Luis has been meditating for 20 years, after having discovered Zen Buddhism in Japan. He worked during 10 years for a French governmental organization in a performance and competition-oriented environment, and thus became very aware of the difficulties, challenges and stresses faced by office workers in the modern world. Thanks to a not-for-profit solidarity organization Luis founded 13 years ago in Colombia, he has been able to cultivate on a daily basis the values of solidarity, generosity and patience.

He received his training as a meditation teacher from Dh.Vajracaksu (Triratna Buddhist Order) and decided to give a new start to his life by moving to Lisbon and joining Agora. He feels immensely happy to be able to share with students tools that have helped him to transform himself and to positively influence his everyday live, including at work. His main influences are the Zen and Tibetan mindfulness traditions, although he is also greatly inspired by the Sufi tradition that he became familiar with while living in Turkey. He enjoys creating a safe space in Agora where students can learn, share and create while encouraging each other with a sense of community.

Having recently discovered yoga and practicing it regularly, Luis enjoys building bridges between yoga and Zen-Tibetan meditation, cousin traditions that can be immensely supportive of each other.

Vlad stumbled upon yoga by accident whilst travelling through India in 2009. Entering Savasana at the conclusion of his first Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga class, he experienced the effects of an integrated practice that seemed to touch on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels – it was enigmatic yet at the same time deeply familiar. This served as the humble beginnings of a life-long dedication to the practice of yoga.

In his learnings, he has been blessed with the generous guidance of truly gifted teachers, Vinay and Vijay Kumar (Mysore), Greg and Tracey Cooper, Amanda Stead (Melbourne), Sharmila Desai (Goa), as well as David Swenson (USA) and Eddie Stern (USA).
Vlad’s reluctant entry into teaching occurred in line with a growing sense of wanting to share something that had made a profound difference in his life. The more time he spent on the mat the more he realised that what happened on it was a metaphor for how he conducted himself in the world. The practice provided space for the art of gentle observation, where he began to take notice of conditioned responses, holding patterns, and well-trodden paths that consign us to automaticity.

During his time in Mysore, India, Vlad also began a two year long apprenticeship with the esteemed holistic therapist KRI Jagdish. This eventually led to further studies in Melbourne where he completed a Bachelor of Health Science degree specialising in Musculoskeletal Therapy. These studies of functional anatomy, biomechanics, and neural patterning complemented the insights gained through yoga practice and inform his approach to guiding others through the Ashtanga system.

He currently treats from Lisbon and seasonally from Goa as a Clinical Myotherapist addressing a vast range of neuromuscular conditions. Having been influenced by so many people actively working to help improve the quality of life of the communities around them, Vlad is inspired to contribute to this work and to continue to learn and inspire others.

Ada started practicing yoga in Cluj-Napoca, Romania around 2015 in an intimate setting as the Romanian yoga scene was still not so trendy as in the west. From that moment she mostly practiced Vinyasa with different levels of consistency depending on the transitions of her life. Moving to Lisbon brought new challenges and opportunities and that was the moment she brought more discipline and focus to the yoga practice, while at the same time exploring different styles of yoga and teachers that this city had to offer. However, there was always a gap of independence in her self practice that a style like Vinyasa which has always different targets and flows would not be able fill.

In 2019 she discovered Ashtanga and while it wasn’t at all love at first sight, she stayed for the focus and discipline it brought. Only after she met Sonia at Agora who introduced a different approach to the practice, more mindful and conscious, with respect and care to your own body, she started practicing Mysore style with regularity and experienced the huge progress and benefits it brought.

Yoga is a topic and practice that Ada likes to read, talk and do every minute of the day in different forms, and she truly considers it a passion. Always trying to learn about the body, the paths of our mind and our brain in order to bring a broader scope to her classes. From that standpoint she wants to share it with anyone who’d like to experience the great benefits of a regular yoga practice.

She completed a 200hr Yoga Teacher Training with great focus on anatomy and posture (LYT yoga method) and her mission is to bring from there new ideas and approaches to support our Ashtanga practice so that we can use the body as a tool in a safe and conscious way in order to truly access and reveal our mind patterns.

