Sanna Kokkonen’s interest in yoga and movement developed over thirty years in three phases.
“Everything of value has been taught to you by someone else”
LAMA MARUT
It all started with a book some 40 years ago. As a young girl in
1983, Sanna was gifted the first Finnish translation of the
Bhagavad Gita. The “first book on yoga” ignited her seeker's mind.
In the
early 90’s she was a fitness model for Reebok and an aerobics instructor in her hometown Helsinki, Finland. From here she discovered an obscure ‘underground thing ’ called
Ashtanga vinyasa yoga and this subsequently became a strict daily, disciplined, sweaty, asana practice supported by workshops and travel to India.
In 2009, Sanna was based in Singapore and found a new source of inspiration in
Asian classics, Mahayana Buddhism and Lama Marut. This wise and witty spiritual mentor changed the course of her yoga path towards inner practices, meditation, pranayama, and eastern spiritual thinking and philosophy. Lama Marut authorized Sanna to teach Tibetan Heart Yoga – a form of yoga developed secretly inside the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries.
The next phase was the discovery of
Bhakti Yoga through the young charismatic and hugely gifted
Vijay Krsna. A little older and a little wiser, Sanna now supports her personal yoga practice (and some asana-related ‘wear and tear’ injuries) with ‘inner practices such as pranayama, meditation, yoga philosophy, study and chanting.
This long apprenticeship and experimentation allows Sanna to teach a wide variety of styles and a fusion of traditional Ashtanga, vinyasa,
Bhakti, yogalates and
yoga philosophy and her own signature classes such as
Tibetan Heart Yoga.