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Ilya Zhuravlev

Founder, Editor-in-Chief

Milky Way, Solar System

After I got a Master’s Degree in Philosophy at the Russian State Humanitarian University, I started teaching yoga, visiting India and spending a lot of time there.

My first yoga-teacher was Jayakumar Swamishri from Mysore. He taught in the tradition of Swami Kuvalayananda and Bangalore Yoga Institute, giving classes at the Indian Embassy in Moscow for several years. I started my practice with him in 1996. At the end of the 90’s I also started practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga with Igor Mededev and the seminars of Andrey Sidersky and Andrey Lappa, yoga teachers from Ukraine. In 1999 was one of the creators of Moscow Ashtanga Yoga Centre and became one of its leading teachers.

My first trip to India was in 2001. There I practiced in Morarji Desai National Yoga Institute in Delhi (Dhirendra Brahmachari’s school) under the personal supervision of Bal Mukund Singh. In the same year I continued the practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga in Mysore with BNS Iyengar (Bramatantra Parakala Mutt). It was in this hall on the second floor of Hayagriva Temple where Shri T. Krishnamacharya (BNS Iyengar’s teacher) taught in the 30’s. I also practiced Ashtanga Vinyasa with V.Sheshadri (Mysore Mandala Yogashala). Since then I have been visiting India every year, spending several months there. In 2003 I started studying at Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute and my teachers were Shri K. Patabhi Jois and Sharath.

In addition to this, I attended the classes of Yogacharya Gopala Krishna in Bangalore, classes in ashrams of Rishikesh (Yoga Niketan Ashram, Yogashala of Swami Samarpananda Saraswati from Bihar school) and Pondicherry (Swami Gitananda Ashram). I studied shatkarmas, pranayamas and meditation in the tradition of Sivananda Yoga with Doctor M. Madhavan (Vivekananda Yoga Therapy Institute, Tamil Nadu), who granted me a certificate in 2006. I accomplished a training course in Sivananda Yoga Ashram (2008, Neyar Dham, Kerala). I have participated in the intensive training courses by Shandor Remete (“Shadow Yoga”), Kali Ray (“Tri Yoga”), Gabriella Giubilaro (IyengarYoga), David Swenson (accomplished a certification course in 2010), Mark and Joan Darby (Canada), Andrey Lappa (teacher training course in 2004, “Universal Yoga”, intermediate level).

I am familiar with Tibetan styles of asana practice (Yantra Yoga in the tradition of Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, taught by Fabio Andrico; Trul Khor in the tradition of Yundrung Bon, taught by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche). I accomplished David Frowley’s course “Yoga and Ayurveda” (American Institute of Vedic Studies). I am practicing kriya yoga in the tradition of Lahiri Mahasai (taught by Shri Shailendra Sharma, Govardhan).

I train yoga teachers at AYC teacher training course, (International Yoga Federation standard since 2005). From 2003 to 2010 I was a Deputy Chief Editor of “Yoga” magazine (Moscow). In 2010 together with Maxim Yasochka we founded a new bilingual online journal “Wild Yogi”.

Webpage: mahadev108.com

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