My Story
We are the stories we tell. Stories allow us to explore our common humanity. Stories connect. Stories heal. Stories matter. This is my story. What is yours?
Hi, Salut, Ciao, Hola, Szia!
I’m Imola
I am happy that you are here and I look forward to connecting with you – In English, en français, in italiano, en español, בעברית és természetesen magyarul is!
I am a writer of plays, screenplays, short stories and poems and a Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga Teacher trained in the Gurukul system in Coonoor, India in 2007.
Moving around the world, a separation, and limited amount of resources have taught me to “make something out of nothing” with my unique ‘magic’ and transform the bleakest surroundings to beautiful, inspiring spaces.
MY PASSION is to help you find an inner and outer lightness, while shedding some of the unnecessary baggage (physical and/or emotional) that is standing in your way.
MY BELIEF is that transformation requires creativity, commitment, and a healthy doze of humour, and not crazy amounts of money.
MY APPROACH is non-judgmental and compassionate. Mess is part of life.
MY PROMISE to you is affordable, professional services that are tailored to your needs.
I offer therapeutic yoga classes and writing workshops that are inspired by ancient yogic wisdom. This is what I teach, but I continue to be a student of life.
I honour you and your unique voice. I believe that telling stories can be a powerful vehicle of change and of collective healing.
I speak six languages, but I am nowhere near done. Literature feeds my soul and writing keeps me centred.
I am forever humbled by the community that I am serving, who inspires me to be a better teacher and person.
I share my story with you here, because I want to empower you to tell your own story!
My Story
I was born in Budapest, Hungary in an era when comrade Lenin was a figure we saluted to every morning in the classroom.
“Who wants to see some palm trees?” my mother proposed one Easter morning. Soon we landed in Israel, struck by an unbearable heat, and traded our “unpronounceable Hungarian names” to Jewish names – me, for eleven years, my brother, forever.
I knew I was a pacifist even before I handled an M-16, but meeting my best friend Ravit in the Navy made the experience at the IDF one of the most rewarding.
At twenty I moved to London unsure of what my calling was. But during an RSC 1997 production of Midsummer’s Night’s Dream the answer was unequivocal: I was head over heels in love with the theatre.
I completed the City Literary Institute’s Two Year Drama Course and joined the Royal Court’s Young Writer’s Programme. In the following decade I saw every play I could for as little as a 10p standing ticket.
I wrote my first short, experimental play for the Royal Court’s Site in 2001 and went on to write two full length plays. “Someplace Else” previewed at the Hungarian Culture Centre and was later selected for the Warehouse Theatre’s International Play writing Festival.
I lived in New York, Madrid and travelled all the way to New Zealand. But it was in Coonoor, India, that my life took an unexpected turn.
On Christmas Eve 2006, covered in dust and exhausted from travel, I arrived at the Yoga and Ayurveda Retreat where I met my future husband. “When you know, you know,” we told ourselves with the hopeful naiveté of new lovers, eager to build a life together in Montreal.
With motherhood came joy beyond measure but also an identity crisis. If I had it all, why did it feel like my soul was dying?
I began to explore the complexities of marriage, parenthood and the insidious nature of trauma and violence in my writing. A journey that took me to Concordia University at the age of forty on the brink of separation. I completed my degree with ‘Great Distinction’ through four moves, two renovations and a pandemic while fulfilling my long-lasting dream of learning Italian.
Every semester seemed impossible and the temptation to give up was too great. But through writing I learned that we connect through vulnerability, not by pretending that we are invincible.
I don’t believe in happily-ever-after stories but stories that continue to evolve through the many ups and downs of life.
When shared, stories can heal; stories can inspire.
The louder we speak our truth, the lesser the shame in silence.
My Values
1. AUTHENTICITY – The courage to be who you are
2. FLUIDITY – To remain open to different perspectives
3. RESPECT – For those I agree with and those I disagree with
4. COMPASSION – For myself and others
5. RESPONSPONSE-ABILITY – Empowerment instead of victimhood
6. DIVERSITY – Include diversity of view into diversity itself
7. CONNECTION – Foster a supportive community. We have more in common than differences
8. CREATIVITY – Think outside the box
9. GENEROSITY – In action and spirit
10. BEAUTY – Create beauty in bleakness