Meet Amina Naru | Yoga Instructor | Spiritual Wellness Mentor | Speaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amina Naru and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amina, what are you inspired by?
I am continually inspired by human suffering. Not that I am looking for, enjoy, or glorify it, but suffering motivates us to seek answers and to find other ways of being. There is wisdom in suffering, and discomfort, so much we can learn; and often it comes when we are being called to grow, heal, expand, or move into our next level or challenge for the sake of uplifting humanity. There is healing salve embedded within our suffering, but when we refuse to explore the origins, roots, or attachment to it, we can get stuck in it. One of my favorite quotes, “Change is inevitable, Suffering is optional”.

It was my own suffering that inspired my passion to heal. I read every book I could get my hands on about healing through spiritual practices. I studied Reiki and became a Reiki master, not only to heal myself but to help others heal. I discovered meditation and yoga while on my healing journey and was inspired to become a yoga teacher, I volunteered teaching classes for juvenile detention centers and marginalized communities, and started POSH YOGA LLC.

I am inspired by love. Love changed my life. It took the unconditional love of another for me to know what love is and how it should feel. This inspired a cultivation of love for myself because I knew how it should feel, and I wanted more and more of it. More and more of me, and time to pour love into the relationship with myself.

This is what inspires me to be the best, most authentic loving version of myself because I know the pain of choosing otherwise, the effects it has on my work and those I love and the causes of suffering.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I have been told that what makes my offerings unique is a profound feeling of safety, presence and compassion I bring when holding spaces for yoga, healing, and mentoring. My own work in relationship to suffering, healing and yoga practices has allowed me to excavate internal space to witness and hold the suffering of others. My practice has gifted me the ability to understand, forgive, empathize, and most importantly love. This is what is felt during a POSH yoga class, or at a Retreat to Spirit offering.

I am most proud of the POSH Yoga and Mindfulness Program that has been running in more than 5 juvenile detention centers in the state of Delaware since 2012. These are curriculum based classes that teach youth how to regulate their nervous system with meditation, breathing, and asanas.

It wasnt easy at first. I had never worked with teenagers. But after some trainings and a deeper dive into my own practice, I was told by colleagues and mentors that I am a natural at holding space and teaching this community, and that this is my dharma.

I want my legacy to be bigger than the work I’m presently doing. Im planting seeds of hope and tools in the youth and adults I serve. If any of my former students find theirself stuck in suffering, I hope that they remember to call on the seeds within, to spring up and give them solace and peace so they may see their path more clearly. I hope they will pass the seeds on to others, to ripple out into our communities, more love, more compassion and more healing.

My dream is to build a yoga academy for youth in transition from detention center to home. During my eleven year tenure I have seen many teens who just dont want to go back to their homes or neighborhoods for various reasons. This academy would be an alternative, or another option. Teaching the eight limbs of yoga and mindfulness as life skills, as well as farming, culinary, and ayurvedic health. Students are prepared for college, trade school, or work upon completion. When we know how to take care and love ourselves, we know how to take care and love others.

I am the cofounder of Retreat to Spirit LLC. At Retreat to Spirit we mentor yoga teachers and wellness entrepreneurs to shift their mindset to abundance and redefine what success looks like. Our trauma trainings assist people who are in fields of service with creating safer spaces, by taking a deeper dive into their good intentions for serving, and examining the cultures of trauma. The Retreat to Spirit Transformational Soul Care offering is a wellness retreat with reiki, journaling, dharma discussions, meditations, yoga, nourishing meals and rest and relaxation.

The biggest lesson I have learned along the way is that without a consistent contemplative practice, my good intentions can be harmful to others. Svadhyaya and self study is extremely important when in fields of service work. We need to know and understand the why, before the doing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would invite them to a community yoga session Saturday morning at Wilmington Alliance, take a walk/ride bikes on the riverfront, lunch at Over the Border at 2nd & Market, do some shopping on Market St. mall, check out Lena’s and Aunt Bumpy’s for dinner, and top it off with live jazz music in the evening at Nomad’s. All venues are in walking distance. Downtown Wilmington has so much to offer and do. Sunday morning yoga at Sound Body Studio Wilmington, De.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Yoga Journal/Outside magazine, Yoga for SelfCare Course

Website: www.aminanaru.com www.retreattospirit.today

Instagram: @aminanaru @retreattospirit

Facebook: amina naru spiritual wellness

Youtube: poshyoga