‘When I grow up I want to help people’
That's why we're here. Because we were exactly like you. Looking for something, more. Some of us got into yoga because we got bored of the gym, others because we got tired of our lives being just work, party and pay the bills. Since then our lives haven't changed. But we changed, with yoga. You don't have to quit your job and go do yoga in Bali to discover happiness. You discover happiness within.
At ALTAR, we share with you what we've learned, things we wish we knew a few years ago. We learn to navigate life together, physically and spiritually. We escape the daily routine and come to ALTAR to move, sometimes very intensely, sometimes more gently. Sound, meditation and movement help us, all rooted in authentic yoga tradition, but adapted for the modern person, without diluting it. That's what we do at ALTAR. It also helps to have a community of teachers and friends who support each other. This is what makes life possible. Together, we are 10 times stronger. Together we encourage and support each other to take the leap or to jump over the criticism and comparisons of others, and our own incessant thoughts.
Every person will find something different at ALTAR, because yoga touches you exactly where you need it, and there is no common effect. Sometimes you don't even know what you need until you discover yoga... If you want something for yourself, if you want to be strong, if you want a ritual that belongs only to you, if you want to be calmer, more open physically and emotionally.
Whether you want to become stronger, create a routine, find your own place, or meet people you resonate with, make room for yourself. We already have. We're waiting for you at ALTAR, your soul space.
When she discovered you can sing at yoga, and especially that others feel better through mantras, Andra understood her parents weren't so wrong when they chose a career in violin and piano for her at age 6. Now she is deeply grateful to them. All her life, Andra was the different person (you could say weird), full of talent and constantly unsatisfied with life around her. Nothing was ever enough. If you look at Andra now, you wouldn't imagine she's the same person from 7 years ago. Yoga brought happiness and healing into her life, leaving behind habits, addictions, jealousy and selfishness. Yoga is serious business, it's above everything. You feel this when 30 minutes of kirtan have passed and your legs have gone soft, or after a good asana (posture) class, ideally with 20 handstands in it. Andra wishes to remain a humble yoga student, and a vessel through which the magic of these practices can reach others.
Andra started yoga with Marcus Veda in London, studied Rocket with David Kyle in Madrid, Ashtanga with Prem and Radha Carlisi in Bali and Vijay Kuamar in Mysore. She travels annually to India and the West participating in authentic spiritual retreats. She aspires to become a serious Bhakti Yoga practitioner. She is eternally grateful to her teacher H.H. Sacinandana Swami.
Andrei: big dreams, big heart, and many ideas competing in his head. With a background in banking and a passion for entrepreneurship, Andrei is the last person you'd expect to do yoga. But somehow yoga found him, and it became his life. Since then, he embarked on a journey that will last a lifetime: to continue discovering and deepening his yoga practice, and above all, to share yoga with others. Andrei dedicates almost every minute trying to share yoga - authentic, real, profound - with as many people as possible, because his biggest dream is to bring real change in others' lives and create a community based on authentic and beautiful values. Like a kind of Neverland...
Andrei studies yoga daily, traveling annually to India and attending spiritual retreats. He studied yoga asana and hatha at Yoga Vidya Gurukul, Ashtanga in Mysore, is the only authorized Jivamukti Yoga teacher, and currently aspires to become a serious Bhakti Yoga practitioner. Andrei is eternally grateful to his teacher H.H. Sacinandana Swami.
When Irene first stepped on her yoga mat, many of us weren't even born. That was in 1995. Irene started yoga in Romania, and continued in Mysore, India, where she studied with the Jois family for decades. She has been teaching Ashtanga for 20 years. Fun facts about Irene: for decades she did her personal practice at 4 AM, because Mysore classes start at 7, or 6. That's what we call dedication.
You can instantly see that Irene loves yoga, and does it from the heart, to help others, with no personal interest. She is a warm person, very wise and with a young soul. Irene followed meditation techniques from Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama's lineage, Gelugpa, and practiced Vipassana guided by S.N. Goenka. She is deeply influenced by her philosophy and chanting teachers from Mysore: Ranjini, Jayashree, and Lakshmisha.
Irene is the only authorized Ashtanga KPJYS teacher in Romania.
If you look at Sabrina's photos from 2016, you'll discover she was a truly great person ALWAYS. I mean, let's be serious, who has good photos in 2016??? Yoga is a personal thing. We attach to styles, to people, to personalities. Sabrina is the kind of person you love beyond words. And nowadays it's rare to find such a golden person. She's the classmate who always gives you her lunch from home and goes without food but it's ok because 'here, take this, you look a bit pale today'.
Sabrina discovered yoga in India in 2017, and not just yoga, but answers, directions and realizations that helped her live a life aligned with her authentic self. Since then Sabrina hasn't let a day pass without yoga, teaching hundreds of classes, constantly learning something new, and discovering that the depth of true things never ends. Sabrina is also an osteopathy specialist, but she won't throw around fancy bone names in class, because she has great sense and is a proper teacher.
