Meet Rodrigo
Rodrigo Souza
Adaptive & Accessible Yoga Teacher
Hi, my name is Rodrigo Souza (he/him), a short-term undecided and long-term optimism.
I have suffered a spinal cord injury (T3 complete) in 2014 after a fall accident and due to that, I am also paralyzed from the chest down and a full-time wheelchair user, but that’s not what defines me, but it is worth mentioning because it was since my injury that I started deepening my Yoga practice, I have been studying Mindfulness and Adaptive Yoga since then to help me deal with muscles spasticity, chronic nerve pain, anxiety, and many other secondary conditions that the injury has bought me.
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Through direct personal experience with traumatic injury, chronic pain, and discovering the need to take charge of my recovery to optimize long-term wellbeing, I decided to become a Yoga teacher and teach from my own experience.
So I decided to create Allihopa Yoga, a project that aims to offer Adaptive Yoga combined with Mindfulness to everyone who has experienced trauma and disability.
I had the great privilege to study Adaptive Yoga with Matthew Sanford, founder of Mind Body Solutions, who is also a paraplegic and has taught me so much throughout his Adaptive Yoga classes and workshops.
Another teacher worth mentioning is Jivana Heyman, founder of Accessible Yoga Association.
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Apart from 200YTT, Restorative, Yin Yoga & MBS Adaptive Yoga workshops, I have also taken the Accessible Yoga Training and Jivana has influenced me so much with his ideas of making the practice accessible for everyone.
Yoga somehow gives me a sense of responsibility and an opportunity to contribute to the well-being of others, which I feel immensely grateful to be able to do it so. It gives my life purpose and helping others, I am automatically helping myself.
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So as a teacher, I am willing to offer all the knowledge and experiences I have acquired to folks who are going or have gone through the same challenges that I have. Through practicing and teaching yoga, I have come to appreciate both my physical abilities and limitations and I hope to inspire my students to love their bodies exactly as they are, and to find joy in movement and rest.
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Yoga has helped me to fall in love with my broken body and to accept it as it is. It allowed me to be who I am and to accept what it is.
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My Accessible Chair Yoga classes are mainly designed for wheelchair users and folks who are looking for a deep and gentle seated practice but everyone is welcome.
Join me for grateful experiences for our body, mind, and soul.
