Since 2008, I’ve lived with fibromyalgia...

an invisible, chronic condition that brings widespread pain, persistent fatigue, and cognitive disturbances. It remains incurable and difficult to diagnose, often overlapping with other illnesses.

I was born in 1974 and live in Lisbon, and movement has always been part of me. I grew up with ballet, gymnastics, and capoeira, and in 1999 I first stepped onto a yoga mat, mostly drawn to the physical side of practice. Outside of yoga, I loved backpacking and exploring the world with a free, adventurous heart.

My background is eclectic, in the best way. I studied piano, singing, and musical theatre. I earned a Marketing degree and worked as a Marketing Coordinator at a major national radio station. Later, I followed a more artistic path, studying decorative painting and drawing, and opened an art gallery and painting studio in 2004. By 2013, already struggling with illness, I began teaching piano lessons from home.

In 2008 I became pregnant, and at the time I was practicing Iyengar yoga. Until July 2009, seven months into my pregnancy, I practiced regularly. But 2009 became the hardest year of my life. My father entered a care home with advanced dementia. The pain in my body grew so overwhelming I couldn’t visit him for months, and the guilt consumed me. When I finally returned, I found him in a coma. I held his hand and apologized. Tears rolled down his face. That same night, he passed away.

The grief, combined with new motherhood and the pain of fibromyalgia, spiraled me into postpartum depression. For over a year I lived completely drained, in constant pain, with no answers. After countless tests, I finally received the diagnosis: fibromyalgia.

The next 14 years were a long struggle. I lost mobility, gave up travel, social outings, and eventually, hope. Even simple joys like running, swimming, or going to the cinema disappeared. I tried every treatment, therapy, and medication available, but nothing worked. I began to believe this restricted life of pain and exhaustion was permanent.

Then, in 2022, something shifted. I radically changed my diet and decided to try yoga again, on my own terms. At first, I could only manage five minutes. I couldn’t even sit on the floor. But little by little, things began to change. I discovered Functional Yoga, joined classes where I could move at my own pace, and two years later, I had my body and my life back.

That transformation led me to enrol in a 200-hour Functional Hatha Yoga Teacher Training. It was tough, and many times I thought of giving up. But despite the physical and cognitive challenges, I graduated. And toward the end, I realized something important: I wanted to teach. I wanted to help others with fibromyalgia feel what I had felt, hope.

Now, I teach Vinyasa Flow classes across Lisbon and I continue to dedicate myself to a personal Ashtanga practice, which has awakened a new light on yoga. Besides loving the practice, I’m delighted with all that comes along: the philosophy, the tradition, and the sense of community. I feel stronger and more confident. Ashtanga is truly a whole, beautiful new world for me. I’ve also created an Adapted Yoga program for people with fibromyalgia, in collaboration with Myos, the Portuguese Association Against Fibromyalgia.

When I look back, those fourteen years of agony feel like a strange dream. My life today feels like a second chance. Yoga gave me back my body, my joy, and for the first time, a true sense of purpose.

I still live with fibromyalgia, but now I know how to manage it. I understand its roots, and I see its purpose. It taught me compassion, strength, and how to appreciate the smallest details of life.

Yoga is no longer just something I practice, it is my life. 

Looking back, I believe it was always there, patiently waiting for me to find it.