My Story

I was born and raised in former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. I was just coming up to my teenage years when the great reform, Perestroika, had taken place there. In 1991, I moved to Russia to study music at the State Conservatoire in the Ural Mountains. It is here that I was first introduced to yoga, initially via the study of Theosophy and Agni Yoga through the metaphysical teachings of Nicholas Roerich and Helena Blavatskaya. My whole being had strongly connected to the teachings - it felt very familiar as if I was returning to something that I have experienced before. And yet I knew that I wasn't ready to delve deeper. I wanted to experience life's challenges and I needed to mature. Life did not disappoint. 

In 1998 I moved to the UK and in 2005 I began to study psychology as part of my degree in Community Justice, which lead me to a professional career in the Criminal Justice Sector - supporting people through life's challenges, motivating and helping them facilitate change, for nearly two decades. This was an extremely interesting and rewarding career and on the surface, everything looked good. Yet, internally I began to struggle. By the time I realized that the stress-busting strategies I was using were unsustainable, my body was already rebelling. I developed chronic fatigue and in 2013 I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. 

In 2014 I began to delve deeper into the teachings of yoga - both, as the result of my physical and emotional struggles and through deep spiritual calling. This was the beginning of my awakening that resulted in a complete change of lifestyle and direction in life.