SHRI GAIA YOGA INSTITUTE
Conscious Evolution through Movement and Stillness
Shri Gaia Yoga Institute aims at raising the awareness through mind, body and spirit practices. With the ancient science of Yoga at its core, Shri Gaia focuses on conscious evolution through movement and stillness.
Exploring and observing the movement of patterns of thought, emotion, breath and body, and then our environment and our connection to it, we can validate the interconnectedness, creativity, potential and abundance of existence, using these movements to our advantage. With this in mind we train our students and clients, whether they are aspiring yoga teachers or already leaders in their field.
The transformative learning experiences at Shri Gaia Yoga Institute are designed to develop effective, skillful and inspirational leaders and teachers. Our training programs are directed by Tanya Savitri Popovich, Certified Yoga Teacher with a 20 year yoga experience and Leadership Coach with a 10 year corporate coaching experience..
Shri Gaia Yoga Institute is an education provider specializing in body and mind practices, namely Yoga Teacher Training and Leadership Programs.
MEET OUR
EXPERIENCED CERTIFIED TEACHERS
TANYA POPOVICH
TANYA SAVITRI POPOVICH
Tanya is a certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher, Yoga Alliance ERYT-500, and Yoga Acharya (Master of Yoga) in classical Sivananda Yoga tradition.
She started her meditation practice at the age of 14 through Transcendental Meditation.
Her 20 years of experience practicing and 17 years of teaching Yoga includes numerable yoga trainings in classical and modern styles of yoga, and long stays at Yoga Ashrams across India.
For the past 16 years Tanya teaches yoga internationally including 200-hr and 500-hr Yoga Alliance certified educational programs, Yin Yoga and Aerial Yoga training programs, Breathwork and Meditation trainings, Vedanta philosophy, workshops, seminars and cultural retreats.
- Swaha Yoga Center founder
- Shri Gaia Institute founder and Yoga Teacher Training director
- Yin Resonanceâ Yin Yoga Teacher Training founder
- Uplift Another – refugee scholarship program and Trauma Informed Teacher Training program founder
- Swaha Aerial Yoga founder
International teaching experience
- Greece 2004 – present, various locations
- USA, New York 2010, various locations
- India 2011 – present, various locations
- Cyprus, Nicosia 2012 – 2018 Akasha Yoga Center
- Costa Rica, Nosara 2013 various locations
- USA, Murfreesboro 2014 Yoga Nest
- Germany, Munich 2014 – 2015
- Jivamukti Yoga Schwabing, Patrick Broome Yoga Studios
- Indonesia, Bali 2015 – present, various locations
- Jordan, Amman 2015 Yoga Jordan
- Turkey, Istanbul 2015 Maya Yoga
- Helsinki, Finland 2015 – 2017 Hima Happiness
- Malaysia, Johor 2016 Peace Studio
- USA, Los Angeles 2016 various locations
- USA, Miami 2016 various locations
- Taiwan, Taipei 2017 Yoga Journey
- Tasmania, Saint Helen’s 2019 Gallery Parnella
- Australia, Melbourne 2019, Bendigo Yoga Festival
LEADERSHIP COACHING
From 2010 onwards Tanya works alongside Barbara Duchow and Stage Directors with executive managers as a leadership coach / consultant in individual and group settings.
Her focus is on leadership through body and mind practices, namely Body-Mind Centering, Breathwork, Creating Presence through Alignment, Awareness in Communication and Leadership, Stress Management, Change Management, Increasing Productivity and Concentration, and Creativity Training.
She uses her deep knowledge of body/mind connection through Yoga, Meditation, Breath-work, RTT (Hypnosis, NLP and Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy) to provide coaching in challenging leadership positions.
