Move beyond yoga: discovering a unique practice in Cyprus

Movement coach Andreas Economou creates ‘movers’ by blending yoga, tai chi, dance and mindfulness to help people reconnect with their bodies and minds“Do you come to Pervolia?” movement coach Andreas Economou had asked me when I spoke to him earlier in the week. “Rarely,” I had replied. And it was true, Pervolia, Meneou, Mazotos are areas I usually frequent in winter, or for quick escapes to the sea when time is scarce. But only a few days after having answered Andreas in the negative I was invited by a friend to join them at a beach house in Pervolia. It turned out that the house was near to where Andreas held his regular Sunday sessions, at the playground next to Theta Mediterranean. It seemed that fate was determined that I join one of Andreas’ sessions. A 20-minute stroll along the seafront brought me to the playground. There, I found Andreas sweeping pine needles from the floor, soft music playing from a speaker, and a bunch of people settling into the space. “How the practice flows for those who are present depends on my feeling, and of course, my feeling draws from the knowledge that I have gained throughout my years of practice,” Andreas had told me. “It’s a practice where I encourage a lot of improvisation.” Indeed, as we began, Andreas’ words were few but poignant. And once we slowly began to move our bodies, there were action I was familiar with through past experience with yoga and exercise. “It all started when I was living in Hong Kong, where I began living a life of so-called abundance. I was making good money, going to parties, meeting ladies, and I met extremely wealthy people. Growing up I was told that if you have money and women, you’ve made it,” said Andreas. Having studied sports science in the UK and later in Russia, it was in Hong Kong that he began to apply what he had learnt as a personal trainer in a boutique studio. “I had extremely wealthy clients, but I realised that something didn’t feel right, that these people didn’t really seem happy. Things weren’t authentic, there was a lot of purging happening, unconsciously, of course, and I feel like maybe this is what’s happening actually in society. We keep purging each other, unconsciously.” I’m an avid believer in movement being essential for contentment. The body needs to be active. Perhaps what’s essential to get to know then, is how you move it. And this is precisely what Andreas brings to the table, academic know how and the spiritual path he followed through the the years. In Hong Kong he began to practice capoeira, contemporary dancing, tai chi, qigong, as well as asanas. After his time in Hong Kong he moved to India where he studied asanas on a deeper level. It was Eckhart Tolle’s Power of Now that initially resonated with him and it was Sadhguru that awoke a deeper connection with energies and tantra techniques. “After a couple of months of doing these practices, Sadhguru came to Hong Kong for the first time, and my girlfriend, who is now my wife, got me tickets because I was so fanatic about him. I sat close to Sadhguru, and did a three-day initiation in Shambhavi Mahamudra. I realised that the people at the initiation came mainly from mainland China. They’re very emotionally repressed and once a lot of energy entered their bodies, they behaved in a violent way; shaking and screaming because their bodies were repressed and very closed. In my case, I could feel the energy, but because I was already a personal trainer, and my body had some flow in it, I could see things with more clarity. “I didn’t do any yoga asanas until after these experiences but I also realised that asanas have little significance in our days. Asanas were introduced in a culture that was very chaotic a long time ago. When somebody lives a chaotic life, you need to introduce linear movements. So, in the right context, the asanas were very necessary. In the context of a Westerner’s mind that’s filled with rules, straight lines, I feel we need to create a glitch, something out of the ordinary, out of what we’re used to. Basically, we need freedom to bring wholeness into the mind.” And that’s what I experienced in the playground. A much more fluid practice than any other I’ve had the chance to try. Andreas enabled the group to take their own initiative and use instinct on how to move our bodies, with guidelines and a safety net that allowed us to be free, as we moved in ways we intentionally probably never would. “When we seek the weaknesses in our body, we seek the blind spots of our body,” says Andreas. And through seeking them physically, we realise that the mind is also, in a way, a reflection. It’s like one of the other. You can’t separate them.” As part of his practice, Andreas also teaches alignment. “When I was in India, I studied with Usha Devi, a direct disciple of [renown yogi] Iyengar. Alignment is about stillness, and practicing that enriched me and brought me a lot of knowledge about the body,” he says. And that’s when he started to connect all the knowledge he had acquired, compiling it into the practice he now shares on the island. “My movement approach is more contemporary dancing,” he says. “Movement, yoga, tai chi, Qigong, it’s everything, it’s how you come to your mind and have awareness, and how you relate to everything, how you see these relationships exist; you and the breath, you and the body, you and your muscles. Depending on what you put your mind to, you’ll find millions of relationships.” To this end, for over two years, Andreas has been heading a core group practice which meets in various outdoor areas around Larnaca six times a week. “It’s nice when people come regularly. We can explore themes and move on to different ones. For example, for three weeks we focus on alignment, then we move towards water quality movements, then we move towards improvisation, and then we add different elements for some time, and then we move on.” He also delivers individual sessions. “I’ve noticed that many people experience a lot of emotional turbulences because a lot of the so-called trauma that we all talk about which is stored in the weakest part of the body, in places we don’t usually move, and what we don’t move becomes weaker and creates the environment for that energy. This stagnation to take place. Throughout the practice the whole body moves, everywhere. There’s nothing we don’t explore,” says Andreas. “With time, the body empties, breaths, and eventually learns how to be with whatever information comes in.” Heading back to the beach house, I think about how when left to my own devices, I instinctually move my body in habitual patterns, in mannerisms that I’m used to or are just easier for me. But Andreas’ practice, and in particular when ‘moving’ with a partner, pushes these boundaries and almost unconsciously makes you use muscles in your body you hardly knew were there. It also ignites an awareness of the body which is clearly revealing. “The only thing we do is move. The rest, whether you go to open the fridge or study or pay taxes, it’s simply additional mind stuff. But the most essential thing that happens is movement. Being aware of movement at all times is one of the key pillars that I teach. I’m creating movers,” he says. And whether you attend the group class, have an individual session or go to one of his residencies, such as the one earlier this summer at Ayia Napa Marina, each experience is immersive. “The residency was an immersion, we spent a few days together, but in essence, we didn’t do anything different than what we practice six times a week in Pervolia. But being in this environment with others, the people involved provides a different perspective on what we’re doing and it’s good for bonding as well. Most people associate these kind of practices with being in the forest, being in nature. The marina provided white colours, the views, the luxury, but nothing changed with the inner space.” The residency in Ayia Napa is also where Andreas introduced the ice bath. “Not the way [extreme athlete and motivational speaker] Wim Hof introduces the ice bath,” clarifies Andreas. “First of all, ice baths are not very good for women. And it’s not really healthy to shock your body in such a way, but we used it to shock the body to see if we can find the space in that moment when the body screams. So it’s an experiment. We take that experience. But it’s not something I recommend doing every day.” I was leaving Pervolia the following day. But I was moved to attend Andreas’ 6am Yugen session before heading back to the capital. And here I witnessed another kind of movement, another kind of breathing. Another kind of feeling to start off my week. All the while being accompanied by the sunrise. I’m now wondering how I can become a real ‘mover’. Pervolia isn’t that far from Nicosia after all. Andreas is planning future residencies and can be contacted about his group and individual sessions through his social media handle: Andreas World Mover