed emotions and released them. Her relationship with her partner became stronger. All this helped my client be emotionally and physically prepared to welcome and nurture Raina after she was born.

Five months later, doctors were finally able to check Raina’s kidneys with ultra-sound for the first time. “Raina has one only one kidney. The good news is that there is no cyst on her kidney.”

I am convinced Raina absorbed her mom’s emotions before she was born, and that these emotions had an effect on Raina’s body–they dissolved one of her kidneys. I am also convinced that Raina felt her mom’s renewed peace and serenity and that those feelings dissolved the cysts.

Today, Raina is two. The youngest of three girls, she is a powerhouse of health and vibrancy!