From Oh...to OM

In a world of wellness and self-discovery, there are few figures as inspiring and transformative as "Yoga with Curvaceous Carla". Her journey from "Oh..." to "Om" serves as a beacon of hope and empowerment for individuals seeking healing and strength through yoga and determination. From living the high-life as a professional dancer to suddenly being forced to change carreer due to a work related injury.

A near death experience is when Carla began to truly appreciate and honour her body for all that it was capable of. Here she explains how Yoga became her sanctuary, a sacred space where she could shed the weight of societal expectations and reconnect with her true self. 

"Before I was a yoga teacher, I was a professional dancer. I lived the high life, dancing around the world on cruise liners, in the west end and featured in 22 music videos. I’ve danced for celebrities such as Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams and the Spice Girls.

I was living every 20 something dancer's dream! But such a physically demanding career eventually took its toll on my body and the cartilage in my right hip had worn down, meaning at the age of 46 I needed a full hip replacement. Wait, what...! A whole hip replacement? No, it can’t be, I’m not 80!  

On the evening of my surgery. I woke up on the floor, 6 nurses rushing around trying to get me back on the bed and connected to a monitor. I could see the panic on their faces. At that moment I thought I had died. It turns out, I have high blood pressure. I passed out and fell to the floor.

I was not dead, but in that terrifying moment, I had an epiphany, I decided when I recovered to never take my life or movement for granted. I am going to live in the moment and show up more fully for myself in my life’s work as a yoga and wellness therapist & instructor.  

I was on a mission to Rise back like a Phoenix.  

It was a tough year of recovery at the beginning, healing scar tissue, and repairing muscles. I was in a wheelchair, hardly able to move. I was beside myself. I was always so active and here I am, learning how to walk again.  

I had always practiced yoga during my dancing career and so I focused over the next 3 months on the power & wonders of yoga, and other holistic practices, reiki, crystal healing, and meditation. I channelled all the skills it gives us to help with life’s challenges, to heal and improve my mobility to get myself back to teaching yoga full time.  

I started teaching chair yoga to begin with to gain strength, then when I was able to physically get up and down from the ground, I began to teach Yin Yoga which helped me emotionally and mentally to be kind and gentle with my body and tune back in & come home to oneself.   

My yoga clients and community have been amazing, and I believe that having been through surgery has made me even more real and my class courses and retreat numbers are through the roof with each one fully booked! Being my authentic self has made me feel more confident about myself and helping others and I believe I’m a better teacher because of it.

I have even more empathy for my clients with injuries and issues. I constantly remind my participants to do as much or as little as their bodies want them to do. To listen to their bodies! Who knew that being part robot would make me more REAL?  

Of course, there were dark times when I thought I was “broken” and nobody would want to practice with me as I wouldn’t be able to demonstrate bigger poses and balances such as king dancer, eagle pose half-moon etc.  I thought I would have to give up my business as a full time Yoga and Wellbeing Coach. I had been comparing myself to the other insta yoga teachers and got myself in a place of fear. That I didn’t have a size 8/10 body or do a handstand with my foot in my mouth!