Moving Forward

I am Anastasiya (Nastiya), founder of Vitamove — conscious movement for women craving depth.  

Everything you need to know about yourself & about the Universe is stored in your fascia, in your bodymind, your SOMA. My mission is to guide women in their journeys of (self)-discovery, helping them to reclaim agency of their life and to re-member their way back home. Together we uncover deeply engraved movement patterns, learn how to listen carefully to the body’s signs (symptoms) and create your own way to heal.   

My movement story started when at age of 3,5, I claimed my spot in a local gymnastic studio, even so they only accepted 5+ children. I saw beautiful gymnast working out and I needed to be there. It didn’t last long, as growing up in post-Soviet Ukraine, gymnastics and dancing was reserved to particular body types and at age of 5 my parens were told that my bones were too heavy and we needed to look for other activities. 

30 years later, movement is not something I do, it is something I am. Over the years I have experimented with many different dance styles, from rhythmic gymnastics, to salsa, tango, bellydance, pole dancing & twerking. I have always loved to challenge myself, learn new dance styles and try new sports. Dancing literally saved my life, during difficult years of my first immigration. When I was on the dance floor I didn’t think, I could express myself freely without words, I felt held, understood, accepted, SEEN. At once I discovered that my body could move in so many ways, and having curves was celebrated. 

Dancing and movement were my coping strategies back in my 20's. Wonderful escape — yes, but I treated my body still as my enemy. Punishing it, pushing its limits…

Back in 2019 I started teaching pole dance & twerk next to my full time job as tax consultant. Again, escaping my reality of a meaningless and stressful job — dancing brought light to my hard days. It didn’t last long, as 2020 arrived with an outbreak of Covid, followed by my body literally falling apart.  That was a clear sign that something had to change. Not only in the way I view my body as a tool, but the way I approached life in general. While being an immigrant made me adaptable & resilient, I also carried a belief that it was me against the world, that I had to work hard, that nothing came easy. And these belief were stored in my body, in my posture, my movement.

After struggling with lower back pain for a few years and not finding any relief from conventional therapies, I started my own discovery journey into the world of human physiology and movement. My very structured legal brain immediately decided to “do things right” so I took trainer courses and started testing functional movement on myself.  

Now — 6 years later — my life has changed completely. Not only my back problems are not bothering me anymore, my life transformed 360 degrees. 

Four years ago I took a jump, I left my full time job as legal counsel at KU Leuven and immigrated to Italy, following my heart. Together with my partner we bough a house, in a small rural village in the Italian Alps, that we are now renovated by ourselves and that soon will be a B& B. A place where you get to come home to yourself, surrounded by forest, listening its sounds in the morning, while sipping on your coffee, you roll out your mat and we move. We move together, each at her own rythm, while learning to listen to the wispers of your body. Than we have a sensory walk, noticing plants, collecting herbs. I show you how to ake shourdough bread, that we taste with freshly picked nettle spread. Immagine that. 

All of this unfolded slowly, not because I pushed harder, but because I learned how to move at my own rhythm, listening to my body and having trust. Feeling more, thinking less.

This new approach to what physical activity can be and what life can be (there is no separation), has shown me how to appreciate and respect my body’s boundaries, not putting it in a box, but exploring the endless possibilities of movement with curiosity & playfullness. 

Its time to approach our bodies as not something separate from us, but as integral part of our beeing. From “I have a body to I AM A BODY”. Instead of treating symptoms, fixing here and there. Lets listen to what our body wants to say. Stay and move with WHAT IS.  

Your life can be so much easier, more joyful and bright, once you start noticing the way you move. Increased awareness is the FIRST step towards the transformation you are searching for. 

Lets move together and create future generations that feel at ease in their bodies, and transfer that ease and joy everyone around.