Today we’d like to introduce you to Paula Viedma.
Hi Paula, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Chile and immigrated to the US when I was 12 years old. I spent most of my life in Washington, DC, before settling in Florida about 20 years ago. My journey, both personal and professional has been shaped by movement, resilience, and a deep desire to help others reconnect with their own strength.
I’ve been in the fitness industry for over 30 years, working in various capacities. Personal training to group fitness to yoga. While each role offered its own rewards it was yoga that truly captured my heart. I began teaching in 1998, and over time, the mat became more than a place to move, it became a place to heal, explore, and return to oneself.
Alongside my work in fitness, I’ve also spent more than two decades as an outpatient therapist. Today, my clinical focus is primarily on trauma and helping people understand the way it lives in the body and supporting them as they work through its effects with compassion and care. Over the years, I’ve found that yoga and therapy don’t just complement one another, they amplify each other.
Mindfulness, breath, and body awareness are central to both practices. Whether I’m guiding someone through a difficult therapeutic moment or cueing a student into a posture, my goal is always to create a safe, empowering space. I often weave therapeutic elements and themes into my yoga classes, and bring the grounding tools of Yoga and meditation to my sessions. Both offer a path to shift stuck energy and move toward healing.
Currently, I teach either private classes or exclusively at Lifetime at the Falls, where I do my best to create classes that are creative, inclusive, and accessible. I aim to hold space where people, regardless of age, background, or experience, feel welcomed, encouraged and supported. My hope is that students leave feeling a little more connected to themselves. Not because they achieved a perfect pose, but because they showed up, listened inward, and honored exactly where they were that day.
For me, Yoga is not about striving, but about softening and remember who you are beneath the expectations, the self doubt and the noise. So whether teaching in the studio or sitting across from a client in session, that’s what I care most about , helping people feel safe enough to be themselves and strong enough to believe in their own capacity to heal.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I certainly wouldn’t say this journey has been a smooth road and I wouldn’t want it any other way. The twists, the detours, the growing pains, have all shaped me into who I am both personally and professionally. Immigrating to the US as a child came with it’s own challenges, adapting, learning a new language, trying to find a sense of identity and belonging. And even in adulthood, those themes have resurfaced in different ways. As recently as moving to Miami 6 years ago after a divorce. Even within the state, starting over in a new city was surprisingly tough, specially during the pandemic. I had to rebuild my name and find my community again, and establish myself both in the therapy and yoga worlds. That kind of reinvention is very humbling, but also makes you more resilient. Recently being in my 50’s has brought another layer of self reflection and growth. As my body changes, I’ve had to relearn how to listen to it with patience and respect.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m an outpatient therapist with over 20 years of experience. My main focus is trauma and helping people process emotional pain and reconnect with their sense of self. I’m also a Yoga instructor and have been teaching since 1998. What sets my work apart is how I blend therapy and Yoga in a way that feels accessible, empowering and deeply human. Whatever hat I’m wearing at the time, I aim to create a space where people feel safe to show up as they are. I’m most proud of being able to help others shift old patterns, move through difficult emotions and find strength in their own story, not by becomming someone else, but by reconnecting to who they’ve always been.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @Sunnymindyoga
- Facebook: Paula Viedma
