OUR TEAM
We are a world-class team of teachers who are all committed to the Sri Vidya Traditional lineage.
At The Practice, our hearts and commitment belong to the Sri Vidya Traditional lineage. Our senior teachers have received formal Mantra initiation into the Sri Vidya path – a path dedicated to bringing more beauty and goodness into the world.
We live and breathe Sri Vidya’s sublime worldview and using the ancient methodology of Traditional Hatha Yoga, we seek to empower ourselves and our students to use every moment of life to express gratitude for the gift of this existence.
OCTAVIO SALVADO
CO-FOUNDER, CO-OWNER, PRINCIPLE YOGA TEACHER
“By the grace of my teachers, the Masters and my heavenly Mother and Father, my mission is simple: to share Yoga with the world in the way that it was intended – as a spiritual science designed to awaken us to our highest potential. Everything I teach is lineage-based, handed down from teacher to student for thousands of years in an unbroken chain of personal transmission.
Since I began teaching in 2006, my only wish has been to serve humanity by sharing this great science and simultaneously honor my teachers and the long line of dedicated Yogis that came before them.”
Octavio began practicing the science of Kriya Yoga at age 19 and was eventually initiated into Kriya Yoga at 27 in Northern India. He pilgrimaged for a decade across India, deepening his understanding and practice of Yoga and Tantra; things that can’t be learned from books.
He has accumulated dozens of certificates over the last two decades, but to him they matter very little. As the Masters say: ‘Only direct experience matters and how committed we are to daily practice’.
Now, with the unshakable resolve to educate people on the truth about Traditional Hatha – about what it is and what it isn’t – and to make it more accessible and meaningful for the masses, Octavio has committed himself wholeheartedly to the lineage of Sri Vidya, the knowledge-stream of the Himalayan Masters. This sublime lineage, above all else, is dedicated to bringing forward more light, wisdom and beauty into the world by the virtue of committed personal practice.
With his relentless studentship and unwavering commitment to self-practice, Octavio hopes to help all dedicated students find more purpose, self-reliance, joy and freedom in their daily lives and ultimately, achieve the highest goal – Self Realization.
He believes that when practiced correctly and with the right guidance and attitude, the potential for Yoga and Traditional Hatha to deeply transform all aspects of our lives is limitless.
Check out Octavio’s 108 days MoonSunFire App on this link.
EMMA SALVADO
C0-OWNER, YTT MANAGER, SENIOR YOGA TEACHER
“Life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s remembering who you are. Yoga has without doubt brought more stillness into my life. Stillness in the way I parent, the way I teach and the way I navigate my life. I have found elegance in the pauses that I once needed to fill. There is no separation between my practice and “the rest of life” it’s all one and the same. Life is my storybook and I read the chapters back again as I teach.”
Emma is a devoted wife, mother, traditional Hatha yoga teacher, and mentor. She began practicing yoga during her pregnancy with her first child Maya, almost twenty years ago, and really started to count on yoga to bring her a sense of calm at a time in her life when she was struggling emotionally. She started attending regular classes and began recognizing the benefits of a committed asana , pranayama and meditation practice.
After the death of her mother when she was four years old, Emma gravitated towards healing and spirituality as a way of understanding who she was and why she was here and was fascinated by life’s bigger questions. She found herself isolating from her peers because she felt like she didn’t fit into her friendship groups, after suffering such a monumental loss at such a young age.
In a culture of scarcity where nothing is ever enough, yoga gave Emma the courage to be seen, the freedom to speak her truth, and connect to her intrinsic feminine strength and
intelligence. The more she started showing up for herself from a place of authenticity, the
more she healed. Not only was she breathing consciously, but she started living more
consciously. Yoga showed her a way to take all of her broken pieces and make them beautiful. This led her to where she is now, understanding that she had the capacity to heal herself, and helps others do the same.
Emma knew from the very beginning of her yoga journey, that she was destined to share the teachings with others. They had such an impact on her own life, that she knew that this was medicine for the modern world. She trained and studied under the Hatha Yoga teachings of B.K.S Iyengar and Vanda Scaravelli. Emma is now a dedicated student of the Sri Vidya Lineage. She truly believes that our spiritual practice is reflected in our family dynamic.
“I am the sovereign queen, the treasury of all treasures, whose breathing forth gives birth to all the worlds and yet extends beyond them – so vast am I in greatness.“ Devi Sukta ( Praise Hymn of the Goddess from the Rg Veda)
AMI EFFENDY
GENERAL MANAGER, SENIOR YOGA TEACHER
“I feel so connected with this vast and profound science for exploring consciousness and realising life’s ultimate aims. Traditional Hatha Yoga provides one of humankind’s most effective systems for achieving enrichment and happiness in every aspect of life. These powerful lineage-based teachings and traditional practices have transformed my life immensely. I am very grateful that my journey has brought me into this path.”
