Leda Shantala
In Paris, where she had gone for literature studies at the Sorbonne University, Leda Shantala came into contact with yoga in 1976, when a Linguistics professor had managed to fit into the university curriculum. "My first experience was enough for me to understand that this was what I needed, a complete answer to what my body and my soul were looking for". Her teacher used to invite all great yogis touring Europe, so she had the chance, right from the start, to come into contact with great teachers.
After the end of her studies, in 1978, she travelled to South India. There, she studied Yoga, theory and practice - delving into the ancient Indian philosophical texts, travelling all over the country to meet and learn from great modern yogis and sages. She stayed repeatedly at the ashrams of sri Ramana Maharshi, Ramdas, Ma Αmritananda Mayi, Shankaracharya (Chennai). She is a graduate of the Υoga Research Institution "Kaivalya Dhama" of Lonavla (Poona). Her teachers were sri Rocketti and Arnaud Desjardins, (France), Leopoldo Chariars, (Argentina), Baba Khan (Egypt), Swami Satyananda, B.K.S Iyengar, T.K.V. Desikatchar (Chennai) and many others, mainly Vedanta teachers. Since 1989, she makes regular visits at the ashram of Sri Chandra Swami, near the Yamuna river, to practice meditation. (See Teachers page)
On her return to Greece in 1985, she founded the Mandiram Cultural Centre, an innovative place of multi-cultural character where, since, she shares her experience and knowledge through lessons of Indian dance and yoga. Since 2003, Mandiram Centre has shifted to the Shantom House of Culture in Kato Chalandri.
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