Consulting and Leadership Coaching Experience
- Evonik, Frankfurt, 2010 – present
- Thales Group, Paris 2014 – present
- ON., Hamburg, 2015 – present
- Management Circle, V.I.E.L, Airbus Group (AC in Cooperation with Kienbaum Management Consultant GmbH), Toulouse – Hamburg – Munich – Ibiza, 2016 – present
Other
- B.A. in Fine Arts
- M.A. in Indigenous Studies, Storytelling and Myth
- RTT Therapist (certification pending)
- Degree in Sound Healing
- Rites of Passage Initiate
- Shamanic Journeying through Dance and Breath fascilitator
PORTIA LEIGH
PORTIA LEIGH
She began practicing yoga over a decade ago and she completed her 200 HR Hatha & Vinyasa YTT led by Tanya Popovich in 2016.
She’s travelled the world teaching yoga in Greece, Florida, Los Angeles, Mexico, Bali, Sri Lanka and India. In 2018 she completed another 200hr training with Shri Gaia Institute in Bali.
Since then she’s co-taught alongside Tanya on several 200hr teacher trainings.
She is passionate about meditation, yin and the power of connecting the mind, body and spirit with the breath as a vehicle for achieving a balanced and harmonious state of living.
BRANA MALCOVATI
BRANA MALCOVATI
Branislava is an E-RYT 500 with experience in Hatha, Vinyasa, Prenatal and Yin Yoga, with over 1000 hours of yogic education.
She is passionate about human anatomy and its practical application in yoga.
Her yoga journey started over a decade ago which led her to study it on a deeper level.
She finished her 200 hrs teacher training in classical Hatha Yoga in 2013 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Continuing her research within yoga alongside an interest in the exploration of other styles brought her to Greece, where she finished her 300 hrs Advanced Yoga Teacher Training with Tanya Popovich and Shri Gaia Institute in 2018.
Being fascinated with the human body in general, Branislava finished specialised courses in applied anatomy with Simon Borg-Olivier and David Keil. Besides anatomy, her great passion is Yin Yoga, Pranayama, and Meditation.
Outside the yoga world, she is interested in languages, the human body, and physical exercise of all kinds.
PETRA FLORIAN
PETRA FLORIAN
Petra is a certified RYT500 Hatha, Vinyasa and Yin yoga teacher with over 1000 hours of training. Professionally she is rooted in teaching languages and with an extensive background in traveling and exploring, she went into an exploration of the self and started her personal yoga journey in 2014.
Looking to dive deeper beyond the physical practice, she took her first yoga teacher training in Hatha and Vinyasa in Bali.
From there exploring many different styles and practices around the globe such as classical Sivananda, Jivamukti, Ashtanga, Anusara, Acro and Yin Yoga, as well as various meditation techniques, she decided to complete her 300hr Advanced Training with Shri Gaia Institute, continued regular formation with them, and she is proud to be a part of the teaching community.
Her experiences as a massage therapist, her studies in Ayurveda and mindfulness and the knowledge that comes from this are embedded in her classes.
Her yoga flows are themed around topics and areas connected to our outer and inner wellbeing.
Being deeply intertwined with traditional yoga philosophy, she loves to apply ancient wisdom to our modern lives in an understandable way.
MELINA GALE
MELINA GALE
Melina turned to yoga at a young age of 15 to help cope with and overcome childhood traumas and chronic anxiety.
Yoga, meditation, movement, writing, self study and self expression helped her so much that she felt a calling to spread this knowledge with as many people as possible.
Since Completing her first 200hr Yoga Teacher Training in Thailand in 2014 she has gone on to study and get certified in various styles of yoga and movement such as Aerial Yoga, Prenatal & Postnatal Yoga, Yin Yoga, Bungee fitness, etc.
She organizes and facilitates in teaching workshops, yoga retreats and yoga teacher trainings around the world to a global community, integrating all of the various methods she has learned from.
She has been teaching for Shri Gaia Institute since 2016 and assistant teaching on their teacher trainings in India and Greece.
