June 03, 2016
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice
Daniel Cordua, co-owner of the Palo Santo Wellness Boutique, where he is a massage therapist, yoga teacher and healer.
Daniel Cordua is the sweet-tempered yogi who, last spring, alongside wife, Rachel Cordua, brought yoga and meditation services to the ever-diversifying strip of East Passyunk Avenue in the form of Palo Santo Wellness Boutique. There, Cordua teaches classes and workshops, gives therapeutic body massages, supports a staff of Ayurvedic and Reiki lifestyle coaches and greets a comforting "Namaste" to souls coming to sweat out their Stargazy meat-pie binge down the street.
Below, Cordua talks yogi beginnings, the struggle of teaching kids yoga and which unlikely greasy indulgence he lives for.
How did you first become involved with yoga, Reiki and other more spiritual therapies? How did you know this was what you wanted to do?
From an early age, I had spiritual inclinations. Interestingly, in my teens, a specific style of hardcore punk first introduced me to Eastern philosophy. The seed was planted but laid dormant. Years later, I was working as a tattoo artist and decided I wanted to work with bodies in another capacity — a healing one. Massage therapy was where I first started, and that led me to yoga. Finding a regular yoga practice, at the ripe age of 30, brought me straight back to that spiritual seed. From there on, no thought was involved — like a kind of magic that was always there but just needed to be tapped into, I flowed with my path, or what yogis call one’s dharma. My life has transformed tremendously ever since — to a space beyond my prior conceptions and a place beyond my dreams.
Do kids tend to ‘get it’ when you try to teach them yoga? Those can’t be easy minds to calm.
I have only taught kids yoga a few times. First off, seeing that most of them 'knew' about yoga and some yoga poses, I was beside myself! When I was a kid, I had never heard of yoga, let alone know a pose or two. That's true change. Secondly, yes — kids' minds are very wild and scattered. Even more important, to bring the discipline of yoga to them at an early age. Meditation, mindfulness, yoga and kirtan — my favorite, singing and chanting — are all things that should be introduced to children just as simply as reading and writing are. That’s a recipe for a stronger, more evolved, more conscious and more compassionate society.
What Philadelphian inspires you?
The main Philadelphian who inspires me is my dad, Peter J. Cordua, a native South Philadelphian. He is also a business owner, of an accounting firm, and has always inspired me to stay true to myself in a world of people who don’t — or, rather, people who don’t know how to or lack the courage to do so. His working-class South Philly Italian-American roots taught me the worth of hard work and straight-up hustle. His love of what he does for a living showed me that such hard work can be birthed from a sense joy and passion, not a sense of servitude.
What’s your guilty-pleasure food indulgence?
Pizza. I’m a lover, connoisseur, enthusiast and, at times, addict. Over the years, I’ve been well-advertised as the pizza-loving yogi. I even created an art show of pizza slices doing yoga poses at the local Pizza Brain in Fishtown.
When the weather finally gets warm (as it has now, hallelujah), where, locally, do you and your wife like to retreat to?
We love biking around the city and having dates in different neighborhoods. One of our favorite easy retreats is taking a trip down to the Schuylkill, packing a picnic and watching a movie outside by the river. The Wissahickon has also been calling to us as of recent. We have made a pact to tap into the restorative and healing energies of nature at least once a week, something so so very important when you live in a big city.
