ONE DAY I'M GONNA GROW WINGS.
This should have been the about us section.
But it's more about you.
That's why we're here. Because we were just like you. We were looking for something, more. Some of us came to yoga because we got bored with the gym, others because we got tired of our lives being just work, party and pay the bills. Our lives haven't changed since then. But we have changed, with yoga. You don't necessarily have to quit your job and do yoga in Bali to find happiness. Happiness is found within.
At ALTAR, we share with you what we have learned, things we wish we had known a few years ago. We learn to navigate life together, physically and spiritually. We escape the daily routine and come to ALTAR to move, either very intensely or more easily. We are helped by sound, meditation and movement, all anchored in the authentic yoga tradition, but adapted for the modern man, without diluting it. That's what we do at ALTAR. It also helps us 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 jump in the head or to jump over the criticism and comparisons of others, and our 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 did. We are waiting for you at ALTAR, your soul space.
Our A Team
We put our heart and soul into our practice and our relationships with everyone around us. Somehow we found ourselves, a group of attentive and caring people (some of us are late or forget things - but we love each other the way we are!), who give and let go, and are happy when they make others happy. The greatest happiness for us is to share yoga with you, and to be with you on your journey to a healthy and happy life!
Other
When she discovered that yoga can be sung, and especially that others feel better with the help of mantras, Andra understood that her parents were not so wrong when they chose a career in violin and piano for her at the age of 6. Now she is deeply grateful to them. All her life, Andra has been a different person (you could say strange), full of talent and constantly dissatisfied with the life around her. Nothing was enough. If you look at Andra now, you would not imagine that she is the same person she was 7 years ago. Yoga has brought happiness and healing to her life, leaving behind habits, addictions, jealousy and selfishness. Yoga is serious business, it is above all. You feel it when 30 minutes of kirtan have passed and your feet have softened, or after a good asana (posture) class, ideally with 20 handstands in it. Andra wants to remain a modest yoga student, and a vessel through which the magic of these practices can reach others.
Andra began 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 HH Sacinandana Swami.
Andrew
Andrei: big dreams, a big heart, and many ideas competing in his head. With a background as a banker and a passion for entrepreneurship, Andrei is the last person you would expect to do yoga. But somehow yoga found him, and it became his life. Since then, he has embarked on a journey that will last a lifetime: to continue discovering and deepening his yoga practice, and especially, 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 to the lives of others and to create a community based on authentic and beautiful values. Like a kind of Neverland...
Andrei studies yoga daily, traveling to India annually and participating in spiritual retreats. He studied asana and hatha yoga at Yoga Vidya Gurukul, Ashtanga in Mysore, is the only authorized teacher of Jivamukti Yoga, and currently aspires to become a serious Bhakti Yoga practitioner. Andrei is eternally grateful to his teacher HH Sacinandana Swami.
Irene
When Irene first stepped onto her yoga mat, many of us weren't even born yet. 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 in the morning, because Mysore classes start at 7, or 6. That's what we call dedication.
It is immediately apparent that Irene loves yoga, and does it from the heart, to help others, without any personal interest. She is a warm person, very wise and with a young soul. Irene has followed the meditation techniques of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama's lineage, Gelugpa, and practiced Vipassana guided by SN 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.
Sabrina
If you look at Sabrina's photos from 2016, you'll discover that she was a really cool person ALWAYS. I mean, seriously, who has cool photos in 2016??? Yoga is a personal thing. We get attached to styles, people, personalities. Sabrina is the kind of person you love beyond words. And these days it's rare to find such a golden person. She's the classmate from school who always gives you her lunch and runs out of food but it's okay because 'you look a little 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 has never let a day go by without yoga, teaching hundreds of classes, constantly learning something new, and discovering that the depth of true things never ends. Sabrina is also an osteopath, but she won't say hard names in her classes, because she has a lot of common sense and is a great teacher.