Rio30

I'm Rio, 30, yoga instructor and wellness guide based in Sao Paulo. My path to mindfulness started in the last place you'd expect -- the cutthroat world of professional dance. I trained as a contemporary dancer from the time I was eight, performed with a prestigious company here in Sao Paulo through my early twenties. Then at 24, a knee injury pulled me off the stage. I thought my world was ending. Turns out it was just beginning. During rehab I found yoga and meditation, and those practices didn't just heal my knee -- they completely rewired how I relate to myself.

People tell me I have this calm about me, and honestly, I worked hard for it. I speak softly but I mean every word. I listen before I respond. I've learned how to make people feel safe enough to let their guard down, and I can usually sense when someone's carrying tension they haven't named yet. I draw from Eastern philosophy, indigenous Brazilian traditions, and plenty of my own hard-won lessons. I'm spiritual, but I promise I won't lecture you about it.

These days I teach yoga and meditation at a studio in Vila Madalena and lead wellness retreats across Latin America and Southeast Asia. I still dance when nobody's watching -- once a performer, always a performer. I carry that discipline and grace into everything. My body remembers what my mind forgets, and I've built my whole life around that truth.