When Pilar Angela Paraiso started talking about her first encounter – after 12 years – with steak, we paid full attention. She tells her seemingly mundane story – about her dietary vacillations – with so much verve that we were ineffably drawn in. Bubbles (as she’s more popularly known), recounted how she journeyed from being an ovo-lacto vegetarion (after watching a PETA documentary) to a full-on carnivore. This shift is not without a plausible explanation, however. Her newest passion – triathlons – compels her to predominantly gorge on protein to better equip her slow-twitch muscles and give her strength.
“After I joined my first triathlon race, I was advised to eat meat to get stronger for my training. I didn’t want to, but I began feeling dizzy and weak. When I went to see my doctor, I was I told I had anemia. So, it was a choice of eating meat or taking heavy protein supplement for my body. So, I heeded, and ate steak – it tasted weird but I liked it. I actually felt bad, but I really liked it,” she narrated with bubbly candor.
Prior to becoming a triathlete, this gorgeous model-slash-artista already had an active lifestyle: she is a Muay Thai enthusiast and a practicing yogi (she also co-owns Beyond Yoga in Serendra). Bubbles confessed that she had to give up Muay Thai after participating in triathlons. I’ve been into Muay Thai it since 2005, but I had to make the difficult choice to discontinue it since it would be very taxing for my body doing all these different disciplines. So, now, I focus on yoga and triathlons.”
We asked Bubbles which between her two passions she loves more. “My passion is still yoga. Whenever I’m teaching yoga class and practicing, it makes me happy. While, triathlon keeps me sane – I become more competitive with myself when I run, swim and bike. Both are very meditative, which I like. When I run, I can’t run with music, so like with yoga, I have to internalize how to push myself to the limit.”
She added while flashing her pretty smile, “I remember my first race, I was like screaming inside ‘ayoko na!’. I was questioning myself why I was doing it, and why I even paid for it. I was in the middle of the race, and I wanted to stop. But, at the same time, I told myself ‘I’m here because I can’. So, I pushed myself, and crossed the finish line. I was crying.”
More than the physical changes, her passions also positively influence her emotions and spirit. Being active shapes the body and enhances flexibility, and it shapes the mind and nurtures one’s being. According to Bubbles, yoga taught her how to pace life slowly and become more forgiving. Meanwhile, after joining triathlons, she became less conscious of how she eats. “My concept of beauty changed so much after becoming a triathlete. Before, I couldn’t leave the house without full-on makeup. Now, cheek tint lang, masaya na ako. And, before, it was always about being skinny. Now, I just want to be fit. I would look at my old pictures, and I would see a skinny girl who was weak and had less energy. Before, I ate only five times a week. Now, I eat five times a day. And, it’s more than okay because I burn what I eat,” the stunning kids’ yoga teacher said.
Yet, the kikay will always be a kikay. Her honest crack, “I admit the there are days when I miss being dolled up. So, I would go to the grocery and dress up like a Stepford wife. There was a time when after a race, I would run to my hotel room and quickly change into a swimsuit which I paired with a dainty skirt. I would tell my teammates, I’d dress like a triathlete when I race, but I’d dress like myself when I get my medal. So, I did!”
Bubbles’ true beauty surfaces when she seeks herself from within. With the help of her hard work and commitment to following an active and fit lifestyle, her inner glow radiates. Bubbles may not be the skinny model that she used to be, but people look up to her now for her incandescent beauty that radiates and influences.
Know more about Bubbles’ journey toward improving her core, in our continuing series for this month of February.
Next week, learn how yoga helped Bubbles heal a broken heart.
“I went to Bali to find myself, but instead, I found yoga,” the usually bubbly Bubbles seriously quipped her well-known advocacy about the practice that helps improve one’s physical, emotional and mental state. “I fell so in love with it. It changed my perspective in life. It allowed me to forgive. It made me a better person. In short, bumait ako!,” she laughed at the thought but the sincerity in her voice was rather touching.
