Hi, I’m Mariana
Yoga Teacher, Life & Mindfulness Coach and Founder of Alive as Life
Qualifications
Humanistic Therapist. Specialized in the Person-Centred and Gestalt psychotherapies - Humanistic Institute of Gestalt Psychotherapy
Yoga teacher 500YTT - The Heart of Yoga
Certified Transformative Coach - International Coaching Federation
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR) Certified Teacher - Mindfulness Training Institute
MBSR Programme - Mindfulness Aotearoa
Science of Wellbeing Course - Yale University
Earlier career in International Tax & Programme Management:
Bachelor in Accounting - Panamerican University, Mexico
Specialisation in Portfolio Management - Stock Market Institute, Madrid
Postgraduate in Business - Whitireia New Zealand
Programme Management Diploma - University of Auckland
For many years, I sat with the question: What am I even here for?
I couldn’t find a reason to live.
Over a decade ago, I left Mexico and moved to New Zealand — searching not only for safety, work-life balance, and a better quality of life, but unknowingly, for freedom. I longed to step away from cultural and familial patterns, and in the quiet of solitude, uncover who I truly was.
As I began to let go of what didn’t belong to me and embrace what did, I started creating a life that felt aligned with my body and my heart,— a life worth living.
After leaving a career in accounting, I tried several paths in search of “purpose.” For years, I felt like I was hitting play, then stop, then eject — switching tracks, never quite finding the right one.
It wasn’t until I immersed myself in the practices of yoga, meditation, and psychotherapy that things became clear. These practices brought me to a sense of wholeness, safety, and aliveness. It was as if I had finally placed the needle on the right record, and the music began to play in rhythm with my own heart.
I realized I had been searching outside of myself — in countries, careers, and even in external power like the universe or a God that inhabits the sky— when the answers were already within me. I am, and always have been, whole. I am life itself, and I can trust my life.
Now, I hold space for others to experience the reality of their own wholeness — through therapeutic conversations, personal yoga practices, and deep inner listening. Together, we meet the parts that hurt, gently explore what’s true, and move toward experiencing life at its fullest.
When I’m not teaching or holding space for others, you’ll probably find me dancing , playing or swimming in the ocean.
I’m originally from Mexico, spent seven years in New Zealand, and am currently living in Fiji.
"Listening is the oldest and perhaps the most powerful tool of healing. It is often through the quality of our listening and not the wisdom of our words that we are able to effect the most profound changes in the people around us. When we listen, we offer with our attention an opportunity for wholeness. Our listening creates sanctuary for the homeless parts within the other person. That which has been denied, unloved, devalued by themselves and others. That which is hidden." "In this culture the soul and the heart too often go homeless. Listening creates a holy silence. When you listen generously to people, they can hear the truth in themselves, often for the first time. And in the silence of listening, you can know yourself in everyone. Eventually you may be able to hear, in everyone and beyond everyone, the unseen singing softly to itself and to you.”
Rachel Naomi Remen