Her classes are vigorous, fun and playful. Melina also teaches Pre & Post Natal Yoga Teacher Trainings at Shri Gaia Institute.
SISSY FRAGIADAKI
SISSY FRAGIADAKI
Sissy Fragkiadaki was trained in Hatha Vinyasa Yoga and Aerial Yoga by Tanya Popovich, owner of Shri Gaia Institute, and she has been teaching Yoga for 11 years and Aerial Yoga for 10 years.
Few years ago she started teaching as an assistant trainer in Hatha Vinyasa and Aerial Yoga Teacher Trainings for Shri Gaia Institute. She is the founder and owner of “The Social Yogis Project“ which was one of the most well known studios in Greece.
In addition, Sissy is trained in Chinese Medicine, lymphatic drainage, massage, and cupping in the Academy of Chinese Medicine in Athens. As a neurodivergent person Sissy works on raising awareness for ADHD and autism, and she is an ambassador for ADHD HELLAS.
Her work includes classes, workshops, seminars and retreats on:
-Yoga and ADHD
-Moving meditation for people with ADHD
-Anatomy, Injuries and Recovery
-Lymphatic system and self-drainage
Sissy teaches in both English and Greek depending on the audience.
ANASTASIA LELI
ANASTASIA LELI
Anastasia is a certified RYT500 Hatha, Vinyasa Krama and Therapeutic Yoga Teacher, and has completed her training with Marita Mittag. Her training was based on teaching system of Srivatsa Ramaswami and Ashtanga Yoga, resulting her lessons and her teaching style to be a combination of above. Her personal yoga journey started in 2013 as a practitioner, while she started teaching yoga in 2015.
In 2016 she completed the certification in Swaha Aerial Yoga and as she wanted to go deeper in Aerial Yoga she completed the certification in Unnata® Aerial Yoga in 2017, both thought by Tanya Popovich at Shri Gaia Institute. Anastasia’s classes are dynamic as she combines flows from dynamic styles of yoga or fitness such as flexibility and strengthening, using her knowledge in gymnastics and fitness as well.
She organises Pranayama, Arm Balancing, Handstand and Aerial Tricks and Flips workshops.
She is proud to be part of teaching community of Shri Gaia Institute.
NICOLDIA KATSARI
NICOLDIA KATSARI
Nicoldia grew up in the countryside of Greece. From a young age she was drown to mysticism, eastern philosophy andculture. As a kid and teenager, she has always been active, doing lots of sports and movement.
In 2008 she started yoga and never stopped. She graduated the 200h Hatha YTTC and started teaching right away in yoga studios in Athens, Greece. She traveled to Thailand, USA and India to practice and teach yoga and meditation with her favorite teachers. She is trained in Vinyasa, Hatha, Anusara, Yin, Aerial and Alignment-based Yoga. Following her intuition, in 2019 she moved to Bali to lead Yoga Teacher Trainings for a yoga school in Ubud, training students from all over the world.
Her teaching style combines breath awareness with movement, creative flows and advanced dynamic asana practices. She embraces the “modern yogi” lifestyle, that combines western style with eastern origins. She loves singing, painting and reading. As a yogi, she believes that light and vibration is our guidance to liberate and drive a happy life.
She is certified in Basi Pilates Mat and equipment, that gave her a greater understanding on body mechanics, therapy and mobility. She teaches Pilates as a way to strengthen and align the body, create physical awareness and live a pain free life.
UNA PANG
UNA PANG
Following her advanced training, Una continued on to train in Aerial and Yin Yoga, she completed the Advanced Yoga Wheel training, Singing Bowl Sound Healing and Therapy training with Swami Chaitanya Krishna and Ayurveda Massage training, all while keeping her teaching practice in Hong Kong.
Una’s extensive training and experience, as well as the yoga philosophy that is in line with her own values, make her a highly sought-after yoga teacher in Hong Kong, and more recently she is on the teaching faculty of Shri Gaia Institute.
