Meet Sharon, a passionate Mexican vegan, Yoguini, dog mom, Engineer, Model, traveler, and spiritual person. She was born in Mexico City 36 years ago, and her love for her hometown’s beautiful weather remains undiminished. Sharon teaches Yoga, Meditation, and Pranayama (conscious breathing) both in person and online. She founded “Abhyasa Yoga Shala” during the pandemic, an online project aimed at spreading the Yoga philosophy and providing free asana classes to help people deal with isolation during those challenging times.
Sharon has been an animal rights activist since going vegan and has been actively involved in various animal liberation activities, including Cubes of Truth, vigils, and protests. With her strong beliefs, passion for Yoga, and love for animals, Sharon is an inspiration to many.
Meatless Movement recently had the chance to chat with her.
Please tell us more about yourself
My name is Sharon: Mexican, vegan, Yoguini, dog mom, Engineer, Model, traveler, spiritual.
✨The bird who dares to fall,
is the bird who learns to fly 🕊️
I was born in Mexico City 36 years ago, a very beautiful city with the best weather all year around. I teach Yoga privately (in person and online), Meditation techniques as well as Pranayama (conscious breathing).
✨My mat is my canvas, and Yoga is my art. 💜💚
I founded “Abhyasa Yoga Shala” at the beginning of the pandemic, an online project dedicated to spreading the Yoga philosophy and asana classes for free as a way for people to deal better with isolation during those difficult times.
I speak Spanish, English, French and have some understanding of Dutch and Italian. A cute pug named Goliath has been my partner in crime for 11 years and he is everything to me.
The greatest act of courage is to be and own all that you are. Without apology, without excuses and without any masks to cover the truth of who you truly are.
I have been an activist for animal liberation since I first went vegan, being part of Cubes of Truth, vigils, protests, and pretty much everything that involves animal rights.
You’d be surprised how many things fall into place when you learn to follow your spirit and speak with your soul
I worked as a Mechatronics Engineer in the automotive industry for 10 years designing and testing commercial vehicles before pursuing my true passion -teaching Yoga-, since I believe in its immense power on our body, mind, spirit and collectively as a way to change our world thanks to its wonderful teachings.
Some other things I love are romantic music, historical movies, nature, the beach, adventure sports, sunsets, naps, foot massage and early mornings.
🌱The greatest act of #love YOU can do is to live a #veganlife – thriving on a #plantbased diet while saving animals, protecting our planet and becoming healthier than ever.
I’ve been vegan for about 12 years, and I became one because 3 things occurred almost simultaneously in my life.
First one was that I started to practice Yoga and I learned about the AHIMSA concept, the first rule that every Yogi should follow before even beginning any kind of physical practice, and this golden rule is to respect all living things and to avoid any kind of violence toward others and ourselves, a “rule” that seemed quite reasonable to me.
The second thing was that I watched slaughterhouse (and other animal exploitation) footage for the first time through social media, very disturbing images of the reality of animals, which made me start to question my lifestyle in terms of food, clothing, entertainment, etc because I definitely didn’t want to contribute to that kind of cruelty towards the most innocent beings on the planet.
The third thing was the realisation of the incoherence between my deep love and care for my dog, and the fact that I kept contributing everyday to the enslavement, torture and slaughter of many other animals who were not too different from him.
How could I be petting my dog with one hand while eating a piece of meat with the other one? It didn’t make any sense. So everything just clicked, I knew in my heart that it was the right thing to do and I became vegan for the animals overnight. The best decision I ever made.
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive. And to do so with compassion, passion, humor and style
It has been quite a journey. The realisation of all the suffering we as humans unnecessarily inflict on billions and billions of animals every day can be truly overwhelming.
I understood then why they say that ignorance is bliss, but I didn’t want to remain ignorant for the rest of my life, no matter what.
There were days at the beginning when grief and powerlessness inhabited every cell in my body… but it was these feelings that I transformed into powerful motivation and action as time went by.