Yoga came into Marion’s life while studying political sciences in 2012. Through the joint work on the breath, body and mind, the practice soon became a great tool in her life to develop inner strength, sharpen the senses, increasing her ability to be fully present.
On her path of building a regular and structured personal practice, the discovery of the intensity and precision of the Ashtanga Yoga was a turning point, and it became a daily support. In parallel with a professional life in the international development sector in India and later in the social sector in Paris, she followed a Teacher Training in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga with Linda Munro and Gérald Disse, at Ashtanga Yoga Paris. She was inspired of doing so after her encounter with Sonia, who became a beloved teacher and a friend.

In line with her experience in the social sector, Marion worked with different associations to share the benefits of yoga with people in precarious situation : migrants women, asylum seekers, population in social centers, etc. Amazed to see the physical and mental impact of yoga in people’s life, she decided to dedicate herself to self-learning and teaching (for associations, companies, yoga studios and private students). Marion moved to Lisbon in September 2021 to join the Agora team and its wonderful community.

In her classes, based on the principles of ashtanga (breath, bandha, drishti and linking breath with movement), Marion aspires to transmit a sense of respect, of listening to oneself, but also a taste for surpassing and daring. Marion loves exploring as a yoga student, learning from inspiring teachers, and loves transmitting what she learns, in an accessible and inclusive manner, sharing from her own practice and perspective. She believes classes should be a moment of joyful exploration and shared pleasure!

Tati began her Yoga practice in 2014, while attending the final part of her Theatre
degree in Southern Brazil. The investigation of body and mind states was already a
big topic of her studies with performing arts, so the journey with Yoga presented
itself from the beginning as a fertile ground of possibilities to deepen her search for
a more refined presence and a more loving look towards life.
She started by attending Vinyasa Yoga classes and then also tried Hatha Yoga,
Ashtanga and Iyengar in those early years. From 2019 she started her regular
Ashtanga practice in Agora with the guidance of teacher Sonia Ama and found a
path to deepen into a more autonomous practice. With a deep desire to go deep in
Yoga studies, in 2020 back in Brazil (just before the pandemic started), an
opportunity arose to do a 200h course of training in Hatha Yoga with the teacher
Tales Nunes, who always promoted a safe environment for the practice of the
Asanas and much inspiration with the philosophy of Yoga. Besides the contact with
regular classes in these years, she participated in other courses that encompass
the philosophy of Yoga and the anatomy of the body, such as: Shiatsu Massage in
IPN-Lisboa (240h); The Yoga of Baghavad Ghita with Pedro Kupfer; Yoga, Body
and Freedom with Tales Nunes; Ashtanga and Ayurveda Intensive with Sonia
Ama; Pelvic Studies with Florah Mariah, Healing through Movement with Carol
Langowski and Ashtanga Immersion with Chuck Miller.
Tati is fascinated by the connection between ancestral wisdoms. Whether in Yoga
philosophy or indigenous traditions, there is a watchful gaze for vitality, community
building and consideration of all manifestations of life.
For Tati, Yoga is a path and a poetic way of being in the world: more open,
enchanted and attentive. In addition, she sees Yoga as a powerful tool for de-
alienation and questioning of social impositions.
Through Yoga, Tati nurtures the poetry of living and vibrates with the possibility of
sharing this vision.

Diane Brito received her international diploma in Osteopathy in 2016, after 5 years of study in Paris (Ecole d’ostéopathie de Paris) . She was trained in visceral, digestive, musculoskeletal, fascial and craniosacral techniques.
After her studies, Diane traveled around Asia to learn and train in other techniques.

She is passionate about anatomy and took a course in clinical and surgical anatomy at Paris Descartes (university diploma in anatomy) in 2020 to become an anatomy teacher.
Diane worked for 5 years with physiotherapists in Paris before settling in Lisbon. She also treated football and rugby teams (during games and training). She recently received her first training in Reiki in Portugal to complement her treatments.

Her treatments are based on a comprehensive and painless care of the patient. Attentive listening, empathy and technicality are the key words guiding her practice.

Osteopathy is a holistic medicine, the whole body will therefore be taken care of in a non-invasive way and using painless techniques. It aims to improve health across all body systems ( nervous, circulatory and lymphatic systems) by manipulation. It is a way of detecting, treating and preventing health problems by moving, stretching and massaging a person’s muscles and joints. Osteopathy is based on the principe that the wellbeing of an individual depends on their bones, muscles, ligaments and connective tissues functioning smoothly together.

She uses the patient’s breath a lot to support her techniques.
Diane also practices Yoga and Meditation, she will be delighted to accompany your journey at Agora and discuss with the various teachers to assist you in your practice.

Consultations can be done in English, French, Spanish or Portuguese.