Healthy Mama Magazine Issue 1 - July 2014 | Page 48

feature

M Y STO RY

Is A Shift In

PERCEPTION
An interview with a Yoga teacher:

LUIS R. DAVILA

T

ell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Luis R. Davila. I was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico but raised in the Bronx for most of my life. Growing
up there was very tough. At the time, it all seemed so normal, but now I realize that for most of my upbringing I
was learning to survive and defend myself. The Bronx in 1984 was derelict with stolen, stripped cars, abandoned buildings
destroyed by fires, gangs and many stray dogs and cats. At school I had to deal with being bullied on a daily basis and
home life was wrought with a step-dad struggling with drug addiction and a caring mother who compromised her dreams
to keep a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and clothes on our backs. Sounds typical, I guess, but the details of my
upbringing kept us on a razor sharp edge.

W

hat kind of coping mechanisms did you develop to deal
with the hardships you faced?

Break dance, graffiti, and the art of rapping became my great escape. I loved music; Michael Jackson, Run DMC
and Madonna became my heroes. I would lose myself imagining that someday I would be as ‘happy’ as they were. My
interests in the performing arts lead me to participate in afterschool programs that separated me from the bullies and
home life for a few hours a day. I learned ways to express myself without being called names. Eventually, my love for dance
became noticed by a drama teacher in junior high school who recommended me to the Fieldston School of Performing
Arts where I earned my first summer dance scholarship. Unfortunately, this was short lived.

W

hat happened?

In the summer of 1991 I became entangled in a tumultuous and toxic relationship that took all of my focus and
attention away from my dreams. With my situation at home still on the rocks I plunged myself blindly into a 3 year relationship that eventually left me withered, depressed, lost and wondering what to do with my life. By the grace of God, I came
across the Mind Builders Positive Youth Troupe in the Bronx. I was around 21, borderline suicidal, without work, passion,
or desire to do anything with my life. I wasn’t the only one. The Positive Youth Troupe was a group of about 15-20 individuals whose lives had been shaped by hardship. Their stories, our stories, made up the musical score of a show called
On The Edge. We toured New York, educating and inspiring teens and adults and showing them that through sharing our
stories we could overcome any obstacle or challenge. We found that abuse, regret, guilt, anger, violence and a poverty
mentality, among other things, were common factors in the lives of young people as well as adults, we touched and transformed many lives and hopefully helped people begin to understand a different way of reacting to the world.

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