Joined on Dec 1, 2024
Maria Steiner was born into a yoga family. Back then her parents lived in Montreal, Canada and were students of Swami Vishnu Devananda at the Sivananda Ashram in Val Morin.
Maria grew up and went to school in Switzerland, where she lived most of her life. She is a trained yoga teacher of the international Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres and received her certificates in 1996 and 1997 in the Bahamas.
During those years she was also temporary staff at a Yoga Ashram and Centre in California, where she was teaching classes and doing lots of karma yoga, living the yogic life together with like-minded people. Since then she continues to go on yoga vacations and retreats around the world, for her own practice (Sadhana) and to improve her teaching.
Besides the profound knowledge about Hatha-Yoga she also has a basic knowledge of the yoga philosophy (Vedanta), meditation, mantras, Sanskrit and more. Maria teaches with joy and humour; trying to live according to the yogic lifestyle on a daily basis is important to her. For almost ten years she has been teaching yoga in Basel and Liestal, Switzerland. During those years she also organized and hosted Yoga Retreats in the beautiful Emmental at a private home. In June 2006, shortly before moving to Australia, she organized another Yoga Vacation in Malaga, Spain. All these Yoga & Meditation Retreats have been taught by Swami Atma.
In July 2006 she followed her heart to live with her Australian husband in Ipswich, Queensland.
In 2008 she connected with Swami Anasaktananda www.sivayogadivine.net who gave Maria the spiritual name Prema. She is very grateful to have met Swami Anasaktananda and often stays at his small Ashram in Mountain Creek, Sunshine Coast, QLD, where she learns and practices Vedanta, Nada Yoga and much more.
Besides, the weekly Hatha-Yoga classes in Booval and Ipswich, Prema Maria organizes and teaches Weekend Yoga & Mediation Retreats. https://hathayogaipswich.com.au/retreat/
Hatha Yoga in the tradition of Swami Sivananda