ROOT Hero Isadora Dantas: Break Out Of Your Rut And Reclaim Happiness

This week’s blog post features our very first entry of our “ROOT hero” series. Each month, we’ll feature everyday heroes harnessing the spirit of yoga therapy in new and unexpected ways. Remember, yoga therapy isn’t just about what happens on the mat, but also how you infuse habit change off the mat.

I’m especially excited about our first hero: Isadora “Isa” Dantas! Isa is product manager, creative mind and public speaker living in Santa Monica, CA. Through her public speaking, Isa empowers others to reclaim their happiness by breaking  routines and changing perspectives – habit change to the rescue!

Watch Isa in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOHWlVkIjjI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qt1-ISAyOc&t=4s

Isa’s passion for finding happiness started when she moved from from Brazil to New York City to get her masters at Parsons School of Design. The shift from the sunny beaches of Brazil to her new concrete jungle in NYC made her feel isolated, sad and depressed. She longed for the human contact she once flourished in and knew she had to find a way to reinvigorate herself and get out of this rut.

Why is Isa a ROOT hero?

Isa used this opportunity to not only change her own habits but also help others change theirs. She based her thesis around “Creating happiness through kindness” and began finding ways to alter New Yorkers routines with a single positive moment.

She set up “urban interventions” around the city that ranged from small gestures like sharing her umbrella with a stranger to elaborate ones like setting up a free compliments booth in Union Square on Valentines Day (watch her video for more). The whole point was to just do something small to re-trigger the brain away towards joy and shift perspectives. The results were instant, once grumpy commuters instantly smiled, laughed and engaged with each other. These little moments may have been little but they were mighty in their impact.

Small interventions or routine shifts is where the magic happens for Isa’s New Yorkers and for yoga therapy. Whether the intervention is getting an unexpected hug from stranger or just taking 3-4 minutes to check in our your breath each morning, these small moments away from your routine add up overtime and help shift and restore balance.

Thank you Isa for proving that tiny shifts can move mountains!

Are you or someone you know practicing yoga therapy principles in indirect and interesting ways? Email us at jasmine@rootyogatherapy.com and you may be our next ROOT hero!