Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Carp.
Hi Victoria, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m born and raised in a tiny town in the south of Sweden, where I never felt at home… to say the least. I always felt like I wanted to leave, and after I graduated high school, I did. I packed a little backpack and went to Stockholm, where I started to work as a bartender. Fast forward about 10 years when I found yoga (or yoga found me? Let’s say we met halfway!) and my life shifted from that day. I completely indulged in my yoga practice, explored and learned as much as I could while practicing daily. Today, almost 10 years later, I still explore it and practicing it daily with the same curiosity as that first day, but now with deep devotion and dedication. Yoga became a certainty in my life, and my dedication to this practice is profound.
It helps me through dark times and has led me to the most beautiful experiences and adventures I could ever imagine! One of them being my boyfriend Aaron, who I met through our mutual love for yoga. We were in contact for years through Instagram, and finally, we met down in Costa Rica and we knew very fast that we wanted to spend our lives together.
Aaron is born and raised in San Diego, and I decided to take the leap and leave Sweden for this amazing man and this beautiful, open, happy and exciting city.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Oh god no! First of all: following your heart is never a smooth road. Choosing your own path and walking it takes courage, dedication, and a whole lot of IDGAF attitude, and all of that is (in Sweden) frowned upon. Everyone who goes against the norms and creates their own life and happiness knows it takes walking through fire many times to get there. But it is SO worth it, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a yoga teacher, specializing in ashtanga vinyasa and vinyasa krama. I’m known for my tough love; my classes are strong and demanding, challenging and provoking, but still oozing with love and passion. There’s nothing I love more than showing people that they are capable of so much more than they give themselves credit for, by guiding them to the edge of their comfort zone. Balancing on that edge ignites your inner fire, and when you have your inner fire burning… well not even the sky is the limit. This way of teaching sets me apart from the “usual” yoga teacher who usually is way softer and more compliant to trends and such. I don’t give a fudge about all that; I know what I want to share and I’ll share it wholeheartedly no matter what.
I teach all levels; from total beginners to advanced, always adapting my teaching to the individual and their conditions for them to get as much benefits from the practice as possible, and I’m very proud to have developed a good sense of how to work this way with people on both a physical level, as well as energetic.
What do you think about happiness?
I believe happiness is our essences natural state, but we have covered it up with layers of the materialistic world that distances us from that essence. That’s why I believe self work and spiritual practices are so important, because it helps us peel off those layers and takes us closer to our true essence. Which is happiness!
Love makes me happy. All kinds of love! Because it makes people do the kindest, sweetest, and most important things (and no, jealousy or “act of passion” that hurts others isn’t love).
Aaron makes me happy. My friends make me happy. My cats make me happy. Fire spinning makes me happy.
See? Love! And fire!
(And also candy. And cake. And ice cream. Dessert makes me super happy.)
Pricing:
- Private instruction yoga – $90/hr
- Package deals available
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Instagram.com/thisishellcat and Instagram.com/thisishellcat_backup
- Facebook: Facebook.com/hellcatsyoga
Image Credits
Patrik Rising
Marcus Wall
Jean-Nicolas Lopez
