I was born in Phoenix, AZ, where I studied French and English literature at Arizona State University. Even in college, I was less interested in reading literature than learning to speak foreign languages. Accordingly, I spent several years abroad learning French and Spanish in addition to the Bulgarian spoken at home by my mom and family. This gypsy life changed (as indicated in my Vedic horoscope, I later found) when I learned about Ayurveda through Deepak Chopra, and later the Ayurvedic Institute. There I fell in love with Jyotisha, or Vedic Astrology, which I practice with clients to this day. Jyotisha itself led me to find unique ways to counsel people on Dharma- how to find their true path in life, and this continues to be my passion.

As my “day job” while I completed advanced studies in Ayurveda and Jyotisha, I parlayed my love of fitness and coaching into training clients in exercise and weight loss. I earned certifications from the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and went on to become General Manager of Training at my local LA Fitness club. Working with clients and being instrumental in the changes they made in their lives was a real thrill! This led me to incorporate Ayurveda into what I called “wholistic fitness,” that included the physical, emotional, and spiritual components of wellness.

In 2012 I published my first book, The Dharma Types: Secrets of the Five Ancient Castes that will Transform Your Life!, a result of 6 years of research and studies with eminent teachers of Vedic wisdom. Noting that the antiquated techniques and philosophies behind the dharma types had to be discarded for them to work in the modern age,  I re-worked new techniques of Jyotisha to decipher the dharma type in the Vedic horoscope. Ancient methods and  prejudices like the hierarchy of one type over another were re-defined to work in today’s global society.

I also published the popular Decoding Your Life Map With Vedic Astrology DVDs, that teach people how to decipher their own Vedic charts, without need for an astrologer. Students tell me they are simple and direct, and easier to access than most books on the subject, for which I am grateful.

My remaining passion is Sanskrit, which I teach at the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Last year while visiting the famed “Kashi Vishvanatha” temple in India, I was approached by a priest who simply began speaking Sanskrit to me. This was a revelation, as I realized that Sanskrit is very much still a spoken language in India, and that I had to learn to converse in it, just as I had learned French and Spanish: by immersing myself with native speakers. My goal for the next two or three years is to learn spoken Sanskrit, and to teach this in the United States.

Music

I have always been a writer. In seventh grade I wrote my first short story and have not stopped writing since. Poetry is my passion, and the poems perhaps most widely read today are music lyrics. Accordingly, I have a collection of thirty or forty songs written and produced with my friend and guitarist par excellence Robert Payne. You can listen to samples below.