Episode 80
52 mins
Ria Tirazona - Yoga, Psychology and COVID-19 in the Philippines
Ria Tirazona is a yoga facilitator/education and licensed Psychologist from Manila. She manages a branch of a local yoga studio brand, YogaPlus.
As a self-confessed emotional eater, Ria struggled with weight issues for most of her life. Through yoga, she found that she deserved to celebrate her body and treat herself with love and compassion. This is what she wants everyone to also discover. Her passion as a yoga facilitator and therapist is to support and empower others in discovering their personal path to wellness through trauma-informed, accessible, mental health aware practices such as yoga, meditation and mindfulness. She likewise wants to let people know that indeed, yoga is for EVERY BODY.
Ria draws from her clinical psychology training in working with beginners, the older and less active students, and people with injuries, chronic illnesses, and weight, emotional or mental health concerns. Her nurturing yet playful classes are relaxing yet surprisingly challenging. She emphasizes building strength and functionality in movement while harnessing softness in the body and mind.
In this episode, we learn about Ria's background growing up in Manila and what drew her to yoga. We learn about the yoga scene in the Philippines and how it has been affected by COVID-19. Ria fills us in on some of the economic realities of life in Manila and we also learn about how The Philippines has the highest social media engagement in the world!
We also talk about how social isolation may lead to emotional eating, toxic productivity and toxic positivity.
Links
Ria's website: https://yogaplus.ph/
Ria's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biggerbodyyogaph/
Nurturing Yoga and Pilates Video Course: https://www.gardenofyoga.com.au/learn/nurturing-yoga-and-pilates/
This episode is sponsored by Yoga Australia:
https://www.yogaaustralia.org.au/
https://www.instagram.com/yogaaustralia/
The opinions expressed in this podcast do not reflect the view and opinions of the sponsor.
Highlights
Click on a timecode to play from that time in the recording.
1:12 Nurturing Yoga and Pilates course2:10 Ria tells us about her background growing up in Manila
4:01 How has the internet affected Ria’s understanding of the world and her country?
4:52 How did Ria discover yoga?
7:20 Did Ria have any key teachers?
9:37 What drew Ria to study psychology?
10:59 Gow does Ria bring her creativity into her psychology work?
12:02 What is the yoga scene in Manilla like pre pandemic?
13:25 Is there much of an accessible yoga/body positive yoga community in The Philippines?
16:12 Does Ria feel that going online has made her classes more cost accessible to people who otherwise would not do yoga?
17:55 The minimum wage in The Philippines.
19:50 Is it a challenge making an income as a studio or a teacher in The Philippines?
21:51 Ria shares some creative approaches that yoga teachers in The Philippines have come up with in response to Covid 19.
23:21 The Philippines is the most social media engaged country in the world.
24:15 Please support us on Patreon!
25:12 What is the Government of the Philippines doing to help with the Covid-19 situation?
26:13 Have more resources been put into the health system?
27:58 Social isolation and emotional eating.
31:03 Restricted or clean eating as a form of control in unsettling times.
34:28 On toxic productivity
43:10 Does what we share on social media affect how we think of our own reality?
45:42 Accessible Yoga Community Check ins with Jivana Heyman
48:17 Is there anything we can do in Australia to help teachers over in the Philippines?
50:30 What is the one core lesson that Ria would like to share with the world?
Friends of Flow
