Hikaru began seriously studying Yoga in 2001 after having her mountain bike stolen from her. At that point, mountain biking was Hikaru’s passion. Having her prized bike taken away so quickly and easily made her think that it would be better to focus her energies on something that she could do without external equipment. Just following the theft, she was introduced to her first teacher, Josi Vallicherry. Josi’s dynamic, individualistic teaching methods combined with focus on consistent private practice, introduced Hikaru to the powerful essence of yoga discipline.
After two years of continuous practice with different teachers in various Hatha traditions, Hikaru began teaching yoga one on one to share her experience as a Yogini. She gained valuable insight from the close interactions with her students and continues to learn and expand in her own practice through this experience of sharing with others. Hikaru has also recently done extensive study at with Francois Chaillou in the Sivananda hatha tradition. Hikaru also holds a teaching certification in The sivananda yoga tradition, and holds specialzed workshops regularly.
Before getting seriously involved with yoga, Hikaru was taken under the wing of fashion designer Issey Miyake. She worked at his office daily as a fitting model, and through that association, her career as a fashion model blossomed. She went on to do extensive work on runways, in magazine editorials and advertising campaigns both in Japan and internationally.
Hikaru has studied music from a young age and graduated with a degree in music from the classical music department of Nihon University. Hikaru regularly performs at galleries and clubs, and has performed in connection with charities and fair trade organizations. Ecology has also become a part of Hikaru’s life and she often works in helping fair trade and ecological promotions.
She incorporates her rounded life experiences along with having studied various traditions of Hatha yoga with a caring approach to teaching, hoping to help others discover the true transformative effects of Yoga.
See Hikaru’s website for up-to-date info on her activities as a teacher and writer!
