About Me
My Way Of Health & Life
What do you believe in?
I believe we have been gifted with a beautiful world and enough resources and abundance to feed the world and empower people to live fully and happy lives. And yet the reality is the world is not always like this. You simply have to watch the news.
Does this mean that we lose hope?
That the problem is too big and someone else will fix it?
No, it means we continue to advocate for the world we believe in and know it can be. Each and every person has the ability to facilitate change. Change in their own heart, change within their family, change within the community. And a positive change and impact. We are not here by accident, we are here by divine intervention.
HI, I'm Roxy Aila
I call Papua New Guinea home. I grew up in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. I am a coastal girl at heart with my roots in Milne Bay (1 hour flight from Port Moresby) and Kairuku which is approximately 3 hours from Port Moresby.
I also call Brisbane, Australia home and love this city! Brisbane is my adopted home city.
I lived briefly in Toronto, Canada for over 2 years, and in Melbourne for a quarter of a year, many years ago!
The more places I visit and people I meet, the more I realise we are all the same. Yes, different places and backgrounds and cultures, yet there is a universal desire for peace and humanity.
Yoga Instructor
Author
Wellbeing Writer
What am I advocating for?
Equity. Your postcode or colour of your skin or education level should not determine if you do or don’t access to quality healthcare. I work for a gorgeous Qld non-profit driving health services in rural and remote Qld.
Mental health awareness. I want to break the stigma that comes with depression and anxiety, invite conversation and equip people with the confidence to reach out for support rather than struggle in silence. I volunteer as a speaker and share about my experience with depression and anxiety to encourage people to seek help for mental illness. #breakthestigma
Community support for people who are living rough in Brisbane and need food or furniture support. I volunteer at St Vincent de Paul Society and offer people who may need help with a hand up, rather than a hand out.
Why do I do this?
We all have times in our lives where life does not flow. Where it hurts to be, I know I have had several of these moments in my life! I feel fortunate to have been blessed with angels in the form of friends, family, co-workers and also complete strangers who have offered support and words of kindness. These seemingly small and random acts of kindness to me strengthened and heartened my soul. I feel cared for and supported and it is a privilege to live in this beautiful world we get to call home. Service to me is the rent I pay to live in this abundant and blessed world surrounded by loving souls.
Yoga: changing me, shifting me, supporting me
I have been practicing yoga since 2004 / 2005. I went to my very first class when I was doing my Masters in Brisbane. I left yoga and returned again in 2008, left and started again in 2011 – 2012 to bring some peace of mind to my busy advertising life in Canada. I left my yoga practice yet again… I thought, why do I keep stopping? I enjoyed it so much, but it was time that got me. I was unable to drag myself away from my desk at work to land on the mat. I thought projects would not launch, that the world would end, that cracks would form in my project if I was not available 24-7. It was this state of mind that evolved into depression and anxiety for me.
I turned 30 in 2013 and depression and anxiety kicked me to my knees. I lost my sense of self and came to a point where I could not get out of bed to put my clothes on. I relocated from Canada to Australia where I bounced between Melbourne and Sydney seeking freelance work. I cried constantly….waved the white flag, and relocated to PNG where I stayed for an extended period to find myself again and to be held close by my family. I relocated back to Brisbane to seek medical assistance to manage my depression and anxiety.
I slowly put my life back together again. Increasing my work load from 3 hours a day at a local kebab shop to 20 hours at a call centre, 2 years in debt collection and then realised I was missing the creative industries and moved back into marketing and communication roles where I can write, design, strategise and be creative! This time around, holding on my mental health and wellness.
I knew I needed something to commit to – swimming, touch footy or running. Something to move my body. Yoga offered a practice to calm my busy and sad mind and to move my body. I started going to yoga in 2015 (10 years after my first yoga class) once a week at a gorgeous studio in Newstead, and then twice a week and then three times a week! This led to a 6-week meditation course and then weekend workshops and then yoga retreats and 350 hours of yoga teacher training in 2018. The more I practice, the more I love it and through this practice have been gifted with the most beautiful souls on the same journey and the quality of my relationships with my loved ones has improved. My mental health is not a ticking time bomb anymore.
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