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Yoga, mindfulness, meditation, healing energy work and various healing modalities have always fascinated me. I strongly believe in the wisdom of Eastern disciplines and the self healing power within us. My passion for sharing what I learn through my yoga journey has guided me to support my clients, students, friends and family throughout their healing and transformative journeys.

My Yogic Path

• My holistic wellness journey began in 2000, during the recovery period of a sports accident that caused me a severe spinal fracture when I was 26 years old. This injury-and the healing process-was a transformational turning point towards my own holistic wellness. After full recovery, I become a disciplined yoga & meditation practitioner and a certified yoga and mindfulness instructor.

• In 2000, the first training I took was the powerful healing energy work: Reiki. Later, I began to explore various spiritual paths and other energy healing modalities, which led me to yoga. I started practicing yoga, ​to help with my lower back pain, cope with stress and emotional regulation while I was working full time as a corporate relations consultant in Istanbul.

• In 2004, I completed my first yoga teacher training (vyasa-Vivekananda Yoga Therapy University). I was given the name "Divya" by my teacher, meaning 'divine power'. After my training, I volunteered to work as a teacher assistant for Vyasa YICC for two years and then I started to work at several yoga studios in Istanbul. In the meantime, I began teaching yoga to children of all age groups at schools, creating the first children's yoga program and the first kids' yoga website in Turkey, the 'yOgaMini Project'.

• After moving to South Africa with my husband and daughter, I came across the Tibetian Buddhist lineage, Shambhala (shambhala.org) at a Buddhist Retreat Center and I decided to pursue my mindfulness & meditation trainings with Shambhala. I have been following the Tibetan Buddhist Shambhala lineage for more than a decade now. Upon completion of several trainings at Shambhala centers in South Africa, USA, The Netherlands and France with this lineage for over 10 years, I received the special Shambhala name 'Good Awake Sunlight'.

• In 2008, I published a Turkish children's yoga book called 'Lotus Çiçekleri-yOgaMini Projesi' and donated the earnings of my book to support children's education in a public school in Malawi.

• Upon moving back to Turkey, I co-founded a yoga studio with my colleague in Izmir. I also started teaching yoga & mindfulness group classes, prenatal yoga and mom & baby yoga at my YogaDivya home studio. 2 years later, I moved back to Istanbul and next to offering yoga & mindfulness at my home yoga studio, I started giving private yoga therapy sessions for clients with various ailments and chronic conditions (MS, scoliosis, chronic lower back pain, herniated disc issues, ADD, depression, anxiety, panic attack, fibromyalgia, adrenal fatigue and burnout).

• Between the years 2011-2017; I completed Paul & Suzee Grilley’s Yin Yoga Teacher Training and Yoga Thai massage Level I-II and Level III certification trainings in The Netherlands & Thailand. I received Wellness Coaching certification training from NESTA Spencer Institute, USA  and in 2017, I founded my company 'Holistic Wellness' in The Netherlands. 

• Between 2021-2023, I completed the online training programs: "Essentials of Energy Medicine" with Donna Eden, "Traditional Chinese Medicine Yoga Teacher Trainings" with Yoga Medicine and "Healing with Yin" Training with Yin Medicine School and started to integrate the teachings of Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupressure points into my Holistic Wellness programs.

• I am an avid Karma yoga practitioner and actively participate in various Seva/volunteer yoga projects since 1998 in Turkey, South Africa, Malawi, The Netherlands and India, especially regarding children's and teens' health & education.  I attended several seminars and workshops regarding trauma-sensitive yoga and taught 'Recovery Yoga' classes for addiction at a recovery center in Amsterdam for three years. I took part in Karma yoga projects such as; delivering medicine to Himalayan villages and volunteering as a yoga teacher in Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, India.  Click here to find more about my Seva work and volunteer projects. 

• I have organized several yoga, meditation, breathing techniques, coaching and Yoga Nidra workshops and wrote more than 40 articles (mostly in Turkish) about my travels, yoga, mindfulness, Thai massage, meditation and also sailing that can be found in my website: YogaDivya.net . Some of these were published in Turkish magazines such as Yelken Dünyası, Trendsetter, Tempo and in the digital yoga magazine 'Yoga Dergisi'.

• Throughout the years, I have attended various yoga, meditation, mindfulness, energy medicine, qigong, somatic experiencing, trauma and healing related courses, traditional Chinese medicine trainings, International yoga conferences, workshops and retreats with world-renowned teachers, such as Sarah Powers, Paul Grilley, Cyndi Lee, Seane Corn, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Mooji, Peter Levine, Lee Holden, Donna Eden, Farrah Garan and Tiffany Cruikshank. Click here to find more information about the education/trainings that I have attended. 

• I currently reside in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands and I offer online group & private yoga classes and various Holistic Wellness programs.

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You can find more information

about me (in Turkish) and my articles at  yogaDivya.net

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