Hi! My name is Maya and I created Virya to share my skills and understanding of leading a lifestyle that enables people to thrive and flourish.
“You do not need to seek freedom in a different land, for it exists with your own body, heart, mind, and soul.”
B.K.S. Iyengar
Using techniques of yoga, positive psychology, art-therapy and philosophical counselling I help people to find their own strengths, connect with their inner source and become a healthier and happier version of themselves.
With Virya you can:
- make your body stronger, more flexible and agile
- release stress accumulated in your muscles
- train your mind to be more peaceful and focused
- increase your body awareness
- improve your mood
- become more resilient
- learn how to decrease an impact of stress on your wellbeing
- be a healthier and happier version of yourself.
My practice and studies have been life-changing experiences that taught me how to understand my feelings, avoid fallacies in thinking and how to feel connected with the body. I share these skills and insights to help others find their way to a happy, meaningful life.
I practice and teach different styles of yoga picking techniques that answer current needs. My goal is to help people enhance their wellbeing and thrive by using bodywork, positive psychology and philosophy.
How did my ‘yoga story’ begin?
Was it with my first dhanurasana (bow pose) taught by my auntie when I was a kid, or with the first meditation during karate class? Or maybe from the first ‘compassion class’ when I have been told that animals have feelings too? In some ways, many elements of yoga were in my life long before I started practising it and I would say that in my case all the roads led to yoga. The main roads were: philosophy, meditation and bodywork.
In philosophy, my main interest was an ethical question of a ‘good life’ – what does it mean to live a good life? This question directed me to mindfulness and the practice of zazen and vipassana meditation. From martial arts (karate and kalaripayattu), I have learned that the aim is to be strong enough to be confident and able to choose peace over fighting. Also, that working with your body is ultimately working with your character. When I was twenty I discovered that there is something that ‘has it all’ and its name is yoga.
After 10 years from my first yoga class, I enrolled in Yoga Teacher Training with Shiva Yoga Peeth in Rishikesh, India. Being curious by nature I explore different styles of hatha yoga, kriya yoga and mindfulness. I’m learning how to employ them in my own practice and the teaching as well. I experienced many of yoga benefits and I hope to help more people come closer to their goals whether it is a more agile body, kinder and happier heart or sharper and more focused mind.
My qualifications:
200 RYS Hatha Yoga Teacher Training
15 hrs Kriya Yoga Certification
Kids’ Yoga Teacher Training
Chair Yoga Training
B.A. and M.A. in Philosophy
M.A. in Sociology of Ecology
Diploma of Art-Therapy
Course in Positive Psychology