Her love affair with yoga did not happen at first sight. Her first encounter with yoga happened way before she got seriously attached 
with it. She used to attend yoga classes when the practice was starting to get the raves in the Philippines. The stunning model/actress admitted that she would attend class just to do stretching – she couldn’t even do a proper headstand! But three years ago, she had to change her approach with yoga especially when she decided to fulfill her dream of becoming a preschool teacher – a dream that she turned into reality when she became a yoga teacher for kids after attending a couple of yoga teacher training programs.
The beautiful muse of Calyxta continued then to immerse herself more and more in the practice of yoga. She told us, “When I started teaching – I suppose kids are naturally flexible– some of my students would look at me, and they’d expect me to do the pose flawlessly. So, I got frustrated, and challenged. I got myself deeper into the practice. I would attend yoga classes in Beyond Yoga in Rockwell three times a week, and sometimes even more. Because of this commitment to kids yoga classes, I decided to partner with the studio’s branch when it opened in Serendra.”
Her attachment with yoga even furthered that year when she suffered from her biggest heartbreak. She started reminiscing, “I wanted to leave town. I wanted to be alone. So, I booked myself a flight to Bali. I didn’t invite any friends or family to come with me. But after booking my ticket, I thought about the activities that I should do there. Since I was opening up a yoga studio, I enrolled myself to a yoga teacher training program.”
Looking back, she would describe herself as “acting” in real life while she was attending the training. “A huge tragedy happened the day that I flew to Bali. I couldn’t rebook my tickets so I carried on with the travel plans even with a heavy heart. So, you can imagine how much I cried while I was in the plane, in the car going to the yoga center. Inside the room, I’d really cry against the wall and in the shower. But when I leave the door, it’s as if there’s a camera in front of me, I’d take a deep breath and put on an instant smile. I did so because no one in my class knew what I was going through, and I didn’t want to be that classmate who’s all about drama!”, Bubbles shared the details.
“If you resent someone, you’re giving that person the power over you. But if you accept the person for who he/she is, if you accept that you can’t do anything to change how he/she is, and if you start to accept that you won’t be a better person by resenting him/her, then you’ll be happier.”
She continued, “The first few days of doing meditation was difficult. My mind wandered back to the Philippines, and without knowing, tears would be welling down my cheeks. But things got easier and more interesting for me when we had the Yoga Philosophy class with the Indian yogi Arvind Pare. A British classmate would ask him questions about resentment and acceptance. I would be all ears and taking down notes, but among the lessons that hit me was what my teacher said “If you resent someone, you’re giving that person the power over you. But if you accept the person for who he/she is, if you accept that you can’t do anything to change how he/she is, and if you start to accept that you won’t be a better person by resenting him/her, then you’ll be happier.”
And, that’s how Bubbles Paraiso fell in love with yoga. That’s how she became committed and even more passionate for the practice that nurtures one’s whole being – from the physical, mental, emotional and to some, even spiritual. And, that’s how she went back home with a new perspective that focuses on the now, and helps in letting go of a dark past and fear for the future.
Next week, learn about this Calyxta Girl’s journey from yoga to triathlon. It’s another physical activity that allowed her to become more meditative and competitive.
Yoga Heals!
“Yoga never failed me each time I sought refuge in it. When I had my heartbreak, when I had a car accident that made me immobile, yoga has helped in healing me. Since doing the yoga poses makes you focus in the moment, it has helped me in letting go of the past, of my fears, my stresses. So, if women are going through something, I can say that yoga is a good practice to get into. The concern wouldn’t disappear overnight but getting deeper into yoga and its philosophies would certainly help them ease their burdens. One of students now have told me that she’s diagnosed with bipolar, and that attending my classes once a week helped decrease the attacks. That’s such a great thing to hear, right?”
Calyxta Behind-the-Scenes: Erica Paredes
Last year, Erica Paredes, the former Editor-in-Chief of Calyxta, traded her the art of blending beauty creams for the craft of blending sumptuous juices in Paris’ top culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu. But, the beautiful beauty journalist simply can’t forget her past. So, when she came home for the holidays, she guested as an editor of Calyxta’s February cover girl.
In our chat with her, she shared with us the top beauty secrets of the chic Parisian girls. So, watch the rest of the video to know what it takes to be like the recently crowned Miss Universe 2016, Iris Mittenaere!
