Viniyoga Yoga & IFSU Vedic Meditation in Ath

I've always looked at what's behind the façade.

I trained in stage make-up. I spent hours backstage in theatres, on film sets, on music-video shoots, with the actors and the technical crew, to see how the magic is made.

My curiosity and my need to understand took me down very different paths and into very different jobs. I was a receptionist, I ran a bar, I had a shop in Greece. I've lived several lives.

Even today I read case files, scientific articles, books on geopolitics, because I want to know what's behind what I'm shown. It doesn't make me immune: like everyone, I let myself be influenced sometimes.

One day, I wanted to look behind my own façade. That's what led me to yoga, then to meditation.

The body first

I'm not athletic. I was looking for a way to strengthen my muscles without putting myself off effort. Stiff back, wrecked neck, short breath.

After several classes that were too acrobatic or too lofty, I found a wonderful teacher and a place devoted to practice. The day after a session, my lungs filled right up, for the first time in years.

I wanted to understand what I was feeling: the muscles, tendons and nerves that move with the posture, the spot that finally gives way after a few breaths. I studied anatomy.

Try it now: notice where your breath goes when you leave it alone.

The mind next

In 2011, in Greece, at a tai chi seminar, a friend introduced me to Breeyana. We talked about meditation for two minutes. Hippie stuff, ancient techniques, a guru: I tuned out. It took me two years to get started.

I started in 2013. Breeyana generously passed on to me the meditation techniques that changed my perception. Since that same year, I've taken part in the retreat in Belgium.

Meditation made me look closely at the mind: how it spins, what it repeats. Part of what I call “me” comes from outside: habits, inheritances, other people's expectations. I look for what truly belongs to me, without deciding in advance what that is.

During practice, thoughts sometimes pass without catching hold of me. A clear calm settles, with an intense joy. It lasts a few seconds. Over the years, for me, those seconds have grown longer. I describe what I notice, without giving it a name.

I keep going because it's the only moment when I'm at peace with my mind.

Why I teach

These two practices are tools, and I find them magnificent. They were passed on to me. In turn, I pass them on, and give back what I received.

I teach the techniques as I received them, within a framework. In yoga, I explain the why of every posture and every breath. In meditation, questions are welcome.

What each person finds in them, I have no access to: everyone looks for their own truth. I give the tool, I answer when someone gets stuck, and the person does the work.

I don't belong to any Church and I don't ask you to believe in anything. If the practice brings up things that are outside my remit, I'll point you to a professional.

This tool has given me a great deal. Passing it on is my way of giving it back.

Want to see what it's like in practice? Write to me, we'll talk it through openly, with no commitment.