Julio was trained in the yoga activity in the 80s with María Villanueva, at the Apas-Yoga Center, close to the approaches of Antonio Blay. He graduated in Psychology from the University of Valencia and was teaching Physical Education in EE.MM. until 1988 when he suffered a traffic accident that caused a complete spinal cord injury.
He is currently responsible for Adapted Yoga of the NGO ASPAYM-CV (Association of people with spinal cord injury and other physical disabilities of the Valencian Community) for whom he teaches free Inclusive Yoga classes at the Benimaclet Sports Center in Valencia.
Hello Julio, since when are you a Yoga practitioner?
Hi. I started yoga in 1982. In those years I was a twentysomething with many cultural and spiritual concerns, and I had found yoga in several articles or reviews of artists or intellectuals that I admired, so I bought a book, but my confusion increased. I understood that it was an “activity” that had to be experienced in order to know it. I found it difficult to find a reliable yoga center because in those years, most were linked to sects or oriental religious movements. However, I was lucky that one of my professors from the School of Psychology knew the APAS center, directed by María Villanueva and I went there. Maria was for me an admirable person. Looking at his body, his face, his execution of the asanas, I could not tell if he was 50 or 70 years old. I was just fascinated. Also for being an excellent teacher, very sweet, with no greater interest than to transmit their knowledge and techniques to their students without doing the proselytizing so typical of those years.
What changed in your life after the accident? Explain your experience about the practice of yoga
In 1988 I had already graduated in Psychology from the University of Valencia and was teaching physical education classes in Secondary Education. I practiced a lot of sport and had a very satisfying life at all levels. But a fall on a motorcycle changed everything, and I could not tell if it was for the worse or for the better. Everything was different from then on. People often think that disability is a misfortune that subtracts possibilities to personal happiness and this is not the case. When I perceive this feeling in the people I speak with, I usually tell them that the best thing in my life has happened to me in a wheelchair: I have lived in the jungles of Costa Rica, I have dived among sharks and stingrays over 5 meters high. in length, I have ridden on horseback, I have been a father, I have managed a hotel in the Caribbean … This is usually surprising because of that association we usually make between disability and misfortune; but there are many people who live very full lives being disabled.
In my case, and in that of many more people, an accident is a rebirth. The “rebird” of which much is spoken in the “yoga culture”. In the case of traumatic injuries, this rebirth is not only spiritual, it is our entire being. I had to learn again to get dressed, clean up, go to the toilet, drive, swim, move in the city, on the beach, in the mountains, etc. Everything is new and fascinating. Everything is an adventure. Everything costs more and therefore more is enjoyed. And that enjoy every moment without waiting for a reward is the essence of Karma Yoga. The prize is doing it.
How did Inclusive Yoga come about?
After spending several years away from Spain, when I returned, I started practicing yoga at home, but I could not practice regularly. A friend practitioner told me about some days on adapted yoga that were held at the center she attended. There I met other disabled practitioners, who also belonged to ASPAYM-CV. I talked to their managers and I mentioned the possibility of teaching once a week at the association’s headquarters and the idea was well received. Over time I contacted the Municipal Sports Foundation, who were very interested in supporting us and last year they gave us a room at the Benimaclet Sports Center, and with the help of students in the Training Cycles and / or University Degrees With physical activity and sports that do their practices with us, we have worked with very good results. And with the activity already consolidated, this year we have decided to open it to all interested in the practice of yoga, whether or not disabled, and whatever their physical or economic condition. I am one of those who think that inclusive policies are not only beneficial for those nowadays called “affected by functional diversity”, but also for those who share the activity because of the motivating effect of participating, even if it is witness, the effort of others.
Thanks to Julio for his words and what they bring.
Julio will give a Yoga class on Friday the 7th at 9:00 am.
