Yoga is not only her passion. Yoga is her Lifestyle: the way she thinks, interacts, talks. Living Yoga as a Lifestyle is not easy, but yoga teacher from Greece - Niki- has found the balance between body, mind & soul and now happily sharing with us how yoga founds its way into her Life. 

Q: Tell us a little about yourself

A:  I live in Greece, in a small town nearly two hours drive from the capital Athens. I enjoy living here as there is so much green, fresh air and I feel much more connected to my roots, nature. Besides of yoga which is my way of living, followed by daily practices, I also like watching films, listening to music, dancing and taking photographs. I always have fun travelling because through the journeys I make, I always find new spots to practice yoga, new areas to take photos, new scenery to motivate my thoughts and detox my being.

Related article: Yoga as a Lifestyle

Q: You are RYT 500 yoga teacher. How did yoga enter your life?

A: I started practicing yoga in 20013 in my hometown, where I live. As we live in a small society, practicing yoga to its full extent here was something difficult and strange, I dare to say. Nevertheless, I anyways started practicing yoga asanas and a bit of pranayama. Since the beginning I always had my thoughts that there was something more than “just a practice”. Maybe because from an early age I was  attracted to energies, The Universe, scientific research and facts.  I also loved reading books about Eastern philosophy. After few years, in 2015 I met a wonderful man, my mentor, who taught me what yoga actually represents and that was just the beginning on my wonderful journey… We started and continued this journey together for few more years when in 2018 I decided that THIS is my path, this is what I want to follow and if I could teach yoga to others...so be it! Luckily enough I had great teachers by my side ( Andreas Proveleggios / Robert Najemy ) who introduced me to the coordination and balance of the three : body mind and soul ! I started teaching Raja Yoga and then moved on Yin Yoga.

What also motivated me through the years was Yoga Nidra as I found it a strong method of self-therapy.

In my practice I mostly follow a fusion of Raja Yoga and Tribal dance, what I call yoga dance flow. As far as teaching is concerned, I have many groups of different yoga styles. In one group we may focus more on pranayama, meditation or Yoga Nidra whereas in the other we may focus mostly on combining dance with yoga in a flow full of energy and self-expression!

Related article: Different types of yoga

Q: How you started practicing partner yoga and what you like the most about it?

A: Well, I always liked acrobats and dancers since I was a little girl. To tell you the truth, at first I started playing around with a friend of mine in acro yoga. It seemed and still seems so cool to me. You work out physically, but you also have to be concentrated and so much aware of the partner’s body and mind.

It is exciting to see how day by day you build such a strong bond with your partner, to the point where you start feeling like one body and mind.

So as acro, as well with partner yoga I mostly enjoy the fun in my classes and cooperation with each other. I also use partner yoga in my classes quite frequently in a curative way so as to stretch and massage one another before we finish class.

Q: What are the most common questions which you receive from your yoga students?

A: The first and most common question I receive is: ‘’Can I do yoga? I am old, chubby, I haven’t done yoga yet or even haven’t exercised in general.‘’ Wondering what is my answer to that?? Of course, you can!

Yoga is for everyboby! Every body type, every lifestyle, every nationality, man/ woman, old/young, there are no limits! So, from my point of view, through yoga every single person can get one step closer to his or her freedom, can unlock his or her body and set the mind free.

Q: What is your favorite book/movie and why?

A: One of my favorite books would be ‘Finding God through sex ‘by David Deida. It is a very comprehensive book on the very first tantric steps of my education on this path. A fundamental knowledge on finding your divine sexual masculine and feminine energy in yourself. Secondly, one of my favorite movies would be ‘What the bleep do we know.’ When I first saw that movie (recommended by my teacher) I was amazingly surprised. I saw that movie when I was training to become a yoga teacher and through that movie my world made sense. What do I mean is, that everything yogis shared through the years on their scripts, everything was now in the movie explained by scientists and quantum physics. It is amazing to me trying to get the pieces of the world puzzle through a scientific knowledge and also searching for more and more knowledge.

Q: On which ZENAGOY yoga mats do you practice?

A: I practice on natural rubber base PUrfect black yoga mat by ZENAGOY. My practice has been a lot more steady because of this mat as it has the perfect grip. Its texture is amazing for my body and it is not slippery at all! The PUrfect yoga mat is not only elegant and suits my taste, but it is also practical for my yoga classes. I recently practiced on the Rainbow mandala yoga mat and I can share the same. Perfect grip and balance, amazing texture, elegant creation! For me ZENAGOY is a honest, descent yoga brand that takes into consideration what yogis require from a perfect yoga mat to bring their practice to perfection! Thank you ZENAGOY!

Thank you for your time, Niki!

Pictures by Dennis Bizas

Photo edits by Stamatis Laganis