shantidevi-bYou can find something common and prosaic in all biographies - they start from “I was born”.  And this one is no exception. I was born in 1980 in Tbilisi where I still live. I had, like everyone else, very happy childhood and quite happy, but a little more complicated period of my teens because these were the nineties, very difficult period for Georgia. But still I remember this part of my life like very nice and interesting. I went to school; I had good friends, hobbies. The period of higher education was more difficult comparing to my childhood and my school days due to some life problems and my attempts to realize my abilities. I tried myself in arts and theater, foreign languages and tutoring, economics and religion. As a result I graduated from The S.-S. Orbeliani Institute of Theology, Philosophy, History and Culture, I have a certificate in medicine from INER, The Institute of Natural Family Planning Italy – Georgia and one year in Tbilisi Business Academy.  

I came to my first “Yoga in Daily Life” class in spring 2011 and the reason was more than usual –I had some problems with my health. I’d practiced some other yoga techniques before that by myself and I really thought I had a clue what yoga was.  But from that first lesson with Olga Ramer I understood how strange my picture of yoga was and I also felt very deep and sincere admiration towards the ancient art and knowledge of yoga.  And from that very day and by now yoga keeps on enchanting me and charming me, makes me curious and surprises me. I love it more and more. Yoga is a magic world in which you can find the answers to all you questions, where you can find the solutions for many your problems. Health? Yoga really helps. I have my own and my family experience on this subject. Self inquiry? Yes, of course, you can better understand who you are. Relationship between people? Your place in society? Yes, we can learn to hear each other, it’s not so difficult indeed. Faith, religion? Yes again. Yoga is above all the religions, but it helps you to understand your own faith better and deeper.  As a Christian I realized this point very well.

I won’t be very original saying that the day I met my Guru Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda was the most significant and important day not only on my yoga path but in my whole life. All the disciples can tell you the same thing and be sure they are completely sincere.   What does it mean to meet a Guru? It’s an enormous luck which is given to a person by some unbelievable miraculous coincidence and I still can’t completely realize this. It’s very sacred and personal. It’s like a string of pearls where each and every pearl is some occasion, person, feeling and emotion. They are all on their places and in due time. Nothing is accidental in this little universe, in your life. And when you observe this string, you understand that its beauty has its roots in Guru, in His presence in your life. And you know, it’s a real challenge for European way of thinking.

The idea to teach yoga was spontaneous even for me. And I really didn’t expect that Olga Ramer, my yoga instructor and the guide in the miraculous world of yoga, will approve it from the very beginning. I’m very grateful that she believed in me and trusted me. The opportunity to tech yoga and to share your knowledge with other people gives you a chance to go deeper and deeper in this ancient art, ancient knowledge, called yoga, which has no time, space and borders.