Most people know me as a cyclist who achieved great results in the career, but had lots of bad luck.
I entered the cycling world very late, at the age of 17 I rode a road (race) bike for the first time ever. Because I was so far behind my peers, I rode extremely hard that summer, hoping to get closer to the competition in terms of performance. There wasn’t a week where I didn’t train less than 1100 kilometres. Even then, the bike gave me freedom, I felt good, especially after training. The reality was, I didn’t feel good, I just felt less bad, absence of emotions, good and bad… After 200 kilometres, my body was so exhausted that I had no vital energy to feel, I was numb. And I equated that with feeling good.
Over the years, the extremes have escalated, I rode because I had to, not because I wanted to, or wished to. The bike was my addiction, which I escalated by developing an eating disorder. My body became a scapegoat that I abused and destroyed on a daily basis…and I enjoyed it.
Years of abuse have taken their toll, injuries, illnesses, chronic pain have piled up. I was aware that I was not on the right path and that this path was leading me to my doom, but I could not change it, even though I tried countless times. Until a friend mentioned the AEQ® method to me.
The day I came for my first session, I didn’t even know what I was getting into, whether it was massage, psychotherapy or something else. After a two-hour conversation, I went home with HOPE. I left with something I didn’t have before the conversation.
Months of work and learning have given me a better understanding of my situation, why I am the way I am, why I am unhappy, what my behaviour really is. Bulimia has disappeared. The realisations that dispel the illusion are always painful, but they allow us to identify and define the problem more realistically, and to invest energy, time and attention in changing the patterns that make our lives difficult.
The physical and energetic parts of a person’s soma are inseparable. Movement determines behaviour and vice versa. Before I studied the AEQ® method, my movement was very stiff, clumsy and inefficient. The same can be said for behaviour. Emotional maturity was very low.
By raising our emotional maturity we can more easily regulate and change our movement, behaviour and ultimately our life. For the increasing complexity of the life we live, we need high emotional maturity. We are better able to solve problems that disturb, hinder, threaten or limit us because we are able to keep a calm head, despite strong emotions, and to respond rationally, maturely and appropriately to given situations. Higher emotional maturity, in turn, enables us to live, rather than survive.
In the past year and a half I completed the AEQ® Method Level 2 and AEQ® Breathing Level 2 teacher’s study. I am currently studying to be an AEQ® Method Level 3 teacher (I have completed Module 1/6)
By studying as an AEQ® Method teacher, I would like to share my knowledge with other people and help them with their chronic conditions.
In my new role, I am trying to bring the AEQ® method close to people and show them how they can contribute to their own health and well-being. With my experience in the world of cycling and my knowledge of the AEQ® Method, I am bringing a special combination that can help both athletes and people who want to improve their health and quality of life.
HOW TO LEARN AEQ® method:
I do in-person active sessions, online programs (Zoom) and AEQ method workshops live and online (Zoom)
WORKING HOURS: during weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m CET
AEQ® Education: AEQ® Method Level 3 Student 1/6, AEQ® Method Level 2 Teacher and AEQ® Breathing Teacher Level 2
Email address: info@janibrajkovic.com Website: janibrajkovic.com