Fabiana Esca

Fabiana took her first yoga class when she was a child (7 years old). During a family holiday, in a touristic village, in an Italian island, Favignana. "We did classic Indian yoga like Patanjali. I continued doing Hatha Yoga and I tried different kinds of yoga. Finally I met Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in 2001 and I started practicing Yantra Yoga of Dzogchen tibetan tradition."

She has been passing to her yoga student that the principal purpose in Yantra Yoga is to govern our prana energy, to go finally beyond mind and judgement, to recognize our primordial condition, the nature of the mind, through the knowledge of our three aspects; body, speech or energy, and mind.

Special moment from teaching?
"When we remain in the same state of contemplation."

Do you feel yoga is more mental or physical?
In Yoga we say mind is like the king, energy is ministers and body to the subjects, but start from body is more easy. In Yantra Yoga we use body, voice (breathing) and mind at the same moment, in harmonious and strong method.

What is your favourite Italian word? favourite Italian food? favourite Italian tradition?
Italian word favourite is "Felicità", English is "Enjoy"! Italian food is "Pasta- Spaghetti". Tradition is "The pagan rituals survived to the Catholic Church"

What impact do you think yoga has on the world?
"I feel that through the yoga people have a chance to become more responsible , aware and through the recognition of our true nature , we become more able to enjoy the existence and we want to spread this same joy around us. I hope!"

Fabiana was kind enough to share with me a bit about the source of Yantra yoga in Italy, from www.dzogchen.net:

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu arrived in Italy, in Rome at the end of the '60s, at the IsMEO Institute, called from Giuseppe Tucci (who is considered one of the founders of the field of Buddhist Studies) and in Naples early '70s, to teach in University Orientale, tibetan language and literature. "When I came to Italy, after a few years people became interested in Tantra and Tibetan Yoga, and so I started to teach Yantra to them." Before Yantra Yoga (Nyida Khajor) was a sacred and secret method, reserved to the Dzogchen students, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu received this teaching when he was very young, from his uncle Togden Ugyen Tendzin (1888-1962) but now it's possible to learn this method for all people, in accordance with the needs of people in the modern time. First Guru Padmasambhava received the trasmission of Yantra Yoga from the mahasiddha Humkhara and when he introduced Buddhism in Tibet, he trasmitted Yantra Yoga method to his main student Vairocana (eighth century). Vairocana wrote down the orale instructions, in the root text Nyida Khajor (sun and moon union), the oldest text we know and he trasmitted the method to his students and the transmission has never been interrupted untill now! In Naples there is a center of Dzogchen Community, Namdeling, where we practice the Dzogchen Theaching between us students and with open courses for all people interested. Chögyal Namkhai Norbu hold retreats of the Dzogchen teachings throughout the world for thousands of people who continually ask for it. "The Dzogchen teaching, by its very nature, is inspired by compassion, non-violence, respect for every living creature, leading to a genuine evolution that originates from an awareness of one's essential nature. With this the teacher Namkhai Norbu send to the world a message of peace by encouraging a ' creative ' brotherhood between all people, men and women who want to lead a relaxed and collaborative life, harmoniously integrated into the everyday life of ordinary life".