The Founder & the team
Founder ,Yogini, Dancer
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Maya Swati Devi (Monica) was born in Vinci, Leonardo's da Vinci birthplace, near Florence,TUSCANY, Italy, on the 20th of October , under the star sign of Libra.
Since her childhood she always been attracted to mystical and spiritual path, transmitted by her grand mother of spanish and nomadic origin. At the age of 14 she read the Bhagavad Gita, and this book opened the doors for the most mystical journey in her life: INDIA.
S T U D I E S
She is graduated at the most famous institute of Art in Florence, with a Laurea in History of Art and Costume design at the UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE, Italy, a Master at the Central Saint Martins in London .
From 2014 till 2017, she studied INDOLOGY and SANSKRIT at the MILAN UNIVERSITY of STUDIES , VEDIC ASTROLOGY with Dr. David Frawley vedic studies school, She has a degree in HOLISTIC PSYCHOLOGY and AYURVEDA.
W O R K E X P E R I E N C E S
From 1994 till 2005 , Maya worked in the Fashion world as Designer for luxury brands in Italy, London, Usa, Spain, Paris, Turkey, and in the film industry as Costume designer She lived in London, Paris, Hong Kong, New York. Her real passion for Eastern culture leaded her to explore and travel to Asia frequently.
She traveled to India, for the first time in 1996, and since then she always returned. In 2000 the encounter with a real Indian Tantric Guru transformed her life completely. Since 2007 Maya dedicates herself to spreading indian culture and yoga in Italy and abroad.
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TANTRA YOGA
Maya is Yogini of the Kaula and Shakta lineages ,founder of DEVI TANTRA YOGA , in 2007, the only traditional Tantric yoga school in Italy recognized by YOGA ALLIANCE.Author of the book “The tantric dancer”, published in italian in 2016 and traslated in english as e-book.
Maya was initiated in 2000 to the Kaula lineage by Swami Shri Anand Guptananda during her long stay in the Himalayan mountains in India.
In 2007 , in Tamil Nadu, Maya met her second living Master Swami Eswaran who initiated her to the Shakta path.
In 2014 she became a TRADITIONAL TANTRIC YOGA RYS 500 Yoga Alliance certified teacher under the guidance of Shri Bhagawan Natha from the Kaula Trika lineage.
She studied Sanskirt and Kashmiri Shivaism with professor Mark Dyzcowsky, disciple of Swani Laksmanoo and teacher at Benares university, India.
She is devote of Devi, in the form of Durga Ma, and she teaches the DIVINE FEMININE to women, helping them to understand their femininity through sakti circles and secret ancient practices of tantric yogini.
Maya is committed to spread TRADITIONAL TANTRISM in Italy and abroad, through courses and teacher trainings.
As Traditional tantric yoga teacher she participated in the main YOGA FESTIVAL ITALY since 2010, as Yoga Acharya, and in many holistic festivals in Italy and Europe.
In India she was invited in the INTERNATIONAL YOGA FESTIVAL in Rishikesh.
Since 2008 she organizes spiritual retreats & tours in India and Indonesia for groups of her students, and she is one of the few Western Tantra teachers invited to present workshops and Satsangs in India.She is been teaching in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Goa, Rishikesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Rajasthan (Jaipur, Udaipur), Delhi, Mumbai.
She collaborates with many yoga magazines such as: YOGA JOURNAL Italy, Vivere lo yoga, Funny Vegan, Yoga Alliance online magazine.
FOR FURTHER INFO: www.devitantrayoga.com
D A N C E
Recognized CID UNESCO, international dance council, Dancer and teacher of Kathak, Kalbeliya Rajasthani dance, Sufi Qawwali dance.
Her journey in dance started at the age of 8 and took her to an infinite life learning experience.
She learned Khatak with Guru Pandit Arjun Mishra in Lucknow, Pandit Birju Maharaj's eldest disciple and met her present Guru Anurekha Ghosh in Kolkata. She studied mystical Sufi Qawwali dance with spiritual Masters in Ajmer, Rajasthan.
In her dance career she performed in front of celebrities , Guru and royal families including: Amithabh Bachchan ( the Bollywood Star) , Indian Consul Mr. S.K. Verma, Director of incredible India, the Italian consul in New Delhi , the Maharaja of Udaipur Sri Arvind Singh from whom she received the prestigious ARVIND SHAHI recognition, as Ambassador of Indian culture in Italy , in 2013.
In 2011 and 2012 she was invited to perform in front of the hugging mother, Amritananda mayi,
In 2017 she celebrated the 10th year of her dance career at the Indian Consulate in Milan, and awarded by the General Consul , Mr. Singh , as one of the most important exponent of Indian culture in Italy.
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L I F E S T Y L E Maya is vegan (Sattvic pure veg) since 1994 and she only uses natural remedies and ayurveda medicine.
L A N G U A G E S
ITALIAN (mother tongue) , ENGLISH, SPANISH, Basic FRENCH, SANSKRIT (yoga knowledge), Hindi (speaking knowledge).
M O T T O “I wasn't born in India, India was born in me”
WEBSITE: https://en.devitantrayoga.com
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WHAT THEY SAY
ABOUT MAYA SWATI DEVI
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GIULIA BORIOLI-Director of Yoga Festival Italia
"The first impression one gets of Maya, meeting her for the first time, is that she has more than one life to tell. Her walk, harmonious and decisive, her proud, almost warrior bearing seem to tell of many existences: dancer, yogini, tantric, there are many aspects of Indian art and thought on which she worked for many years. So I was not surprised that she decided to write down in her book "The Tantric dancer" her personal experiences in this life, that concern her being a woman, her feminine energy, the value of the feminine but that has nothing to do with that sort of seduction, so fashionable today and practiced by many women looking for something. Her passion for Yoga and dance is contagious, it draws you into a spicy and poetic world that is hard to resist.
Maya is a true teacher: she has learned from true teachers what she knows, following a deep and never finished initiatory path: she loves to pass on to those who love to learn, she takes seriously every opportunity to teach, try, experiment, take risks. And this book is a dream in her life and in her knowledge, a journey that can also awaken that inner Goddess that she sees in all of us, protagonists in the world ".
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GUIDO GABRIELLI - Director of Yoga Journal Italia
"Maya Swati Devi, teacher of Tantra Yoga, is a strong supporter of the modernity of the tantric approach to life. Not for the easy popular illusion linked to tantric sex, but for its profound meaning of total adherence to life in all its manifestations , physical and spiritual. She herself says: Nothing is more magnificently creative and meditative than a sacred act of love. In that moment we understand that we are not alone and that we are one with the macrocosm "
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ROBERTO MILLETTI - Founder of Odaka Yoga
"Its value is to fix one's own experience in words. Lived as an experiential practice translates into words that express beauty, poetry, looking for the implied message and not the one explained. Maya Devi, a woman, a Yogini, a dancer, a living Goddess, whose form finds its rightful place after the essential has been grasped. Nothing needs to be explained when you observe Maya expressing herself with the musical instrument par excellence, the body: the unmistakable notes of the music of the soul
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