Bay Area Yoga Teacher Highlight: Nacera Mekki
Name: Nacera Mekki
Practice with me at: Lovestory in SF and Atma Yoga in Orinda.
How long I’ve been practicing yoga: 17 years.
How long I’ve been teaching yoga: 10 years.
What kind of yoga I teach: Vinyasa & Kundalini.
My mantra these days: I'm constantly listening and chanting mantras (especially kundalini ones) Ajai Alai (mantra for being in your power) and Rakhay Rakhanhaar (helps with obstacles and fluctuations of the mind) are sticking out for me these days. Durga and Ganesh are my natural go-tos on Harmonium.
How I like to practice yoga off the mat: I filter my life through the lens of yoga. Once you have an awareness of how you are showing up in the world, it's hard to ignore when are you being a jerk, unreasonable, holding grudges or stingy. I also use this practice to acknowledge when I need to allow myself to process what needs to surface and move through.
My sign: Virgo. I love Virgos- I can tell when I meet them. #nerd
The last book I read was: Hard to say, I'm always reading/listening to 5 books at the same time. My most recent audible account has Yoga Sutras, Tantra Illuminated (Christopher Wallis), Disrupt-Her, A Manifesto for the Modern Woman - Miki Agrawal, Sober Curious - Ruby Warrington, You are a Badass at Making Money - Jen Sincero
Favorite local juice/tea spot: Samovar for tea. I want to find a good juice spot, haven't located that here... yet. I do love MoonJuice in LA.
Where I go for a nourishing meal: Honestly, Whole Foods....haha. But I do like Beloved Cafe. I don't go out often. I cook at home mostly.
What’s on your yoga playlist right now: Sublab, Maggie Rogers, White Sun, Max Richter, The Books, and a mix of electronic music.
A few of my favorite yoga teachers are: Stephanie Snyder, Guru Jagat, Les Leventhal, Kathryn Budig, Kia Miller, and Tias Little.
A ritual I love: Drinking dandy blend (dandelion root blend), lighting sage, palo santo, and candles. putting my crystals all around me and using my pendulum and tarot cards to check in with myself (with kundalini mantra music playing).
What I am letting go of this year: Procrastination (baby steps).
What I am embracing this year: Creativity.
My website: www.naceramekki.com.
My instagram: nacera_yoga.
