1) Name: Tanya Popovich
2) Lives in: Athens is my base, but I spend over half the year abroad teaching yoga.
3) From: Former Yugoslavia
4) Occupation/employer: I’m a yoga teacher and a founder of Swaha Yoga Center in Athens. Swaha opened its doors in 2011 and has become a lovely little community under the Acropolis.
5) First three jobs (ever!): I worked as a dancer for a long time both in Greece and abroad when I was a student. I studied Fine Arts and Design so after university I got a job as an art director in a relatively new media company. But then love for yoga took over, so teaching yoga was my third job and it is ever since. 🙂
6) Zodiac sign: Capricorn with Virgo ascendant and Libra moon
7) Enneagram Type: Type 5, the Investigator/Observer with a 4 wing
8) What you love about Athens or Greece in general: The people. I grew up in Greece for the most part so it feels like home more than any other place I have lived. My family is in Greece and most of my very close friends. Of course second to that would be the weather and the food!
9) Something most people don’t know about you
I am an open and honest person and what you see is what you get. I am pretty transparent too and I don’t mind sharing any aspect of my life. However due to a very busy travel schedule over the past few years I haven’t been able to spend as much time as I would like with the student body at Swaha, nor to make a lot of new friends in Athens.
10) Where we are most likely to find you in Lynn’s Kundalini Yoga (i.e. SUP Yoga, night yoga, etc.) Sunday mornings at Swaha!
11) First time you tried Kundalini Yoga (where/when/with whom) It was in India in 2003 but it was such long time ago i don’t remember the name of the teacher.
12) Anything else you’d like us to know?
Lots of things… 🙂
- I have a dog named Nilo, and he has been one of my greatest teachers!
- I love music, and you will always hear carefully selected playlists in my classes.
- Through yoga I try to teach my students to be open minded and not to get stuck on a method. Methods are means to a goal but not a goal in itself. At Swaha I try to communicate to my staff and teachers to develop yoga practicioners and not followers. This means that the teacher needs to educate the student about non-attachment to the teacher.
- When in Athens I teach weekly classes at Swaha and teacher trainings on the weekends. Next 200-hr Yoga Teacher Training in Athens starts on Oct. 7.
Anything else you’d like to know please find me at Swaha Yoga Center! I’ll be happy to chat! 