Olga's Biography
Taught in a health club by a "flower child", it involved intense "breath of fire", a few basic yoga postures, some ceremonial dance moves and a lot of hippie philosophy. Very discouraged by the experience, I felt like giving it up, but my friends convinced me to give it another try. So I started studying on my own, reading a lot of books and going to occasional classes. Eventually my friends and I started practicing together - at home, in the park or on the beach. In a way, I consider myself lucky, that I didn't follow somebody else's footsteps at the beginning of my journey. I was able to decide for myself what yoga means to me and develop my own style that involves all the experiences from my life and ideas I consider important.
The spiritual part of yoga was the most challenging for me. I was brought up during communist times, when the word "God" was considered a swearword, and it was very hard for me to except the existence of the Supreme Consciousness, God - whatever you want to call it. I started with "fitness Yoga", treating it as an exercise routine, but slowly got drawn deeper and deeper. As my interest in yoga evolved, and started looking for other ways to broaden my knowledge and deepen my practice. It eventually led me to the Mt. Madonna Center in California where I lived in the yogic community and studied with Baba Hari Das. This was a revelation for me. To become completely immersed in yoga, to live and breath your practice, was something completely new and very fulfilling.
OLGA'S EDUCATION
1994 - 1999
Omsk State University,
majored in Education
Summer 2002
Mt Madonna Center,
Yoga Teacher
(200-Hour Training)
2004-2006
AVI, Gary Kraftsow
Yoga Teacher
(500-Hour Training)
2008 - present
AVI, Gary Kraftsow
training to become Yoga Therapist