Maya

From early childhood I sensed a contrast between my outer reality and my inner feelings of fullness and colors of life. I spent nearly 10 years of my childhood in hospitals. This became my biggest motivation to start my personal development; my spiritual seeking. In order to heal and strengthen my body, I started meditating, doing different practices and I also did physical exercises such as running and stretching. Sickness motivated me to take responsibility for my life and my body and to start the process of self-healing. Also, I was supported by stories about my great-grand mother, who was a healer and very spiritual person.

When I was 18 years old, my grand mother became sick and I felt a strong desire in me to help her so I started learning different methods of energy healing. I went to many workshops on bio-energy and body healing, which were given in Kaliningrad. Gradually, I recovered my body’s health and was also helping other people. Later on my journey took me to different techniques of massage, I also received transmission of reiki and actively practiced all the knowledge I received.

Since my early childhood I was receiving information through dreams, which opened my vision. I was receiving recalls from past lives, which were very real, even though I couldn’t understand what they meant at the time. It required much time to learn how to live with this quality of vision. These memories pushed me to observe and listen to myself and outward things, to search for my Path, my connection with Masters and their teachings and my mission in life. I was searching for answers – “Why am I here? Why did I come here?

Simultaneously, with spiritual abilities, creative abilities also opened up. My bright feeling of color and beauty of forms brought me to painting. My need for painting was so strong, that after graduating from Kaliningrad art school, I went to Moscow and entered the Arts faculty of Pedagogic institute. This was a time of dedication to perceiving life through the combination of colors and I was opening to new levels of existence.

Once, during my studies at the Institute, I saw an announcement about a meeting with lama Ole Nidal, and I had a strong urge to attend. I was surprised at my recognition as I sensed thatI had been waiting for this meeting for a long time, as if I was one of the family with Ole Nidal. At this meeting I was invited to the retreat with Namkai Norbu Rinpoche, the enlightened teacher of Dzogchen. From that moment on Dzogchen became an integrated support for me in life, and Namkai Norbu – my main teacher.

One of the strongest meetings in my life was with sufi master Zahira, with whom I spent 14 years. She gave me huge experiences of love, life wisdom, and the spiritual path. Through Zahira, and her way of celebrating life, creativity and music, I entered Dance. During this period I opened for myself various forms of dance. I traveled to learn dance at different festivals around the world.This experience gave me a strong feeling of the body and feeling myself in different capacities. Through dance I saw how creativity, spirituality and body practices are united in one Path.

During this same period, I started learning tantra and am very grateful to my teachers Surabi, Punit and Anand, who gave me a deep and beautiful knowledge about the male and female nature. Also, I felt the presence of master Osho through his books and practices. His wisdom greatly influenced me.

The aspiration to understand myself more deeply brought me to India. I continued practicing, dancing and travelling. Since youth, dance was a natural part of my life. I had been dancing a lot before that – flamenco, tango, contemporary, African dance and Contact improvisation. I was travelling in different countries and to dance festivals around the world. My dance experiences helped me to connect to the female nature; the female vibration through movement. And this became another step on my path.

Looking now at my life, I see that I have met beautiful people on my Path, visited different cities and countries, and every meeting, every new place influenced me. They became like seeds in my soul and after they were all connected, they grew and became embodied in my work, which I am doing now.This is the knowledge, which I am sharing. All these meetings formed me, became the reason for my movement and development. And this process is still continuing. I continue exploring life and myself with grea tinterest and gratitude.