Vanda Ciceryova is best known throughout the Roaring Fork Valley community for her specialized one-on-one yoga therapy sessions and breathwork, in which she uses methods to help her clients regulate the intensity of the modern world through prolonged, intentional breathing techniques.
Ciceryova, who has lived in the Valley with her family for nearly 20 years, first dove into the world of yoga in 2011 while living in Los Angeles with her husband. She has undergone major career shifts, but eventually chose to pursue her passions.
“I worked my way up, and I got the job I wanted,” she said. But, “In the first month, I looked into the mirror and thought, ‘This is what I worked for. This sucks.”
So, with some encouragement from her husband, she followed her heart.
“[My husband and I] were walking in downtown LA and there was this little ‘for rent’ sign on this little building. I jokingly asked my husband, ‘What if I could just open a yoga studio?’” she recalled.
She did. Then she opened
another, and another.
“Soon enough, 10 years went by,” she continued. “We had kids and realized that living in a big city wasn’t exactly what I would like for the kids to grow up in.”
Ciceryova and her hus-
band met and began their romance in Aspen, after all.
Following some careful consideration, they set out to begin a life in the Valley. During this shift, Ciceryova decided to move from group-class style yoga to more personalized practices. She compared one-on-one yoga therapy with having a shrink, yoga instructor and a friend all in the one.
“It’s like somebody that really knows your body and story. We work together on realistic goals,” she explained. “Yoga therapy work is not quick work. I usually see people for at least three months to about a year-and-a-half or two years … seeing them through ups and downs.”
The retreat
From Sept. 4 to 7, she will be offering her services during a retreat, when those in attendance will be guided on healing journeys, regardless of where they are starting, through four rebirthing breathwork mastery sessions. These sessions will include somatic movement exercises, spacious rest, nourishing meals and mutual support strategies.
In discussing breathwork, Ciceryova explained that the process starts with participants, again, setting intentions and then taking time to connect with the subconscious.
“Rebirthing breathwork is a way to connect with yourself outside of the noise of the ‘shoulds’ and ‘shouldn’ts.’ Because you’re breathing for 90 minutes, [there’s] a lot of time to settle and a lot of time to feel your feelings and sensations,” she said. “In my line of work, we believe that the subconscious lives in the body and communicates with us through body sensations.”
In discussing what she hopes her attendees gain from the experience, Ciceryova expressed a hope that breathwork will become a part of their regular routines. The practice has been gaining popularity in holistic spaces for many years now, due to the ways it can positively impact the body’s nervous system.
“I think that is the main reason people are coming back to breathwork sessions: because they feel a difference. They feel it working because that breath and your nervous system are intricately connected. Your nervous system changes your breath. But by changing your breath, you can change your nervous system’s response in the moment,” Ciceryova concluded.