I convinced myself that I’m of no help at all to animals by feeling miserable, but instead I can be of so much help by spreading Veganism with information and by my own example, defeating myths and showing to the world that you can actually be a VERY HAPPY AND STRONG VEGAN… eating delicious food, while saving animal lives, protecting the environment, cultivating positive attitudes in your mind, cultivating compassion to all beings in your soul and even becoming the strongest (physically, mentally and spiritually) that you’ve ever been.
I truly love being a vegan, I’m definitely a very different person than I was before. My soul is happy, I’m strong and healthy, I feel beautiful, powerful and capable of achieving anything I want. I feel in harmony with the Universe around me and even though I’m far from being perfect, I am aware that the woman I am now is exponentially more empathic, compassionate and determined than I could have ever imagined to become.
💪🏼🌱 Plant eater. Animal lover. ❤️🐷🐮🐔🐠
To those who aren’t vegan yet I would encourage them to try one of “the vegan options” next time they are at a restaurant or anywhere, I almost guarantee that they’ll be happily surprised with how tasty it is, how great they feel afterwards and they might end up giving it a try next time, and next time… and eventually decide to switch fully.
Cooking is not one of my talents (oops) but I can give you great recommendations of the best vegan restaurants in Mexico City. The Mexican vegan food is the absolute best and some of my favourites dishes / places are:
Enchiladas and brownie from “Vegamo”
Gringa and Molcajete from “Por siempre vegana taqueria”
Cochinita pibil and Sopes from “Los losers”
Birria from “Vegetal”
Pambazo from “Vegangos”
Chile en Nogada and Cecina from “Vege Taco”
Pozole from “Veganion”
✨You glow differently when you’re actually happy. 💜
The main misconceptions that I have found about vegans is that the food options are very limited and that one becomes weak and angry when going vegan.
I have shown to the people I know that any dish they love can be easily made vegan, luckily we are living in 2023 with so many options available to us everywhere, and with a wide variety of vegan food that is delicious, nutritious and affordable to everyone. There are over 20,000 species of edible plants worldwide to get creative with, instead of only 5 types of meat that non vegans usually consume. If you don’t know how, all the information is only a click away, the very one thing needed is the will to try.
✨Nothing is more beautiful
than the smile that has struggled
through the tears.✨
I think it’s important for vegans to unite, to create networks and a community where we empower each other. We must stand up for what we believe in, while supporting each other. Each one of us has a story, that story is what makes us unique and to have a strong community supporting you (even if only online) can be truly powerful and encouraging.
We need more vegans but we also need more vegan activists. We must take advantage of social media and its importance nowadays to impact those around us in a profound and positive way. For the animals, for the planet, for us.
No matter the reason that makes you go vegan, whether it be the animals, your health, the environment, … every vegan is impacting positively in so many ways the world we live in. So much that every vegan saves around 40lbs of grain (which could feed hungry populations around the world), 1100 gallons of water, 30 square feet of forest, and one animal life EVERY SINGLE DAY. So next time you’re having doubts, just remember the “WHY” and the “HOW” will be easy.
We desperately need a kinder, more compassionate world. Each one of our actions resonates in eternity, so why not be kinder? Why not be less selfish and more compassionate?
Once you align your ethics and what you know deep in your heart is right with your actions, everything falls into place and voilá… you’ll be thriving in plants, becoming the most radiant, healthiest, strongest version of yourself. You’re only one decision away from your best self. Go Vegan, world.
LOKAH SAMASTAH SUKHINO BHAVANTU
May all beings everywhere be free and happy,
and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life
contribute in some way to that happiness and freedom for all.
Love,
Sharon
Sharon Katz Ⓥ
Fashion Model
🧘🏻♀️ Private #Yoga Teacher 🪷 RYT500
💞 Mom of Goliath, the pug 🐶
🌱 #Vegan for the animals 💪🏼
👙 #Model & Engineer 🤓
🕉 Founder of @abhyasays 🙏🏼
📍 MX 🇲🇽
IG: @shakitz https://www.instagram.com/shakitz/
FB: Sharon Katz https://www.facebook.com/katz.sharon/
Youtube: Abhyasa Yoga Shala (Yoga classes / videos in Spanish)
all images courtesy of Sharon Katz Ⓥ