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I am grateful to have met many fantastic teachers along the way, who have shaped my practice and understanding of yoga 🙏 So far, I have accumulated more than 500h of extensive yoga teacher training.
I've been interested in various forms of movement throughout my life including gymnastics, dancing, hiking, and running. I had sporadically taken yoga/pilates classes at the gym, but hadn't given it much thought until I started my PhD (my formal training is in computer science – check it out here if you are curious).
My first teachers
My very first contact with yoga practice happened during my childhood in Romania, seeing my dad practice asana and pranayama from an old book in our living room. I remember being fascinated by the various shapes our bodies could get into, as I tried to imitate the poses along with him. I like to think this planted the seeds which came to fruition 20 years later. During grad school, I got interested in yoga to tackle my poor posture and manage stress (both notorious among grad students), but that opened the door to a level of depth I never expected! My first yoga teacher was Jennifer Rebecca Wong, based in Switzerland. Jennifer gently introduced me to asana practice (the ashtanga series), breathwork, chanting, and meditation. She played a huge role in building the foundation of my practice and to this day I can hear some of her gentle cues in the back of my mind as I am practicing.
Traveling and learning
In 2017, I moved to Bangalore, India for 6 months, for a software engineering internship that was a part of my PhD. In Bangalore, I practiced daily with Siva Puthenmadathil in a traditional hatha yoga style, along with various teachers based in Rishikesh and Goa. In 2018, I moved to Sydney, Australia, also because of grad school (academics can be quite nomadic 🙃). In Sydney, I developed my ashtanga series asana practice under the guidance of Nadia & Gabriel Stinga Rihani, Jordan Turner, and Monica Marinoni. They all taught in the traditional Mysore program I attended in Sydney at different points in time. I learned a lot from each of them.
Deciding to teach
After a couple of years of committed daily practice, I truly started to see the positive effects of yoga in my life. The first was on a physical level. I love the paradox held within each pose and this was (and still is) a joy for me to explore. Each yoga asana offers an opportunity to blend a solid foundation (downward-moving energy, apana) with openness and creativity (upward-moving energy, prana). Both movements, encouraged by the breath, complement each other and are needed to achieve a balanced posture.
I also love how yoga practice is a mirror for daily life, helping me identify tendencies that arise in other aspects of my life off the mat, such as in work and relationships. For example, I can be quite tough with myself in everything I do. As I work to soften these expectations in my practice, I find it easier to soften expectations in other areas of life as well.
At this point, I decided I wanted to learn how to share this practice and signed up for my first teacher training (350 hours) with Mark Breadner, followed by a specialized Yin Yoga training (50 hours) with Cora Geroux.
Current teachers
Recently, my practice has been deeply influenced by Ty Landrum, Richard Freeman, and Mary Taylor. I have studied with Ty for the past two years (2021-2023), in his online "Into the Depths" yoga philosophy course, and in a few in-person workshops. In the summer of 2022, I was selected for Mary and Richard's teacher training intensive. Spending a month focused on yoga practice and philosophy together with a group of committed students has tremendously shaped my view of why we practice yoga and what is important.
Other inspiration
Finally, my view of yoga practice and teaching has also been influenced by teachers such as Kino MacGregor, Marie-Belle Pérez Rivera, and Mark Darby, with whom I have trained in short online or in-person workshops.