Originally from Ibaragi, Japan, Yumiko played in various indies rock bands as a base player since her early 20s, after she has finished her work has a copywriter. Her experience with music was very profound and brought her into a clear understanding of her full potential. Throughout her early experiences as an active musician, she yearned to cultivate her creative energy outside of the musical practice. She felt the need to take more care of her physical body, and started searching for a way to integrate that into her experiential life process. She later discovered yoga.
In her childhood, Yumiko’s first glimpse of yoga was in a book she found at her parents house. In her Mid-twenties she attended her first Yoga Class at a fitness club. That experience however left her feeling that Yoga was just much like any other sort of exercise programs that Fitness clubs offered.
Upon a visit to the United States, she attended a traditional native Indian ceremony called sundance (ceremony of sacrifice and devotion for the earth, where the dancer dances 4 days non-stop without eating). She was deeply moved by the power of praying in the ceremony and experienced revelations, which inspired a unification of the mind body and spirit. Once again, the word “yoga” intuitively surfaced as a result. After returning to Tokyo she began intensive study in Sivananda and free hatha yoga. She later went on to complete an intensive teacher training at the Sivananda Ashram in Woodbourne, New York, USA. Furthermore, she has completed an Advanced Teacher Training at the Sivananda Ashram in Kerara, India and has become an acharya.
Yumiko integrates her yoga experience with her musical passion, and presently pursues study in Jazz-fusion and improvisation in music. She often spends a lot of her free time in nature, fascinated by it’s simplicity and beauty!
Yumiko takes great inspiration from a fusion of mediation, philosophy, pranayama and asana in her practice. In her teaching she encourages the deep relaxing meditative aspects of the physical practice to lead students to peace of mind and balance. She also connects her experience as a musician to Bajan, and pursues a different way to express her soul apart from hatha yoga. She believes that yoga is devotion, a form of praying, and wants to share the yoga experience in a way that promote a happy and fulfilling lifestyle.
