About me

IN GIVING WE RECEIVE – but first we need to fill ourselves and our hearts with love. We need to feel our relationship with mother nature, with the universe, animals, and human beings – in essence, the love that is within everyone and everything. And the divine US will be knocking on the door from our inside.

My name is Sibel, and I spent my previous life as an unhealthy and unconscious workaholic. Today I leave my past behind. I am learning to live in the moment and to explore and experience the miracles of life. Time, experience, life is NOW!

Yoga. The first touch

I realized, that after many struggles and tough times, I felt empty, and I was continuously chasing after something just out of my grasp. I thought that changing jobs could be what would improve my feelings and self-worth, but this subconscious impulse was wrong. Through a dusty mirror of self reflection, I wasn’t able to see my true image, my worth. It didn’t come fast to figure out what I was really searching for, but there was something that was already burning deep inside of me. Something was knocking at the door within…

On a whim, I followed a recommendation and discovered Yoga in 2008. Someone told me that I needed to channel my energy into another direction, and to genuinely feel oneself, I should experience Yoga. So, I took my first classes and tried Bikram Yoga, Hot Yoga, Power Yoga, and even Restorative Yoga. I went in with little guidance, no explanation, no meditation, no breath work, no mindful talks, just 80 minutes of movements and a little relaxation at the end of the sessions. For me, it was just another trendy fitness experience and after a while I stopped these classes to continue to practice what I had learned on my own. 

Yoga. Becoming mine

When a close and beloved friend of mine became a Yoga teacher and gave her first lesson, I was able to participate in what was a mind blowing and completely new experience. I started to feel myself again. I remember tears streaming down my face after some intense poses. She touched my heart and I finally found the one to unlock that inner door and give me an understanding of Yoga. 

This was my turning point. 

My next step was an intense purification Yoga retreat in an ashram in the so-called Turkish Himalayas, and after completion, I decided to take the Yoga teacher training course as my next phase of development and realization.

Yoga. Transforming to teach

In August 2018 the inner voice got louder, and finally I was drawn to India. Six months later I arrived in Mumbai, capital city of Maharashtra, a state in the Western Coast of South India. 

Here is where I gratefully did my entire Yoga teacher training at GOVARDHAN ECO VILLAGE. It is a heavenly paradise full of compassion and love, and after receiving so much, I went back the same year to work as volunteer and deepen my knowledge in this beautiful discipline. This was – and still is! – the best decision that I have ever made. 

Since completing my training, I have continued the connection to my school, my teachers and their beautiful projects especially in service to my spiritual teacher, his holiness Maharaj Radhanath Swami, who is the founder of GOVARDHAN ECO VILLAGE.

Yoga. Finding wholeness

Since my first Yoga teacher training (YTTC), I strive to teach holistic Yoga with all my heart and passion. For me it’s not so much about touching toes, but rather it’s more about how I can touch my heart to the hearts of my students. I am deeply motivated to use that connection to access the potential of our souls to care deeply for all that is life. My classes are an artful blend of movement and stillness, strength and flexibility, breath and awareness. Each unique and deeply spiritual class inspires my students to unite body, mind, heart, soul and breath in the present moment, enhancing their well-being on and off the mat.

Yoga is not just about exercises and the perfect warrior pose or headstand. It is beyond and goes deeper into a mental and spiritual experience. When I wake up in the morning, my mind starts practicing Yoga and keeps doing it until I go to bed.  Every day, all day.

Yoga means UNITY

The word ‘Yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Yuj’ which basically means to connect at least 2 things:

breath & awareness

body & nature

body & body

body & mind 

body, Self & Thoughts

heart, mind & soul

Discovering and understanding Yoga in its originality and wholeness was literally a way to open my heart and mind, and this made it clear to me that I needed to give back and to share my experiences and skills. My next progression was completing further training in psychotherapeutic education and ayurveda lifestyle coaching to deepen my coaching qualities beyond the Yoga mat. To diversify and broaden my approaches, I’m trained in the use of aroma therapy, crystal and sound healing, some types of shamanism work like aura / chakra reading, balancing and energy healing. 

Now I’m ready to learn more. 

Knowledge with compassion and passion is my everything. 

I will forever be a student ‘cause there is so much more to learn in life.