About Elena

Elena grew up in a small Russian town of Kursk. As a child Elena was always fond of sports and in college she was trained as a semiprofessional athlete which later helped her with being disciplined and establishing her personal yoga practice. She also practiced dance and choreography where she learned about the grace of body movements.

Elena was introduced to the fascinating world of yoga 15 years ago. During summer vacation Elena's daughter Stacy took yoga classes at Foothill College. Stacy enjoyed yoga classes and demonstrated her proficiency in yoga, which invoked Elena's interest in yoga. She remembers herself looking at the asana pictures in books and on-line and thinking, "Wow! I want to perform these beautiful poses too."

Elena started practicing yoga poses from yoga books and later took classes at local yoga studios. She studied the whole spectrum of yoga art - philosophy, pranayama, chanting, and meditation. When she realized passion to share her knowledge and love for yoga, she graduated from the Avalon Teacher Training program in Palo Alto. Later, she enrolled in a Sufi school and learned Sufi meditation techniques to help improve her classes. After more than 10 years of teaching Elena is well-known and loved by many students in the Bay Area. Now Avalon is her home studio, and she is a faculty member in the Avalon Teacher Training program.

Elena lives in Cupertino, California with her family, loving husband Andrey and two beautiful daughters. She feels much love for them as they support her in this path. Elena has a Master's in Computer Science from Russia and Degree in Accounting which she received in the United States. She also loves horses and rides several times a week.