Sadhama means – True Nature
Saddhamma, (Pali) sad (= sant) + dhamma. Saddharma (sanskrit): the true dharma or Nature, the “doctrine of the good”.
My life has had many different shades – I was born in the Tian Shan mountains on the border of Kazakhstan and China to Russian parents, and fell into gang life as a teenager. With the support of my family I managed to find a better path, expressing my creativity as a poet as I got older, working as a beach lifeguard in America and then in a factory in Russia while studying in Ural University. I walked the Himalayas and watched storms from a quiet bank of the river in Varanasi, worked as a fitness instructor and swimming coach, discovered partying and went clubbing hard whilst studying a masters in Finance in Prague – before finally hitting rock bottom with this exhausting and unfulfilling direction.
I came to London with £100 in my pocket and established the city as my base as I travelled, searching for experiences to give my life meaning. I cycled across Morocco and Turkey, walked 2000km of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage through Europe, crossed South America, surfed in Japan and slept in temples – returning to London to manage VIP hospitality boxes at Arsenal football club. I soon found my way into the underground scene in London and dedicated time to activism and squatting, turning empty buildings into thriving social centres, which is where I met my gorgeous wife – and married her after one month.
Throughout all of this I was drawn from an early age to altered states of mind through practising breathwork, and after studying the myriad of techniques from all over the globe, started to share and teach what I had learned. This led me into a qualification in yoga, and I discovered the prevedic roots of yoga practice from my own culture – the Slavic & Ayrian sacred knowledge that was passed on from teacher to student. Tired of city life and looking for meaningful community and a closeness to nature we moved to Hardwick, to start an eco community and agricultural cooperative. This whole kaleidoscope of direct experience has led me to a profound understanding of many facets of life, from the murky underworld of society to the elites at the top of the pyramid.
It was never enough to hear about something, I needed to experience it directly, to go deep only to understand that the real journey starts when you go within, towards your heart.
As I and others nurtured the eco-community into an ethical, sustainable and successful cooperative, the qualities of my personality which had served well in the beginning were becoming problematic. I found myself a driven perfectionist with a sharp critical edge, pushy and often irritated. I started to analyse where this was coming from and how I could change it.
I realised that my personal practice was still based on types of sequences of Kundalini yoga, which naturally creates and exacerbates fire energy – the elemental force behind these characteristics which were becoming overly dominant. Slowly I started to shift my focus on to more meditative, cooling practices, which started to have an immediate and profound effect, bringing to my life what was missing – tolerance, patience, serenity, friendship and acceptance.
In fact, these changes were leading me to find my true nature, and shine a light on my path and mission in life.
It is only through a clear understanding of what makes each one of us special and unique, that we can tailor a practice to serve us, and help us to achieve whatever it is we want in this life. Yoga and self-development are not a one-size-fits-all exercise regime. There needs to be a mandala of techniques that specifically match your own unique fingerprint.
During one long meditation retreat, I clearly saw that we are all different on the surface but one deep inside, and everyone has their own path to this depth and at their own pace. This fundamental awareness has shaped the Sadhama method.
I left the directorship of the cooperative so I could dedicate myself fully to working with people directly on the most fundamental principles of being.
I had tried to change the world through industries and activism, but it felt like I was only scratching the surface. I wanted to help others to realise the true nature of self and work at the most important level where real transformation takes place – in our hearts.
It is only when change happens from within the person, that fundamental, lasting changes can be made for the whole society, planet and universe, and the path to that seed of real change is unique for everyone of us. This has been a revelation I have experienced through my own journey, my daily practice and in the last decade of teaching yoga, meditation and breathwork. This is the start of Sadhama.
I now regularly teach at the Sadhama Rewild Retreats and continue to deepen my practice at extended meditation retreats and solo-vision quests with trees. In one of those deep retreats, the vision of the Sadhama Rewild retreats was born after being in a 3-day-long meditation inside a hollow oak.
Trees are the oldest living beings on our planet. They embody stillness and have a strong upward movement of energy through their trunk, which is very helpful for yogis and meditation. Most sages of the past knew about it. We know the famous story of the enlightenment of a Buddha under the Bodhi tree. Bodhi means – “The Great Awakener”. The spiritual tradition holders of the UK are Druids, which actually means ‘ One with the wisdom of the tree”.
I feel the deepest gratitude for the guidance of those magnificent living beings. I share this connection to nature and the tree of life through my work.
Deceiving and going deep with many techniques from Slavic, Vedic & Yogic traditions, and techniques taught by Buddhas, I feel that I have a powerful toolset to share with people according to their nature, inclinations and where they are on their path.