Ami grew up in Malang, East Java and moved to Bali 23 years ago after graduating from Business School. She first discovered Yoga 18 years ago while looking to find activity that gave her mental and physical benefits from the daily grind of a corporate environment.
Since graduating from university, Ami immediately jumped into the corporate world of public relations, marketing and events and retail management, until she finally met her teacher, Octavio Salvado who introduced her to Traditional Hatha Yoga. She never looked back after finding her journey home.
She feels extremely honoured and humbled to be part of this wonderful team and able to share this beautiful wisdom and tradition with the rest of the world.
JASON WINTERS
YOGA TEACHER
“Who am I? What is my ‘purpose’ in this lifetime? How do I ‘know’ I am on the correct path, making the best choices?”
Like every one of you, Jason has asked himself one or all of these questions many times throughout his life. Yet, from his very first words, actions, & desires, his soul was showing him glimpses of the answers. But were he listening? Not at first… but now, he is!
Creativity was always been his connection to ‘Source’, yet that gift was not something he understood until much later in life. For over 20yrs, Jason used his artistic expression & passion to a seek out experiences, information, wisdom, & meaning to everything that was happening around him & within him. This lead to an intense study of Bikrim Yoga in his 20’s, which served him well in a career as a professional Contemporary Dancer, Choreographer, & Visionary. Still, he was craving a deeper meaning within the physical expression of Asana which propelled him towards a further 15yrs of training at many yoga centres in the U.S. & Australia with a focus on Ashtanga-Vinyasa, & the many current variations. Yet after what seemed like a lifetime, one question that kept arising from deep within was… ‘where does all of this Yogic wisdom originate from, what is the source? With so many different styles/teachings how do they connect into a cohesive understanding of the whole? How do we apply it to our lives TODAY?’
Little did he realised that the answer to those questions held the answer to ‘ALL’ the questions. Gifted to him by a choice he made to drastically change his life, The Practice 200hr YTT presented itself in 2018 during a 2yr journey of self discovery that started on the east coast of AU & ended in Bali. Once back in AU with one foot in the dense rain forest & the other in the crystal clear waters of the Pacific Ocean, he began to understand & assimilate these incredible teachings of Hatha Yoga as the one true ‘source’ of all Yoga.
As his birth number of 6 (Yantra) foretold, he is here to teach & nurture those that have come to learn, for we are all equally deserving & capable of knowledge for the purpose of transforming & creating the life we are born to live. This spark of enlightenment was beautifully revealed to him through a more advanced course of study, again at The Practice 300hr YTT, in 2021. So now as he enters into my 25th year of ‘teaching’, he is humbly reminded of his Mahad (spiritual mission), to remain the eternally grateful ‘student’ yearning to pass on this golden knowledge to each and every person… in this lifetime & beyond.
We need an ‘education revolution’ on what it means to live a purposeful, empowered, loving, light-filled Life… And Hatha Yoga is precisely the way we will do it!
NIKOLAS KEOWN-ROBSON
YOGA TEACHER
“I am grateful to the Sages of the Yoga tradition, to the masters who kept the knowledge alive and to my teachers who passed it on to me. Yoga has given me strength and stability in my life. Yoga has given me clarity and perspective to see through illusion. Yoga has given my life more meaning and purpose. I have seen Yoga change many lives, including my own. Yoga is a complete system for the mastery of body, mind and soul. A gift to humanity. My intention as a Yoga teacher is to share the tools maps of traditional Yoga with people and empower them to establish a personal practice. The power of Yoga resides in practice.”
Nikolas (Nik) Keown-Robson was born in Auckland New Zealand in 1989. Nik’s Yoga journey began while he was at University in America with Hatha Yoga and Vipassana Meditation. The books ‘Be Here Now’ by Ram Dass and ‘Autobiography of Yogi’ by Yogananda inspired him to explore yogic philosophy and practice. Nikolas attended university in America, studying communications, philosophy and psychology. After graduating from university he trained to teach Hatha Yoga and Yin Yoga. He began to specialize in Yin Yoga, teaching in New Zealand and Sri Lanka. In 2017 Octavio offered Nikolas a teaching role at The Practice. It was there that he found the knowledge he had been searching for. He taught classes and workshops at the studio and assisted on the 200hr Hatha Yoga teacher training. In 2018 he led his first Yin Yoga teacher training at The Practice. After his time at The Practice, Nik journeyed to India and spent time at the sacred sites of Arunachala and Rishikesh. Since then he has been leading Yin Yoga teacher trainings and Hatha Yoga retreats in Bali and New Zealand. For the last 2 years he has been a resident teacher at Anahata Yoga Retreat in New Zealand but has now come back to Bali to lead the Moon Sun Fire Traditional Hatha Yoga teacher trainings and continue his mission of sharing the true spirit of Yoga with the world.
