Qi Blog
Introducing to Qi: Julien Orriols of the Yoga Essence Institute
Introducing to our Qi Healing Centre: Julien Orioles of Yoga Essence Institute
Part I: About Julien
Hari Om Yoginis and Yogis,
My name is Julien, I came to Melbourne from France over 14 years ago. I am glad I did as it is here that a friend introduced me to Yoga about 10 years ago. I literally came out of my first class with springs instead of my legs! I was so energised yet my body was relaxed. I was ‘hooked’.
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Really??? Would my family and friends ask… You are doing Yoga, YOU?!?
At the time I was working in the Corporate World…bad posture, too much computer, stress, deadlines, etc…and had already a few back issues. I had always done lots of sports and rather the hard and fast sports, think Tennis, Squash, Skiing, DirtBikes, Windsurf, Kitesurf, etc… When young you cope better but as you age and physical issues persist it also starts draining you mentally. Even though I could feel the benefits of yoga already, I was not fully committed: when summer came around I pretty much stopped doing Yoga to enjoy outdoor sports. With hindsight, it was because I didn’t know enough to practice on my own.
Then when winter came around I started going to yoga again, but I was still having sporadic episodes with my back. I tried so many Chiropractors and Osteopaths, Acupuncture, Massage but that was only a quick fix, not preventing my back from going out of ‘whack’ every so…too often!
After a few years, as I got a little more confident with yoga I finally decided to bite the bullet and signed up online which allowed me to try all the different western yogas under the sun. I now realise that I was all over the shop but the positive point is that it kept me to practicing regularly at home and that is what made me feel and understand the breath in Asanas (postures). I could feel some improvements in flexibility and a better core, but damned, still my back was bothering me way too much and too often.
It’s amazing how long you can keep going with these ups and downs with the back problems and not know what to do. Even the ‘Professionals’ did not seem to know any better: X-rays, MRIs, treatments, pills…for years I have seen so many specialists with PhDs and the latest technology…and as many different diagnostics! They just didn’t actually know what was going on with my body because Western Medicine has a quite narrow minded view in fact. It is so specialised in many ways that it forgets the holistic human nature and no one could make me better in a permanent way. I don’t blame them because it’s quite hard to diagnose someone else: “You are your best Doctor”. You are the one that best feels what is going on in your body & mind because you live with it every second and you should know. Yet, in today’s society, we do not feel anymore, we have lost our awareness, even of our own body!!! Most of us do not actually know our body and mind…Isn’t that amazing and silly?!? I’m asking you. Give it a good thought. Is it normal? Is it the way it’s meant to be?
Anyhow, I kept going trying to explore different avenues but mostly spending a lot of money on Chiropractors. At one point I was going to the Chiro 3 times a weeks! That was just becoming impossible and was kind of ready to try anything. I mean really anything. If you told me to apply mashed peas on my back and lie under the moonlight I would have done it!
More seriously, after all that I tried it’s not surprising that I lost ‘faith’ in modern medicine. I’m not using this word by mistake; naturally I started to turn to more esoteric kinds of healing. And I had been hearing about the benefits of Meditation for some years, but just like yoga, I didn’t know where to start and was sceptical. It took again quite sometime before finding something that resonated with me until I came across this “Yoga & Meditation” course…I thought to myself: “oh well, that could be good, and if I don’t like the meditation part at least it will allow me to go deeper in my Yoga”.
Wow!!! I couldn’t believe it; I had not really been practicing yoga for all these years as I thought I did. THIS, is the real Yoga! Asanas, Breathing and Meditation. I have to say it took me a good month to feel the main benefits but that is truly effective. As it works with the subtle energies, it is slow, but it’s there to stay!
Thus, my back is near perfect now! I have learnt how to regulate my nervous system and I can almost do the ‘Chiropractic session’ on myself. It has saved me a lot of money, all this hard cracking they do that I don’t like much and I am feeling so much better in general.
I have not only benefited on a physical level but also psychologically and spiritually. A lot of it happens without you knowing about it, things just get better, you approach life events differently and even though I am not anxious as such, I am so much more relaxed. And not just about the little things that make you grumpy but also the deeper existential matters we have.
This is just phenomenal, this practice has brought me much more than I could have wished for. So, to the risk of sounding ordinary, I will make that statement so popular amongst yogis: “It has literally changed my Life!”.
It really has and I know this is just the start of this wonderful journey. And I’m not talking about Enlightenment or anything weird, I’m just a normal person and I hope you will join me for this complete and evolutive practice so that I can help you find your True Essence or even just maintain a great Health.
Love, Peace, and Light.
Julien Orriols
Founder of YOGA ESSENCE Institute
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