In light of the current Covid-19 pandemic, I reached out to yoga teacher and reiki healer – USA living, Serbian Nikolina Adzic – I wanted to see the effects that this is having on her creative community.
Set up in her cosy Wisconsin apartment, Nikolina has her tripod against the couch to film her live yoga streams, and books, workbooks and calendars spread out. She tells me how wild orange essential oil is setting a nice fragrance to the place but sadly, I can’t smell it as I’m interviewing her online.
She is currently teaching online yoga and offers distant reiki healing, as well as free-form dance. “I love being able to help but also awaken an awareness within all of us,” she says, in her relaxed and peaceful manner.
Now living in this era where all we have is NOW, “I cope by seeing all of this as opportunity,” she says. “There’s many things we can control and many we cannot.”
Her words reflect her family’s experience of escaping the war in Bosnia and then going to live in Serbia for five years. Finally emigrating to the USA, with only $100 in their back pocket.
Opening her heart, she tells me, “As a kid I have memories of grenades being thrown and having to duck down, I learned at a very early age what essential human needs are.” So, in this current existence, being in her snug apartment, with her partner and an abundant choice of food and opportunity, it “doesn’t seem like any sort of punishment”.
Social distancing is something that is difficult for all of us during this time but as Nikolina explains, it’s pushed her to step out of her comfort zone to create and deliver, despite the difficult circumstances all around.
She has had a lot of regular students coming back to her live streams, as well as new ones becoming involved in this virtual world, that we are creating together.
This newfound time is giving her and her students the ability to grow. Nikolina now has the freedom to create a course or package format, where her students will have access to it, as and when they feel.
“My ultimate goal is to connect people to their inner wisdom, so I am launching bridal yoga for wellness-infused bachelorette parties and wedding day yoga, as well as yoga guided hikes!” Something to keep in mind for her future progression and expanding business.
Nikolina seems to be a perfect example of the quarantine life that is upon us. Not letting this pandemic outgrow her innovative attitude – she is meditating, walking, practising yoga, shaking (yes you heard it, it’s a form of meditation, from the works of Osho and others) and dancing.
She is trying out new cleansing recipes, playing cards or watching a movie and having dinner with her partner. Listening to audios and reading hard-copy books, writing for her blog and catching up with friends and family is also on the agenda.
All in a day’s work for this quarantine queen – she has signed up for online courses, which she does for 3-4 hours per day. She stays active on social media, to seek out tips and tricks for her ever-growing holistic services and how she can make them more sustainable for the future.
Still able go to outside, Nikolina embarks on hikes and nature walks, through the snowy Wisconsin outdoors, as she tells me, “There is this abundant feeling of ease, no rush, no stress, the world is quiet, yet the earth is blooming.”
Speaking of her travels to India and South America and dabbling in the world of plant medicine Nikolina explains, “We use external resources and things to temporarily fill a void that only internal satisfaction can fill.” These are the coping mechanisms that she has learned from her past, that is filling her with joy in her present and enhancing a shining, impressive future.
“I also realised traveling to these places, how much we hide and fill our emptiness with capitalism and with distraction – I cope by seeing all of this as opportunity.” Bringing me onto the question of when Covid-19 is over, what does the world for Nikolina’s livelihood look like?
Nikolina wants to take her breath-work training the next level – to keep moving, meditating and enjoying those morning coffees on her balcony, and then to finally get back to one-to-one healings.
There are plans to develop her dance movement workshops and women’s circles, visit yoga ashrams, and her homeland in Serbia.
In the words of this open-minded, free spirit, “You don’t have to always be doing something. Doing nothing sometimes is actually the best thing you can do!”
Something to consider – what will your world look like when Covid-19 has passed?
Namaste, Larissa.
Web: Nikolinayoga.com
Instagram: Nikolina Energy & Movement
Facebook: Nikolina Yoga
Facebook Group: Own Your Wild Essence
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