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Brandy Rametta will collaborate every week with tips, stories, and comments on the practice of yoga and wellness. Write your comments in the comment section at the bottom of this page.
By Reynaldo Mena
Her voice sounds clear and transmits energy and knowledge.
When I asked around about a community leader who cares about Yoga and the community, her name always came up.
“You have to talk to Brandy Rametta,” they would tell me.
I did a little research on the internet and I was fascinated. Undoubtedly, she is a person dedicated to the practice of yoga who sees in this discipline an evolving experimentation with her body, her energy, and her spirituality to find that connection with herself and with those around her.
“Everyone sees the happy faces on the Instagram posts, the perfect and athletic bodies. People stay with that image and think that this is yoga,” she told me when the conversation began.
“But yoga is not perfection. Yoga is a practice of how we deal with life on and off the mat. This is not easy. For me, every moment is a journey of self-discovery. I’ve had to overcome a lot from the inside out,” she adds.
Brandy believes that yoga saved her. It has given her a new perspective on life and led her to transition from a successful career in the fashion industry to teaching yoga.
“Everyone sees the happy faces on the Instagram posts, the perfect and athletic bodies. People stay with that image and think that this is yoga.”
“I do not deny who I was or what I did before. I do not deny that girl, who worked tirelessly in her career, constantly traveling, attending social events, drinking too much and not sleeping enough. My past experiences brought me to where I am now. Currently, every day I feel full. I make choices that I believe will contribute to my well-being and will hopefully influence those around me,” she adds.
Rametta is the owner of Heart & Soul Yoga, her outdoor yoga studio in Whittier, where everyday she receives and shares her way of understanding this discipline, a routine that not only includes physical practice but also breathing, meditation and implementing sacred wisdoms into life today.
“Today more than ever, we need this practice. We are going through very difficult times; the state of mental health is a priority,” she says.
In addition to managing and teaching in her studio, she also has started other wellness organizations to contribute to the well-being of the community. These are Whittier Walk for Wellness, The Local Wellness Collective and Women on Wellness.
I make choices that I believe will contribute to my well-being and will hopefully influence those around me.”
The Brandy that we know today is full of energy, connecting to yoga and sharing wisdom but life wasn’t always this way for this yoga teacher. She went through very difficult times, experiencing postpartum depression with the birth of her first son. In an attempt to overcome this, she started sharing her difficult journey with her community and this became a big part of her healing journey.
“This is the beauty of yoga. We have to accept the path we took and not be afraid to recognize it as a part of our lives. We must not deny it; if we share our story with others, we will come to discover that we all have similar experiences, we should not feel ashamed and we are more connected than we thought.”
It was in 2004 when she went to her first yoga class. At the time, she did not know anything about the practice. However, she received an invitation and attended a Bikram Yoga session, a very intense style that is characterized by practicing in a room with a temperature of around 100 degrees Celsius.
“It was an immediate connection. I quickly became connected to Bikram. I felt I had received a message to connect with myself. At that time, I was very disconnected from myself. I had come out of a very toxic relationship, but it was not only that; I had a very toxic way of living. I didn’t take care of myself; I was disconnected from self-love”, she says.
“This is the beauty of yoga. We have to accept the path we took and not be afraid to recognize it as a part of our lives. We must not deny it.”
“Yoga encouraged me to decided. And I decided to change; I had to fall in love with myself and take care of myself.”
Brandy mentions that one of the circumstances that led to this point was realizing so many she was forcing and not flowing. Being able to live her life fully (mistakes and all), let her to start living more authentically.
“The younger version of myself thought she knew what she wanted and tried forcing it all”, “But that wasn’t healthy,” she says. “Now I know when I’m forcing things and when I’m flowing.”
Throughout the years she reminisces of life changing episodes that forced her back to her yoga practice time and time again; her Grandmother’s passing, the ending of long-term toxic relationship in her younger years, difficult career transition and her Mother’s health. All of these different experiences but she explains them with one word – “Grieving – I did not know how to grieve losses. I did not know grace. I did not know the strength I possessed.”
“In 2016, after a break from my yoga practice, I recommitted myself in a big way. I made up my mind not to quit. I knew I could do anything if it was consistent and stayed aligned with my core values,” says Brandy.
As she began her transformation. Her husband immediately saw the change.
“Now I know when I’m forcing things
and when I’m flowing.”
“He was very curious about what I was doing. He looked at me very positively and was proud of my changes.” she says. “I remember when I returned to yoga, I felt peace. I felt grateful. And at the end of class, during shavasana, I released, I hugged myself, and I felt that connection with Divine time. I was living a spiritual detox. So I forced myself to keep up my practice. I was the baby; I was taking care of myself and nurturing myself. I vowed to love myself, love what I do, and love those around me.”
She committed to taking a yoga certification and stated that her goal was to share with others the gifts that she had experienced. And she has not stopped working in that direction. She has endless goals and things she wants to do to continue her development, which is known as Karma Yoga.
“My mentor in yoga was also my mentor in the world of fashion all those years ago. She (Heather Ellis) reminded me of something I shared with her after Bikram yoga in 2006: “I’m going to teach yoga one day. This is powerful. This is medicine. Talk about a full circle realization!”
In between raising her two kids, ages 6 and 4, Brandy currently has several intentional wellness projects and events in the works! Brandy will continue to host wellness workshops, women empowerment events, weekly wellness talks, yoga classes community wellness walks. Her hope is extend these powerful lessons of working on the mind, breath and body to low-income areas and to bring meditation to men and women who are incarcerated or previously incarcerated.
She ends by saying.”I want to communicate to people that we are all equal and wellness should be inclusive. My goal is to diversify yoga, health and wellness. I started this journey overweight, with two babies and in a community that doesn’t really indulge their time into wellness actives. I started where I was, I stayed committed to showing up for myself everyday and making small improvements. Believing in yourself, self-love and started a brand new career does not happen over night. It takes commitment, it takes making mistakes and sometimes not feeling your best. But you got to show up anyway! I’m grateful for the people and community who has supported my journey but I am so thankful to ME for showing up to the challenge”
Brandy’s Advice for New Students
1.Start where you are.
2.Don’t judge yourself.
3.Don’t wait; just do it. Your time is now.
4.If you feel you just can’t, at least show up and breathe consciously.
5.Every day is different.
6.Find your flow.
TO CONTACT
Heart & Soul Yoga
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