Here are the remarkable stories of Gili and Rula, both deep on the path of self exploration sharing the love for movement and dance.
Gili, a traveler at heart, is a 29-year-old Real Estate professional.
Born to a mother who is a dancer, movement has been a part of Gili’s life for as long as she can remember. Today Gili enjoys yoga (which has entered her life a few years ago), running, and dancing.
One of her favorite things to do is wake at dawn and go out running. She runs without music, without a watch, without any device that tracks her distance or time… she takes turns into new and unexplored territories and loves reaching places she has not yet been, climbing up to the highest point she can find and watching the sunrise.
“I follow the very first rays of light,” she tells us, “and they lead me to new and exciting places”.
Yoga has been part of Gili’s life for many years now,
”when I practice I feel free in my body, and don't mind what others think about me”.
She shares with us that while she doesn’t consider herself skinny, her body has never stopped her from doing anything she wants.
“Yoga is for everybody. It taught me to be more open, to release judgment and to love myself more”.
Gili shared a little secret with us, at home, she keeps a scratch-off map of the world.
“I remember the first time I was on an airplane. I was little, and I saw Israel get smaller and smaller as we rose, I remember feeling like a whole new world is opening up to me, and thinking that we live in such a big world, there is so much to see and do, so much to experience and learn, that time is precious and that I want to invest it in traveling and discovering new places, and meeting people that are different than me in some ways, but so similar in others”.
Then, with one final sentence, Gili summed all of it up nicely,
“I decided to invest in experiences and not in material objects. I think that the more I travel and experience the richer I will be”.
Like the people Gili has met on her travels, Rula is similar but different from her.
Rula, who has celebrated 31 rounds around the sun,
is fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, and English, she is a yoga instructor who also teaches English, and leads community support groups around the issues of gender, sexuality, and identity.
Movement has been a staple in Rula’s life from the beginning. Most of her childhood was spent doing Ballet, swimming, and climbing mountains.
“When I move, I feel free! It is an internal and all-encompassing freedom. The kind of freedom that is accompanied by the curiosity of childhood… climbing trees and mountains, bringing me closer to myself and my surroundings”.
Yoga has been part of Rula’s life for about 8 years.
“Today, yoga directs my movement, it is represented in my daily practice and is incorporated into everything I do”.
Rula shares with us that her love for yoga has led her to partake in a Teacher Training course with the intention of passing on the gift of yoga to more people and sharing the joy that comes from knowing one’s own body and the potential planted within it.
“I am active in many feminist and social circles, and am aware of the life force that exists within the moving body, constantly changing, constantly adapting”.
“My life is made up of many different aspects and layers. I love this assortment that is ME!
I love the different colors of which I am made of, that surround me, and that make up who I am. I believe that all of us as people - and women especially, can benefit from seeing the wide spectrum of the rainbow that is encompassed within and around us all. It is our job to allow it to shine upon us and to grow from its reflection. There is nothing more remarkable than to see myself as part of something bigger, this in itself makes me feel that I am enough, that I am beautiful!”.
Two women, one in search of adventures far and wide, finding those who are like her and connecting with those who are different all over the world, the other, active in the search for the same thing deep within her own community and deep within herself. Both walking a path of exploration and self-discovery, both brave and determined, both seeking the link to the invisible web that connects us all.
There are more personal stories to come so stay tuned!
See ya soon (:
The extended Ripple Family
