Architect & Yogini
When it comes to community Prue Fea is a guiding light. Having accomplished the near impossible - creating, designing, manifesting and now living in a sustainably created urban space. Right in the hub of Auckland city!
When did you do your Ashram Yoga training and why?
I did my Ashram training in 2018 because it was on my bucket list. I saw the add up in the yoga studio at Bath St and thought why not now, in my 40’s rather than when I’m in my 60’s?
It’s proof that writing down your dreams and goals can help make them happen!
While I was doing my AY training I was a part of a team to create a cohaus building project at 13 Surrey Crescent in Grey Lynn. This project was in it’s inception, a 5-year long project that involved a group of us coming together to buy our own land and design our own housing to meet our own needs.
We were all interested in living centrally so we could shop, walk and bike within our neighbourhood. A small feat to get this off the ground in today’s housing and building environment.
In my professional life as an architect I designed the sustainable, community centric rental housing development at 26 Aroha Avenue in Sandringham which has just been awarded 10 Homestar points, making it one of only two apartment buildings in NZ have this high sustainable rating.
What “tools” do you most regularly use or return to in your daily life?
The best tool I got from yoga was how to connect with my body and be present with it. When I’m stressed and I can feel my breathing starting to speed upI feel into the subtle energy of my body and bring my mind to my breath.
I will always come back to yoga to counteract the aches and pains in life and to help settle my mind.
How has the inspiration from Yoga carried forward in your life?
My yoga training has given me some great breathing and meditation tools that I always come back to, especially in times of need. It’s also helped me avoid injury at the gym because I’ve learnt how to connect with my body and to isolate the different muscles. It’s given me another layer of richness to my spiritual life and fleshed out my knowledge of Hindu philosophy which I already had a keen interest in.
I also teach friends once a week so it keeps me reconnecting with the practice.