You ask me “Who are you?” and I say “I am Ilya, I am from Berlin, I have been an entrepreneur in the software industries for a good part of my twenties, then at some point I decided to let go of all this and became a yoga guy, whatever this is”.

Yet all these are just words, there are millions of other “Berliners”, even more “Entrepreneurs”, and probably just as many “Ilyas”. All I told you are just little groups of which I am a member - somewhere inside their intersection is one solitary dot of which nothing has been said. This dot, me, an infinite unique part of the universe.

As a yoga teacher I strive to find the totality of this dot in the totality of the cosmos and to do it with the loving support of likeminded spiritual pirates.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To be honest I am not yet really couch surfing. Just getting started as I am writing this. But what I know is that there is so much anxiety about strangers yet so little stands between a stranger and a friend. A fragile little paper wall. Breaking this shell again and again is what makes me open and more empathic, more alive.

Interests

The interest is a changing thing, if it is one word it would be exploration. Since interests are such a subconscious thing, it requires a lot of practice to tell what you really want. Like Schopenhauer said "You can do what you want, but you cannot want what you want" - Thats because he never did tantra. My interest is to truly find out what I want and hence who I am.

• literature
• cooking
• yoga
• life
• talking
• tantra
• games
• pirates

Music, Movies, and Books

There is a longing for another world, hence my inclination towards dystopian science fiction. For books I am more a realist, loving the literature of the early 20th century.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Finally quit my 6 year entrepreneurial career after spending two weeks in a swedish ashram. Biggest challenge, yet the prize is freedom.

What I Can Share with Hosts

An ayurvedic walking massage, meditation, yoga and exquisite cooking skills.

Countries I’ve Visited

Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Tunisia, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Germany, India, Russian Federation, Spain, United States