I remember this tiny yoga book that I used to look at as a child. It was part of my grandparents’ library, I don’t even know if any of them have ever read it, even though my grandfather used to give me yogic vibes of some sort. I was really fascinated by the odd positions illustrated in this book. It had this esoteric magical appeal. In my mind back then this was a yogi – a male twisted in an impossible posture, being able to stop his breath and heart, to walk or sit on sharp nails, to mummify himself and wake up 1000 years later. I wasn’t ready to start learning what was it all about until I was in my 20’s.

Earlier in my teens I’ve had a powerful experience involving pranayama and kriya, but back then the discipline required to follow a yoga practice seemed impossible to my 15 years old self. I wanted to feel and experience everything, the deepest and most powerful emotions, and in my understanding yoga would’ve stolen that away from me by exchanging it with calmness and “inner peace”.

I needed to walk my path in my own terms, facing my demons. Until I was exhausted.

Like most western people, I started with an asana practice and soon after I’ve incorporated pranayama, meditation and kriyas. A year later I’ve found myself in an Indian ashram, doing a “silence retreat”. In the following years I’ve developed a strict daily practice, started teaching, travelled back to India to participate in a yoga teaching program.

Practicing yoga in our contemporary world is such an interesting process. It’s ancient and yet so relevant. I’ve experienced profound moments filled with joy, but also doubts and disappointment. Still I never stopped practicing, knowing that this is something that brings me closer to transcendental truth and absolute beauty. It’s a never ending process, a lifelong journey, filled with more and more exciting insights. The more I read, learn and experience, the more fascinating it gets.

I love sharing this with others, to feel the sense of belonging, peace and gratitude in the end of a class.

Spreading the message that yoga is a wholesome system, even if it involves the body it is not a purely physical exercise. It is about realizing and experiencing that the whole Universe is in the smallest particle of your body.