ONG WEN MING
KUNG FU MASTER
Ong Wen Ming was born in 1971 in the city of Madiun, East Java, Indonesia. Born as an Indonesian of Chinese descent he started training seriously in Chinese martial arts at the age of 13 under the guidance of a legendary Kung Fu master in East Java, namely GM. Li Guanghua. With his teacher, young Ming practiced Qigong, Shaolin Wingchun Kung Fu, 5 Animal styles, Praying Mantis Kung Fu, Baguazhang, Xingyiquan, Yang style Taijiquan and Weapons until 2012. In 1996, he was appointed and commissioned by Gm. Li Guanghua to open a Chinese Martial Arts school in Denpasar, Bali.
From 2013 until now studying and practicing with Master Chen Zhonghua in the Chen style Taijiquan practical method. In 2018 he was appointed as an inner disciple and the official 20th generation of Chen style Taijiquan by Master Chen Zhonghua. From 2022 until now practicing and studying with Master Yap Boh Heong in Yan Shou Gong (Shaolin Neigong).
In 2023, Minng become an official 2nd level instructor for Yan Shou Gong. Ming has more than 40 years of experience in Chinese Martial Arts and has been teaching full time for more than 27 years in Bali.
LALA
YOGA TEACHER
“I am on a QUEST. Much like everybody else, to find happiness and meaning in life. Growing up as Indonesian, I am familiar with the existence and the method to connect to the Higher Being; however, I didn’t find much the manifestation of happiness being connected with the Higher Being around me. And I met more people accepting that life is supposed to be full of suffering and happiness can only be found in the afterlife.I am very grateful for not giving up and simply accepting that way. It’s been 10 years now I am practicing and learning yoga and very excited for more years of this journey. My quest has brought me to The Practice, and nothing can describe how wonderful it is to finally find the systematic method of Traditional Hatha Yoga both as a practitioner and a teacher. No more doubt and confusion about ‘unroll the mat and practice what you feel right today. Don’t forget your music playlist.”
Louise Hay said, ‘Life really is simple. What you give out, you get back.’ What I got back after dedicating my first 40 days straight of specific practice after completing my 200-hour teacher training with The Practice was wonderfully undescribable. Enough to say I never feel a need to return to my previous yoga practice. I am very excited to share this clear and systemic method of Hatha yoga with practitioners who are ready to re-discover their inner Self at The Practice to find peace and happiness in life.
Lala was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1992. Lala‘s yoga journey began while she was working in a yoga studio in Bali in 2014. After a few years of practicing Ashtanga yoga, she then joined Hatha Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training in Bali and continued her practice through Vinyasa yoga. After teaching and practicing for a while more, she couldn’t help but question, ‘What is beyond bending the body to a certain shape? Is this all Yoga has to offer?’ She felt that something’s missing. She then continued her quest to Rishikesh, India, and did 300-hour teacher training where she started to learn philosophy, mantras, and meditation more. Upon coming back to Bali, she then started to join philosophy classes and learn more meditation techniques here and there until she then came to The Practice and was very fortunate to join a 200-hour teacher training course in 2023. It was through this training that she found the knowledge she had been searching for. She now teaches Hatha yoga classes to share the clear and methodological practice of yoga with the world.
OUR LINEAGE
The teachings offered at The Practice have been passed down from teacher to student in an unbroken thread over thousands of years.
We offer 100% lineage-based teachings based on the time-honored Yogic custom of Parampara, meaning ‘from one to another’. We offer these teachings in the spirit of service – to both serve the global community and assist it in finding greater peace, steadiness and joy in life, and as a way to serve the Sages. May our whole-hearted efforts keep the light of their sublime wisdom burning bright.
MOON SUN FIRE
The subtle, yet potent and transformative system of ‘MOON SUN FIRE’ we devotedly teach and personally practice reflects the internal (Samaya) path of Traditional Hatha Yoga, offering dedicated students a genuine means to experience direct realization of higher truths and achieve personal, professional and spiritual excellence.
These extraordinary teachings stem from the ancient lineage of the Himalayan Masters and Traditional Hatha Yogis who have kept the flames of true Sadhana burning since time immemorial.
May the sublime worldview of Sri Vidya, the personal empowerment practices of MOON SUN FIRE and the message of the Himalayan masters live on through us as we open ourselves to the teachings that brighten the light of self-knowledge.
OM TAT SAT.