My Yoga teaching history and class philosophy

                                                                My Yoga teaching history:

     I have been a passionate, devout and ever evolving practitioner of yoga for many years now.  I am a certified yoga instructor  with the Sarva Purnam International Yoga Society, International Yoga Federation, as well as The USA Artistic Yoga ™ Federation.  I subsequently hold a title as the USA Men's Champion in Artistic Yoga ™ 2012.  I  am presently serving  as the USA Secretary of the Intrenationl Yoga Federation for my home country of Serbia.  I am certified Yoga instructor in the following 7 styles of yoga:  

• Namaskar Integral  
• Traditional Hatha Yoga 
• Classical Raja Yoga (Yoga of the Mind)
• Power Yoga /Yoga Sports
• Ashtanga Vinyasa Kramaji Yoga 
• Artistic Yoga™ 
• Aerial Yoga
• Yogatherapy 

     I am trained in the "Art of Teaching", and have the working knowledge of the Asana science ( the anatomy and physiology of Yoga), the effects of Yoga poses on 7 levels  (muscular, skeletal, circulatory, organic, energetic, emotional, chakra) and their 7 systems of counterposes.  I also have experience with the hands-on tactile corrections (which has been mindfully developed with years of professional teaching experience as a dance professor and dance coach).    
I have received instruction and practice from a complete dictionary of yogic poses and positions, plus a dictionary of seldom taught partial postures: arms, legs, torso, neck, face, hands, and feet, which as you will read bellow, still continue to be present in my daily style of instruction.  I have a solid understanding of techniques of yogic breaths (Swara Yoga), kundalini science and pranayama exercises, which I personally continue to implement in my daily living.  
     As a modern day, urban yogini who tries to follow traditional 8 limbs or stages of Yoga (as defines by Patanjali, a propounder of Yoga philosophy), I mindfully continue to engage in many different styles of meditation (single focus, open monitoring, moving, zazen, hindu, classical, mantra), for the purpose of focusing and stilling the mind. I try to stay informed and mindful of the traditional Yoga ethics and philosophies, as well as Yoga psychology and the Mind Yoga, which I believe are integral parts of Yoga instructor's state of being.  On a more spiritual level, I continue to expose myself to traditional mantras, kirtans, bhajans and spiritual chants in order to bring greater spiritual/devotional experience to the practitioners that I teach.   I am grateful for the Integrated school of yoga lineage, which has opened the door of deeper experience of Yoga for me and have initiated me into the world of Yoga teaching.         

                                                                 About my yoga classes:

     To me first and foremost Yoga is the Art of dedicating ones all actions to discovering the multi faceted nature of what it means to be human.  Yogic postures besides their many beneficial physical effects, also include training and disciplining of the senses, mind, intellect and the soul. In that sense all of my classes regardless of their intended stylistic practices, are Purna Yoga ( complete) and Bhakti ( devotional) in nature. I believe in giving full attention to integrity of the alignment of each Asana, in order to assist the practitioner in findings the "asset" of his/her health, which is to be gained by sheer hard work and focus. On the other hand, while " baking hard" the body in the fire of yogic discipline, in order to strengthen and purify it, I also believe in the power of open curiosity and self-expression. So as we increase and feel the beating of our pulse and indulge in the rhythm of our hard earned respiration, we also allow ourselves to find our own full expression in each Asana. Therefore, in my class you will also find yourself embellishing your own practice with true improvisational flow and expression. My classes explore the use of imagery, guided meditation, archetypes and the Padavis, Mudras and Mukhasanas, (postures of the feet, hands and the face), in order to achieve full freedom of the body, mind and the spirit. 


     In 2018, I am starting to teach:
     "Samskara Yoga”™, a style of Yoga that utilizes mixed movement arts, Yoga asana and contemplative techniques, to help practitioner integrate his/her psychology, neurology, physiology and identity, in a most optimal and harmonious way.  The intention behind developing it was to find the system of instruction that would bring back most essentially transformative elements of yogic traditions and techniques, so often neglected or forgotten in contemporary teaching.  While at the same time integrating most remarkable discoveries and recoveries from the frontiers of neuroplasticity.  By using conscious Mindful and intentional neuroplastic techniques, we actually unmask the past, preexisting circuits known as "Samskaras" (mental scars), and with time and practice new brain circuits are made neuroplastically, thus developing new, more optimal Samkaras.                 
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Please feel free to contact me directly if interested in private or group sessions and workshops, or if, as a business owner, you are interested in having me teach at you Yoga studio.