A meditation on meditation with Bianca Maiocchi
Bianca Maiocchi
Pause. Take a breath. Put down your phone and look around you. Notice the building to your right, how the windows glimmer against the sun’s reflection. Use this moment to recognize the place that you are in, and the person that you are.
Whether on her morning walk to class or while preparing to lead a yoga class, these practices of gratitude and intentionality are more than just small moments in the life of 21-year-old Bianca Maiocchi – they are intrinsic to her being.
“It feels very second nature to me at this point, which I am so grateful for,” Maiocchi said.
Maiocchi was raised with Hindu principles in Los Angeles and learned various practices of meditation and yoga from her parents. From an early age, a personal duty to serve others was instilled in her –– a lesson she says has helped her to show up for her community.
Maiocchi moved from Los Angeles to New York City to attend the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University. Following her move, she started working as a receptionist at Broome Street Yoga, located in a Hindu temple in Lower Manhattan. Over the past two and a half years working there, Maiocchi has deepened her interest in yoga and sought the mentorship of the studio’s manager, Eddie Stern, to begin teaching classes of her own.
“It has been awesome because the practice that I teach is something he [Stern] is developing right now,” Maiocchi said. “It is sort of a way to strengthen your body without pushing too much so you do not feel sore afterwards. But you feel energized and a little stronger each time.”
Outside of yoga, Maiocchi works as an aide to a blind woman, whom she assists in writing articles and books.
“She is my fairy godmother, grandmother, and best friend, all in one,” Maiocchi said.
After moving to chaotic New York, Maiocchi found that her work as an assistant helped her stay grounded and that having a guiding older presence in her life stabilized her.
“Since she is blind, I have to be a lot more aware of my surroundings,” Maiocchi said. “I explain everything that is in the room, or if there are cracks on the ground, just very small things that make a huge difference. Through that, I have trained myself to be a lot more perceptive of what is going on around me, which has been really stabilizing. I have kind of used this as a form of meditation.”
Maiocchi’s approach to her work is reflected in the way she approaches teaching yoga.
“It has allowed me to find meditation in everything that I do,” Maiocchi said. “It has been helpful because I view teaching as a meditative experience and not as something that is stressful.”
Part of Maiocchi’s goal is to teach others how to find this deepened consciousness.
“There is this misconception with meditation that you have to be a super pro,” Maiocchi said. “But it is just doing any action super consciously, so you are able not to get caught up in the stressfulness of what you are doing. But, instead, take a moment for yourself to even just take a deep breath. There is totally something to be said for more traditional forms of meditation, but they don’t have to be the only way”
Maiocchi believes that doing any action with intention changes the way a moment will affect one’s mind and body –– an idea which has influenced her studies at New York University.
At Gallatin, she studies how the arts can be used as a form of healing, with hopes of opening her own holistic practice one day. Maiocchi studies flow states and how maintaining a calm nervous system can prevent the onset of chronic illness.
“A lot of chronic illnesses have been linked to stress,” Maiocchi said. “In New York, when you are bombarded with all these sounds and things constantly going on, and you do not have a moment to sit, that is your fight or flight response on overdrive. So, you cannot digest properly, your heart rate goes haywire, and your breathing is off. These basic functions are what we need to regulate ourselves and our physical body.”
Maiocchi utilizes the mediums of music, dance, and visual arts to find practices that stimulate the brain, but also get whomever she is working with into a flow state so they are able to regulate their bodies and minds. A flow state is when a person is fully present and immersed in the action they are completing.
Stabilizing practices to get into a state of flow, Maiocchi explains, can be executed in an individual’s daily life, not just during formal therapy. While cooking, making matcha, or out dancing, presence and intentionality can promote regulation. This can be done by noticing each step and how much energy it takes to complete an activity. Breath work can also be helpful in getting into a state of flow.
“My first piece of advice would be to put your computer, phone, or any other distraction away,” Maiocchi said. “Strip it down to the action you enjoy doing and then notice how it makes your body feel. Notice how taking a deep breath feels as you wait for your water to boil. Notice all the parts that go into creating this thing you enjoy. Do every moment with intention and awareness.”