When your heart believes and wants something very badly, set your intention, recognize the signs, and let the Universe take over.
By Jasmine Danino, 2017
It all started on our honeymoon five years ago. We were floating in the waters of Padang Padang, a beach in the south coast of Bali, when Rafael said, “Why don’t we move here, I can feel we would be very happy”. The seed was planted then and sent out to the universe.
When we were in Ubud, the yoga haven of the world, where I practiced every day at a studio called Radiantly Alive. I was touched and impressed with their teachings—it was different from what I had been exposed to in Lima. I loved everything: the quality of the teachers, how they incorporated the eight limbs of yoga, the spirituality, the ambience, the community, and so much more. When we got back home in Peru, I couldn’t stop talking about Radiantly Alive. Little did I know then that my Bali experience would change my entire life.
We went back to our routines, corporate jobs, family, friends, and my local yoga studio, which was actually more of a gym, and there really wasn’t anything to complain about. Yet, I kept daydreaming about Bali and constantly following what was going on at Radiantly Alive, wishing I was there to experience all their workshops, classes, guest teachers, and therapies.
I had met Rafael at a wedding in Guayaquil five years before. It was love at first sight. I knew instantly I was going to marry him.
Four years after our first meeting, we were married and found ourselves honeymooning in Bali, the trip that changed our lives. We had been talking about moving to another country. While I had never left home, Rafael had lived 12 years abroad, managing projects in the corporate world across Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. He loved Southeast Asia and wanted to live there, and I wanted my own paradise where I could grow and practice my yoga, eat healthy food and dive into a more spiritual lifestyle.
Bali was calling.
Rafael was looking at jobs in Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, but not Bali, rarely the favored corporate move. But I kept harping that if I moved, it would be Bali, and if possible, Ubud.
After a while we decided Rafael would quit his job to force a change into a new life for us. Time passed quickly, Rafael stopped working and had no job prospects. It was more difficult than we had thought. I started to feel the pressure as the months passed and our savings declined rapidly. I wondered if the risk we took as a family was too much for me, doubts and worries grew as time passed.
Yoga had taught me to listen to those subtle voices inside me, follow my passions and pursue my dreams. My practice was evolving rapidly and helped me calm my nerves, and I yearned to become a yoga teacher and do my training at Radiantly Alive. I knew their annual training was coming soon and I also knew it wasn’t a good time for us as money was an issue. One night, I shared my dream of taking the RA teacher training. At first Rafael was reluctant, but as we kept talking about it, he grew supportive of the idea and my passion to follow my dream. I was so excited!
As I was preparing to go back to Bali for the YTT, I continued with my routine to follow up on Radiantly Alive on Facebook, and was surprised to see a video of Daniel Aaron, the owner, looking for a general manager. I immediately
made a screen capture and sent it to Rafael saying: “This is your job!”. He was hesitant initially as he didn’t practice yoga at that point and knew nothing about the industry. Still, he got in touch and started having skype calls with
Daniel. At this point I was already training in Bali, anxiously waiting for this opportunity to become a reality.
Rafael was in parallel holding interviews to take a job in Frankfurt with an organization he highly appreciated. As if the universe had a final test for us, he received both offers the same day. We had to decide between a high-paying corporate job or a lifestyle change.
We chose Radiantly Alive.
I finished my yoga teacher training, went back home for two weeks to pack, say goodbyes and leave for our new life in Bali. It wasn’t an easy arrival. During our first week, the immigration situation got worse and many people got
deported. Rafael didn’t have his work permit ready so he couldn’t go to the office for five months. To add to it, just after our arrival, the owner shared that he was going to sell the business. We were concerned but decided to have faith, and believed there must be a reason behind all this.
I gradually started teaching at Radiantly Alive, the same place where I had trained. It was a dream come true.
As the process of selling Radiantly Alive evolved, we started toying with the idea of buying the studio ourselves. We knew the company from the inside out, loved the community, and family-like atmosphere in the studio, and really wanted to make Bali our home. It took over six months to find funds and negotiate terms and conditions.
We soon became the owners of Radiantly Alive, an idea that once had seemed a far-fetched dream. One year after arriving in Bali, planting the intention and focusing on hard work, we felt the universe had aligned itself to make it possible for us to live in Bali. Settled in our new home we will soon be bringing our first yogi baby into the world.
Radiantly Alive is our home. We pour our heart into everything we do and greet every student with open arms, supporting them on whatever stage they are of their personal journey. Apart from our amazing teachers, we have the pleasure to receive international guest teachers, host teacher trainings and workshops, and provide healing therapies with incredible people.
At Radiantly Alive you come for yoga and stay for the family! We would love you to become part of it.
Jasmine Danino & Rafael Corrochano are the owners of Radiantly Alive yoga studio in Bali, and will be hosting a Valentine Couple’s Yoga Retreat in March 2018. For more details about their studio, visit www.radiantlyalive.com
This article was first published in the print edition of Yoga Journal Singapore 2017, which is now Yogahood Online.
