My Journey to Inner Peace

My name is Iva, and, according to societal constructions, I am an art historian, arts & yoga teacher, a writer.

I am inspired by arts and culture, yoga, creativity, writing & research, philosophy, learning, travelling, movement, photography, healthy communication, love, the scent of a new place I visit. I lived in five different countries till now: in the cities of Sofia, Rome, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Spain; and studied in three different but somehow interconnected directions–history; visual arts & culture; yoga & shamanism.

More than seven years ago, in Amsterdam, I discovered the powerful practice of yoga, which allowed me to explore unknown till then paths towards inner peace. Yoga became an essential part of my life and led me to a life-changing experience in Central America. The energy I felt in connecting with others and the moment of pure happiness I experienced while looking at the volcanos around Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, opened up my sense of spirituality. The beauty and awe before nature made me think about what is beyond and within our human existence. Yoga practice (not only asana practice) connects me to this sense of 'beyond and within,' to the sense of trust in the universe, love, and tranquility that everything is as it should be, and it is also here - within us.

* Obonjan Island, Croatia, where I taught yoga classes in the summer of 2019 *

* San Marcos La Laguna, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, where I spent a month instead of four days I have planned to, in 2018 *

This period of my life was a vortex of changes though: change of jobs, locations, relationships; the only ‘anchor’ that kept me safe and felt like 'home' was my practice. It engendered new ‘discoveries’ that redirected my interests, and I felt that my personal and spiritual growth was calling for a new path – yoga teaching. Naturally, I felt the need to go deeper into my yoga practice, and, a year after, I completed my Yoga Teacher Training with the School Yoga Institute in the Sacred Valley of Peru. That was an incredible and transformational experience inspired by and based on the ancient teachings of the Peruvian Medicine Wheel of the Andes. It was full of magic, real (!) happenings, sacred ceremonies, energy work, satsangs by shamans from the Amazons, coca leaves readings, and immense love. In this journey I realised that we can alter our reality and create our life journeys consciously, I've come to believe that we are the creators of our lives, something, which is sometimes easy to forget.

* Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley, Peru, where I did my YTT and spent 3 months afterwards :-) *

Because of this so powerful experiences, which allowed me to dream my world into being, I am where I am now, on my life path with a desire to learn more, to experience more, to hold space for a change in the world and breathe inner peace. As peace is only a breath away. Love, Iva