The stunning Calyxta’s cover girl for the month of February, Bubbles Paraiso, delved into the details on how she got herself into triathlon – another passion she pursues aside from yoga
Who would have thought that the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) syndrome could lead to something beautiful and meaningful for our sultry Calyxta Girl, Bubbles Paraiso? She could clearly remember how being her peer group influenced her to start running. Bubbles quipped, “It was some time in October (2015) when I was supposed to meet Joey Mead King and Tim Yap to teach them yoga. But Joey couldn’t make it, so Tim asked me if I would like to run with his group in (Manila) Polo (Club). I immediately said yes, and that was the start of it.”
From joining friends Tim Yap and Kim Atienza in their occasional running sessions back in 2015, the gorgeous yoga teacher came to like the different kind of rush of the sport. Not only did running put her into a unique meditative state, but also it pushed her to be competitive to herself. So, from a hobby (aka running with a group of friends whenever they felt like it) to a fitness lifestyle (running on her own for her physical, emotional and mental wellness), Bubbles began voicing out her love for the exercise – through posting pictures of how she enjoyed the run, something that caught the attention of her Kuya Kim (Atienza), who is a renowned triathlete.
During that time – 2016 had just rung in – Bubbles told, “My resolution last year was to say yes to whatever opportunity that comes in. I told myself I needed to be open to anything. So, when Kuya Kim (Atienza) called me to invite me for a 10K run, I initially hesitated because it would start at 4am, but heeded anyway. After my first race, it felt quite all right so I just kept on saying yes to all our runs. I even joined them on a Condura, the 21K run, and became so close to my running mates.”
At the turn of May 2016, the FOMO syndrome kicked in, and she felt she wanted to be part of her fellow runners’ training for a triathlon. They did not invite her because she had no bike. So, she got herself a Trek Emonda, a road bike with stock (not even aero) wheels, but she didn’t feel like a triathlete yet until such time that it hit her how serious the competition could be. “During that Ironman race in Cebu, my team created an all-girl’s relay group – Gretchen Fullido would swim, Sarah Black would bike, and I’d run. But Sarah got injured so I had to bike for the team. I really didn’t feel like I would make it because I didn’t have much time to train, but I pushed myself hard. At the end of the race, I placed 2nd. I was crying at the finish line. I saw my mom crying, too.”
As she ventured deep into triathlon, the lovely model-slash-artista encountered tons of challenges. At her first race as an official triathlete in Pico de Loro – she swam, biked and ran – she almost drowned for the lack of training in swimming. Then, she crashed her bike a few days before her second race in Bohol around October last year. She also got sick with flu, got her face scratched by another swimmer, and stepped onto a sea urchin during the day before the race. “Everyone asked me if I’d still do the race. But I was thinking, with all the malas that happened that day, what else could go wrong? Deep inside, I felt like all the things went wrong already, so the race day would surely be a good day. So, I still raced. I ended up at 4th place. It wasn’t a podium win, but it wasn’t bad at all,” she recalled.
Yes, it was entirely accidental – incidental – on how she became a triathlete, but Bubbles Paraiso don’t find any reason to stop pushing herself to the next limit. Her stunning look is indeed as beautiful as her passionate embrace to the things she pursues. She’s an adorable inspiration to women who felt like giving up – her positive mind, her ‘yes’ to opportunities, and her affable attitude definitely brought her to a new and different kind of success.
Calyxta Behind-the-Scenes: Matthew Panes
Young but talented fashion stylist Matt Panes chose an awesome ensemble of active wear for Bubbles Paraiso during our cover shoot. The stylish range of sports wear come from MillennX Athletic Gear, a homegrown brand that is known for fusing the art of fashion design and the art of the body’s fluid motion. Our Calyxta Girl loved the collection that she used for the shoot – she said a lot of good things about MillennX. “It’s comfortable to wear, form-flattering, and definitely fashionable!,” she said.
Written By: SHERRY TENORIO
Guest Editor ERICA PAREDES
Photography DIX PEREZ
Videography ANDREW APUYA
Makeup AMANDA PADILLA
Hair JET BABAS
Fashion Styling MATT PANES
Special thanks to MillenX for the active sportswear
