Photo: David Hill, Deep Hill Media
By Ellen Hill
Emotionally bruised from a toxic relationship, Azari da Roza was depressed and filled with anxiety and fear when she returned home to Australia 10 years ago after a few years living overseas.
"I was lost and in a bit of a mess, and at a crossroads in my life,’’ she says.
"`I knew there had to be more to life, so I began to search.’’
After reading self-help and spirituality books, she attended a yoga class and immediately became hooked.
``It helped me to heal, bring myself into the moment and let go a lot of the fear,’’ she says.
Yoga works by incorporating movement with breathing and mental focus to help your physical body and the energy within.
"When we’re moving our body, we get this really yummy cocktail of dopamine and serotonin (they’re the happy feel-good hormones) released into our brains.’’
These days, Azari creates calm and blissful experiences for others through Kundalini yoga classes and ecstatic dance, where you can express yourself through free-form movement.
"It’s a really great way of getting the energy within our bodies to return to its natural state of flow,’’ she says.
A visual artist and musician, Azari adds sound into the yoga mix with her partner Zane Thompson.
Destiny bells chimed as the couple spent their first date playing bell drums together inside a Mountains cave.
Since then, they have been guided by the flow of life and joys of co-creating.
They use an array of instruments in their sessions.
A rain stick "feels like it’s washing over you and is a great cleansing sound’’.
The Navajo flute made by a friend is made of white and red Canadian cedar and tuned to F-sharp to connect with the heart chakra.
And the delicate fairy bells, also known as koshi chimes, ``make me feel like I’m sprinkling fairy dust’’.
"We joke that when we do sound journeys, our other name could be The Tearjerkers because emotional release is something that happens during the experience.
"It could be sadness, anger or frustration or beautiful joy and happiness, but this is a safe space for you to express those and free them.’’
Akuna Retreats comes to you in your Blue Mountains accommodation, home or workplace, along with yoga mats and instruments.
Or you can explore mindfully our bushland with certified Japan Forest Therapy Society and International Nature and Forest Therapy Alliance forest therapy guide Mayu Kataoka.
Her personalised walks and corporate retreat business, Forest Minds, offers forest bathing (or Shinrin-yoku).
Meanwhile, Happy Buddha Retreat (yogabluemountains.com.au) in Wentworth Falls operates from a beautiful private property in the bush, where inspirational quotes are embedded into the floor and camomile tea is abundant.
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