HI! I'm

NINA

NINA VERESHCHAGINA

MY YOGA JOURNEY

From a young age, yoga was part of my life, as both my parents practiced it. As a child, I viewed it as a way to bond and share moments with them, something fun to dabble in. My main focus was first on gymnastics and then in acrobatic dance with other kids. Even though I had the chance to visit Indian ashrams twice as a child, I didn't fully grasp the deep meaning of yoga at that time. To me, those trips were more like family vacations. However, they left an indelible mark on my thinking and set the stage for my future journey with yoga.

Interestingly, a renowned yoga instructor, Vijay Omar, is a close friend and an important person in my family. It was so natural for me to have him visit our home in Kazakhstan as well as the fact that my parents were organizing 10-day intensives with Vijay for the local yogi community twice a year. It was only as I grew older that I came to value each class and was able to appreciate the opportunity my parents provided.

Even though the seeds of yogic thinking had been planted early, it wasn't until I turned 17 that I truly dived into the profound aspects of yoga beyond the physical postures. During my first year of bachelor's studies, I started offering free yoga classes to fellow students, and this was the point where I realized that yoga had become a constant and essential part of my life.

I took my passion for sharing yoga with me when I embarked on an exchange semester in Italy and France, consistently organizing free classes for students wherever I went. Finally, in April 2022, I went to the Himalayas, specifically to Mcleodganj, to pursue official yoga instructor training from famous yoga guru Vijay Omar. This experience was transformative, as it encompassed not just Ashtanga yoga, but also various disciplines including pranayama, meditation, nidra yoga, yoga philosophy, the history of yoga, and the anatomy of yoga. It was an intense and invaluable course.

Upon completing this training, I also officially registered my certificate with the American Alliance of Yoga. However, I firmly believe that the heart of yoga lies not in certificates or famous gurus' names but in the journey of self-discovery. As much as yoga isn't a dynamic sequence of powerful asanas, it is not a prescribed doctrine. The only way to truly grasp its essence is to practice, to experience, to embrace pranayama, to meditate, to observe these internal transformations.

As a yogi, I believe that any attempt to explain the world by creating a paradigm is an acknowledgment that absolute truth remains elusive. Thus, let's enjoy together the beautiful journey of self-discovery together – through the practice of yoga.