CARLA LUISA PINHEIRO – BIO
Carla Luisa Pinheiro was born in Mozambique in 1962.
During the liberation war in Mozambique, her mother and brothers fled to South Africa where she was schooled and went to college. She graduated in Law from the Witwatersrand university and was admitted to the side bar (solicitor) and the bar (barrister) by the age of 25. She practised as an advocate and attorney in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Started practising yoga at 21 to in a class room where the average age was 65.
In that room Carla found a haven of feminine wisdom, breathing and moving into postures that were good for the thyroid and massaged your intestines and a space where she first felt the support of a circle of women.
Whilst practicing law, Carla’s yearning to learn more about the philosophy of yoga, led her to complete a 4 year course in Remedial Yoga Therapy including Ayurvedic Science.
Carla has gone to India on six occasions to deepen her practice and her knowledge with various Yoga Masters.
At around 43 she paid attention to what they call midlife “crisis”, got divorced and changed careers to become a conference interpreter. The travelling as an interpreter helped her concentrate on a one-to-one healing with Ayurveda and yoga.
On a three-weekly basis, Carla attends the TB clinics of Gugulethu and Nyanga as part of an Outreach Program where breathing and gentle exercises are taught to the patients to speed up the recovery process and alleviate the symptoms of TB .
After running a thriving yoga practice from home, Carla was invited to teach at various studios: Mind-Body Studio in Greenpoint, Oranjezight Yoga Studio, The Zone on Kloof and the Yoga Centre in Camps Bay and various others. She continues to consult for Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda, to contribute articles to the Renaissance magazine and to teach at the Clinics.
The body holds secrets to the mind, the mind to the heart, the heart to the breath and back to the body in a circular dance of self-discovery.
“Every day, sweat a little and laugh a little”