My name is Barbara Isabel Barco and I was born and raised in Switzerland, to an Italian father and a British Mother. I was lucky to travel very often from a young age, and I often think of myself as a citizen of the world, not least because I adore travelling. 

My youth showing signs…

As a child I was always fascinated by cristals and everything that was mystical and magical. As soon as I started receiving pocket money I would always save it so that at the end of the month I could go and buy myself a new crystal. Looking back I believe that often my crystals were my best friends. At the age of 9 years old I did my first Reiki course and just before I turned 12 I decided that I wanted to be vegetarian.

As a teen-ager I turned away from the unseen, ‘magical’ world, locked all my crystals away in the attic and hardly ever told anyone I did Reiki. The more I my education was developing my intellectual mind, the less I believed in the metaphysical aspects of life. I did however stick to being Vegetarian.

The dark night of the soul…

At the age of 21 I was studying full time, working in various part time jobs, was a Rock’n’Roll acrobatics tournament dancer which meant doing physically super strenuous  training multiple times a week and was eating an imbalanced diet. Moreover I was always stressed and super busy, had too much drive and determination, only defined myself by my achievements, didn’t acknowledge any of my feelings and NEVER gave myself  second of rest (except when I crashed to bed at night to struggle with sleeping disorders). Not surprisingly this led to a Burn-out at a very tender age followed by a number of episodes of depression. Today I know that this happening was reminder from life, asking me to look deeper inside and realise that I am far more than my outward achievements… AND to realise how much beauty and magic is held in each moment of life and in every breath we take without always being busy being busy….

My healing path…

Looking back I feel very grateful that life made me learn my lessons early in life. Although I was on standard medication at first I very soon realised that this was not my path and the following 8 years were that of a bitter-sweet healing journey. 

On this path I reconnected to what had always fascinated me as a child: the holistic approach to health and healing. I became a Reiki Master, spent a great deal of my energy on studying every single book on Traditional Chinese Medicine I could find and diligently practised Qi Gong every morning. Various qualifications in the field of holistic health and healing followed.

Deep down I always knew that I was going though my own darkness in order to one day support others to live their full potential, living a happy, healthy and fulfilling life. 

Yoga – from boring to brilliant…

Although everyone had always said that Yoga would do me a lot of good I could never imagine doing something so booooooring (in comparison to my super energetic dance practises). When I went to live in Granada, Spain and couldn’t continue my Rock’n’Roll dance practise I decided to put myself down for regular Kundalini Yoga classes. The first three months throughout almost every class, I questioned why on earth I ever signed up for this. After that the fruits of the practise started becoming apparent to me as suddenly I realised how I was breaking through many of my barriers and felt great transformation taking place inside. I was becoming more of the person I wanted to be, which really got me hocked on Kundalini Yoga. I started practising every day which was truly a game changer and a year later I qualified to become a Teachers. I never thought I would actually teach Yoga but I had the burning desire to find out more about this sacred transformational technology, which was having such a tremendous impact on my life.

Embracing the path of a mentor – healer – teacher – coach…

A series of events in my life led me to realise that it was time for me to step out in the world and offer all the knowledge and wisdom I had gathered. I had studied with amazing teachers, learnt from highly inspiring people and slowly but surely healed myself from various serious health conditions. 

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My path as a teacher…

Since childhood I have been interested in learning about other cultures and ways of life and have truly loved hearing other people’s personal stories and views on life. I have always enjoyed sharing with people and started teaching at the age of 12. I have been teaching ever since in various fields and languages in different parts of the world. 

I studied at university in five different languages in various different countries, and have degrees in Sociology, Environmental Sciences and Primary Education. During and after my studies I worked for several years as a primary school teacher in Switzerland, as well as in the field of environmental education in different NGO’s including the WWF.

My life today  …

My passion and souls mission is to bring people in touch with their highest potential, to create and hold sacred transformative spaces and be part of the change I wish to see on this planet earth.

In my everyday life I love sharing and living a yogic lifestyle and find it hard to go a day without doing my yoga practice, my meditation, energy healing and enjoying some tasty home-cooked vegan (and often foraged) food.

I am a lover of nature and care deeply about the environment. I try to live my life in a way that contributes to positive environmental change wherever possible (but I know I’m far from perfect – especially with all my flying!). Being outdoors, especially in green spaces, always recharges my batteries so I spend a descent amount of time my daily time outside.

I’m an active person and apart from my yoga, I enjoy going for my daily bike rides or walks in the woods. I also adore travelling and in the recent past have made travelling part of my job. I adore playing mantras either on my own on the harmonium or in company of others. Furthermore, I always feel blessed to  enjoy the company of like-minded people and to learn more about the holistic lifestyle and various forms of healing.