Olga's Biography
Born and raised in Omsk, Russia, I went through the typical routine that most Russian girls go through - a little gymnastics, a little ballet, a little dancing... Every activity that involved flowing body movement enchanted me, but the competitive nature and the stress it put on my body forced me to seek something else.
At the time nobody had heard of yoga in Russia, so I took my first class when I came to the US in 1999. It was a complete disaster. 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.