A former nun has opened up about why she abandoned her life of devotion in a convent to teach yoga on the beach — wearing only a bikini.
Ana Nycole Gomes, 24, said a chance encounter with a stranger changed her entire outlook on life. She had joined a convent at a young age, but everything shifted when she met a man during a church-organized youth retreat in Alagoas, Brazil.
Speaking with the Daily Mail, Ana recalled that the man jokingly told her she was “too beautiful to be a nun.” Though the comment was made in passing, it deeply affected her and made her begin to question her path.
“That moment felt like someone had given me permission to rethink everything I believed,” she said. “It was as if a light switched on inside me. I began to wonder if I was ready to give up the world before I’d even lived in it.”
Although Ana never saw the man again, she admits his words lingered in her mind. She had been raised to believe her destiny was a life of isolation and obedience, but today, she finds her sense of discipline and peace through yoga instead.
“I grew up thinking I was meant to live in seclusion,” said Ana, who now lives in Maceió, Brazil. “But when someone told me I was ‘too beautiful to be a nun,’ something shifted inside me.”
She added that the offhand comment triggered a personal awakening that ultimately transformed her life.
“I started questioning whether I was ready to give up my youth, my desires, and my freedom,” Ana shared. “I’ve lived through loss, but yoga helped me rediscover and reinvent myself.”
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