Giulia Conigliaro
HR Professional Core Member – Yoga Vidya International.
How did you get introduced to Yoga and Vedanta?
I should be grateful to my prarabdha for the opportunity I had to come across Yoga and Vedanta. It is something not really common for those who live in Italy. Here in in Italy, the Catholic Church plays a big role, right from education to politics. Luckily, since my childhood, Yoga and yogic lifestyle have always be part of my daily life. Thanks to my mother who is a Yoga teacher. She ensured I grew up with Yogic values. I felt a growing sense of interest and attraction towards the Indian way of living which led me to accompany my mother during her journey to India in 2009. In India, I perceived a great sense of familiarity and my interest matured through my encounter with my Teacher, Swami Ananda Saraswati who shed light on the ancient knowledge of Vedanta.
When and how did you first come to know about Swamiji?
I met Swamiji in 2010, when I was just 16 years old, at Uttarkashi. I got introduced to his Teachings and I started following Swamiji both in India and Italy, seeking to know more. I have been a part of many projects of Yoga Vidya group and looking forward to working in many more upcoming projects.
How is Swamiji’s Vedantic teaching helping you in your personal and professional life?
I work as an HR for a large Oil and Gas firm in Sicily which has more than 700 employees. So you can imagine the pressure and the complexity of my daily routine. I clearly perceive Vedanta’s teachings as a powerful tool to grow and understand life in order to get fruitful insights. From another side, Yogic discipline gives a very strong fuel to empower and overcome the difficulties that each one of us face in life. I would like to sincerely thank Swamiji for his guidance and refining my thought process through Vedanta. I have noticed that as I grew up in life, I happened to manage more responsibilities. Keeping in mind what Swamiji shared helped me to get the best from any situation, to perceive difficulties as a way to be stronger and wiser, to be a better wife, HR, daughter, to have healthy relationships and of course to enhance the role of the student who is always keen and ready to learn more. Particularly, during the pandemic, I felt committed to Swamiji’s teachings that made me observe things in a constructive way and structure a strong inner balance untouched by external contingencies. When I look back at myself during the past twelve years, I surely see myself as a different person. I wish I continue to grow with the guidance from Swamiji.
Tell us about your experiences in translating Swamiji’s talks.
I have worked with Yoga Vidya Group in translating Swamiji’s talks and books. I would say that this experience made me to deeply dwell upon the Vedantic teaching. I had the opportunity to meditate upon a particular concept and its meaning which made me enjoy the knowledge.
Share with us about your travel experiences to India.
My journeys to India added value to my life. What I have always observed, with great admiration, is how the knowledge and traditions remained untouched throughout the years despite all changes that happened. India has an ancient culture with a deep sense of spirituality. In India, every action has a meaning and every action is not taken for granted but something to be grateful for. With this understanding, I developed a sense of consciousness and I understood the meaning of many things such as offering food to other beings before eating. Sadly, in the western side of the world, life is very mechanical and somehow limited as we forgot our tradition. Indeed, in a particular moment of my life, which was my marriage, I decided with my husband to connect and tune our self with that knowledge by celebrating our marriage in India following the Vedic tradition.
Namaste